Faculty Advisor
Freeman, Sara
Area of Study
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Publication Date
Summer 2012
Abstract
Considering the modern playwright Sarah Ruhl’s current body of work through the paradigm of ancient Greek theatrical tradition illuminates many links to Greek theatre and highlights the depth of the emotions within her plays. The ancient Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, along with Ruhl, confront themes of love and death with both sorrow and humor, considering the different ways people cope with traumatic circumstances. They focus in particular on the relationships that form between people after a significant loss, and how humans come together in a community, seeking connection with each other. By theatrically exploring the themes of grief, mourning, love, and death through dualities such as tragedy versus comedy, male versus female dynamics, and divinity versus humanity, Ruhl and the Greeks are able to compare aspects of the world and show the vital interrelationship that exists between what appear to be contrasts.
Recommended Citation
Fattor, Hannah, "Rain Inside the Elevator: Dualities in the Plays of Sarah Ruhl As Seen Through the Lens of Ancient Greek Theatre" (2012). Summer Research. 168.
https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/summer_research/168
Rights
Publisher
University of Puget Sound
Included in
American Literature Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Modern Literature Commons