On Domestic Angel’s Wings, the Impact of the Mother in the American Family Drama

Abstract

The American Family Drama rarely dramatizes the iconic American family as found on a Hallmark card. Plays like Eugene O’Neill’s A Long Day’s Journey into Night, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Sam Shepard’s Buried Child, and Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County, present images of families in decay by problems of their own creation, which asks the question, “What’s happened to this family anyway?” Feminist scholars place the blame for these circumstances firmly on the male characters. They accuse the playwrights of marginalizing the mothers, referring to them as weak, helpless, and only present to serve the male characters.

Close examination of each of the four plays, however, will determine how the mother’s choices influence the story and its members. The generation in which each author places his characters will also have an effect on each story. Finally, an exploration of the symbolic connection between the mothers and each of their settings will further highlight the significant role each woman holds in her play. For while it is the father’s philosophy, or point of view, which has created the crucible each family faces, the mother’s choices are directly responsible for the circumstances that brought it to bear. Moreover, she will be the voice of the truth for her children, pointing the way off the path that the parents themselves were unable to escape.