Download chapter- i clifford odets: the golden boy of american

CHAPTER- I
CLIFFORD ODETS: THE GOLDEN BOY
OF AMERICAN DRAMA
Contrary to the prosperous 19201s,the 1930's in the USA witnessed
the catastrophic collapse of the nation's economy and its aftermath. The
sudden stock market crash in 1929 because of inflation broke down the
country's economic system. Its consequences could be felt in all realms of life.
Money became rare commodity; people were exposed to untold suffering
when the crash of 1929 was followed by the Great Depression. The leading
capitalist country in the world became a land of hunger, unemployment,
sickness and destitution. This brought forth the search for social alternatives.
The intellectuals throughout the preceding decade' rushed to public
commitment, and so, the 1930s in the USA was described as the committed
decade. Most of people find Marxism as a philosophy and Communism as an
organization as the most effective means of satisfying their need. There was a
literary turn to the left advocating other liberal reforms or revolutionary change
in the social, political, or economic order. Among the various literary forms,
drama particularly offered a very powerful means of propagating leftist ideas
and attracted a number of talented writers. Most of the major playwrights of
the period - Clifford Qdets, John Howard Lawson, Robert E. Shewood, S. N.
Behrman, Elmer Rice, Maxwell Anderson, Irwin Shaw, and Lillian Hellman became highly concerned with the socio-economic and political issues raised
by the Depression and preferred commitment to callousness, although their
degrees of commitment considerably varied.
Drama became a weapon in the class struggle. It being essentially a
social art, the theatre, the audience, and the several aspects of production
including the acting talent, are of great significance, unlike, as in the case of
movie or fiction, where the full impact of the work depends solely on the
writer's ability. Thus, the development of American theaters becomes an
important aspect of the study of the history of American drama.
The realities of Great Depression changed the tenor and direction of
American drama. The age of experimentation suffered an immediate demise
The change in the direction of American drama is first noticeable in the
season of 1932-33.Perhaps because drama is a complex and collective art, it
takes a while for immediate social issues to find artistic reflection. Literature
being the reflection of society, its depressed face was clearly caught in the
works of the age. The thirties were the ideal period conducive to the
intensification of theatrical activities and the production of a various type of
drama to suit the temper of time. The restless spirit of the age was marked by
the advent of a large number of new theatrical organizations. They are both
major and miner, along with equally sincere activity in the fields of writing,
directing, acting, in producing plays. The emotional climate of the day was
favourable to the drama of real candour and self-criticism. The plays of the
turbulent age had a positive approach. They launched an active quest for
social and political alternatives.
This period of social ferment was searching for the right kind of drama,
which would voice the spirit of the age in all its complexities. Server
dissatisfaction was the basic mood of that period, and it had to be expressed
in all its poignancy, tempered at the same time with a positive attitude towards
the future. Even though there were series of problems everywhere, the
decade was not one for frustration and surrender. The emphatic search for
alternatives was on with firm determination. Resolute quest for the rebuilding
had to be reflected. Mllitant approach towards social injustice literature,
especially drama with its direct access to the common man.
Discussing the stimulants and irritants behind the new type of drama
during this period, John Gassner explains how "The initants of a straitened
economy in the thirties, which left the Broad way theatre f4ounderlng for a
time, resulted in the rise of uncommercial, socially critical, militant or
ameliorative organizations like the proletarian theatre union, the new theatre
league ranches, the group theatre, and the relief project for the theatrical
profession known as the federal theatre which became the first national
institution of its kind in the United states."' Gassner explains the rise of the
proletarian drama during the period as a natural outcome of the anger and
bitterness of the "battered passengers" who were the products of the 1929
crash. 'Seeking for some key to the distress which they observed, they
occupied the Marxist explanation that capitalism was in the throes of death...
Looking abroad, they saw a new nation arising in Russia, and despite the
head-shaking and documentation of some disillusioned reporters the soviet
looked like the promised land to a member of the new and a few of the older
playwrights."
This re-vitalization of art was explained by several critics of that period.
Drama being essentially a social art, involving an audience, it began pulsating
with the violent feelings of the people whom it represented. The nation's
frustration became articulate through the drama of the peribd, and drama has
been recognized as focusing attention on the most frustrating contemporary
social problems. The depression created such an urge among writers and it
led to a prolific output of proletarian drama.
Though the influence of the communist party was never really
significant, the impact of Marxist ideology on the intellectuals was quite deep.
(Communist party, an organization with Marxism assists philosophy exerted
great influence in the USA during the early thirties because they offered a
clear programme of action. They had the concrete example of the Soviet
Union as a working model with its apparently successful political and
economic experiments. Dialectical materialism formed an effective frame
work. By 1935, the Communist Party gradually began losing its hold on the
intellectuals, and started rather openly-seeking the support of non-radical,
antifascist intellectuals. The influence began waning. In the mean time
Roosevelt's New Deal reform had improved the economic position in the
country. After 1935, the United Front expressed a view that all capitalist
countries need not be considered alike. A United Front against Fascism was
the most imperative need of the time. The programme of the Marxist League
of American writers also became 'less and less revolutionary. The popular
Front practically came to an end in 1939 by Nazi-Soviet Non-aggressive Pact,
creating a staggering impact.) The imperative need for collective action drew
many of them closer to the Communist party. The dramatists of the decade
can, very broadly, be classified in to two groups. The first group consisted of
playwrights like Elmer Rice, Maxwell Anderson, and John Howard Lawson.
This group entered the thirties with a reputation already achieved in the
previous decade. To the second group belonged Clifford Odets, along with
Lillian Hellman, Sidney Kingsley, and William Saroyan. The reaction to the
new drift of thought differed in intensity from group to group.
John Gassner considers Clifford Odets, "fore most discovery of the
thirties."
Clifford Odets, American dramatist and screen writer was the no
ivory tower writer. He was too deeply committed to people and their problems
to create art for art's sake. He was born in Philadelphia. Two years after his
birth, his family moved to New York, where Odets father became a successful
printer. Clifford having attended high school from 1921 to 1923, left in his third
year to write poetry. When his father violently opposed his choice of a career,
Odets turned to a theatre, acting on radio programmes and in stock
companies. He began his career as an actor. Beginning in 1928, he began
played bit parts for the Theater Guild, an organization formed to present
superior non-commercial plays to the American public. Later he joined its offspring, the Group Theatre, a troupe that in general devoted its repertory to
plays of social significance.
American theatres became an important aspect of the study of the
history of American drama. There was the sporadic growth of a large number
of 'Little Theatresn all around enlivening the atmosphere their chief
contribution was a sense of general awakening as far as the average
American was concerned. Gassner said, 'The great body of American citizens
would ultimately perhaps leave their through of dollar-mindedness; that is, if
they were badgered long enough with its bohemian satire, for the young
Americans of Greenwich Village and tributary places had discovered the
European game of baiting the bourgeoisie. Meanwhile, however, the art
movement was to consist of an aristocracy of the spirit."
Aesthetic gratification sought by the younger generation was thus
characterized by this "aristocracy of spirit." The evolution of a proper 'art
theatre' had passed through certain distinct phases in the USA. As early as
1911, a Drama League of America had begun this experiment by placing
emphasis on literary values of plays, both native and of foreign origin. Among
were
the organizations that began to "dot the country with cases of cu~ture,"~
the Wisconsin Players, the Chicago Little Theatre, Workshop Theatre, the
Camegie Institute of Technology at Pittsburg, the Dakota Players and such
other group. Theatrical boost to these efforts was provided by the magazine
Theatre Art founded in 1918, and books like Footlight across America by
Kenneth McGowan. This movement reached the peak of its success by 1914
and 1915. Robert Edmund Jones, Phillip Moeller, and such other young
enthusiastic built a stage at the back of a store in Washington Square, and
established themselves as Washington Square players. Very soon, they
moved into a small Band Box Theatre and continued functioning activity. After
the First World War, in 1919, a number of them joined and founded the
Theatre Guild. Which had the record of becoming the longest-lived "art
theatre" in America. This became the parent organization for the "Group
Theatren which emerged in the thirties and sponsored the emergence of a
member of young playwrights and actors including Clifford Odets. The main
reason behind the practical success of the Theatre Guild was that it could
bring about a welcome compromise between the commercial aspects and
aesthetic standards. A significant feature was that it introduced to the
American audience the masters of European drama like Ibsen, Tolstoy,
Strindberg, Toller and others.
Another major theatrical organization that came up almost
simultaneously was the Provincetown Theatre, founded in 1915 by the
Provincetown Players of the Greenwich Village. Artists from several fields,
including the Washington Square players joined them, and began producing
original American drama of real distinction. Today the Provincetown Theatre
is remembered chiefly because of its intimate association with the career of
Eugene 0'Neill.
The next decade witnessed a few dramatic changes in the fortunes of
the Broadway theatres which had a jolt from the economic crash. A number of
non-commercial theatrical organizations were formed; most of them highly
critical of the contemporary American society, attempting to seek correctives
and alternatives. The most important among them are the Theatre Union, the
new Theatre League, and the Group Theatre. The Federal Theatre had the
unique distinction of being the first national Institution in the USA meant to be
the relief project for the theatrical profession, and had a very significant role to
play during the decade of social upheaval.
Discussing the contributions of these organizations, Anita Block
observes:
.....the
Provincetown Players and the Theatre Guild, carried the
American theatre forward from infantilism into robust and intransigent
youth.....On the other hand, the 'title theatres' of the country, with few
exceptions, have been timed and vacuous, passionately dedicated to stage
carpentry as a noble end in itself and to the presentation of worthless
Broadway 'successes.' Finally, impelled by a change in American social and
economic conditions, stimulated by original workers' theatre groups in PreHitler Germany and by the new theatre in Soviet Russia, American workers'
play-producing groups also developed, leading to the formation of the Theatre
Union."
The Theatre Union described itself as "The first social theatre in
America, incorporated as a non-pmfrt-making, membership organization." Its
initial manifesto claimed: "We produce plays that deal boldly with the deepgoing social conflicts, the economic, emotional, and cultural problems that
confront the majority of the people. Our plays speak directly to this majority,
whose lives usually are caricatured or ignored on the stage. We do not expect
that these plays fall into the accepted social pattern. This is a new kind of
professional theatre, based on the interests and hopes of the great means of
working people."
'
Gerald Rabkin explains the basic philosophy of the Theatre Union,
"Theatre Union
- the first and only professional American Marxist theatre -
was an overtly committed theatre; its raison d'e 'tre was to demonstrate the
efficacy of the slogan: "Theatre is a weapon."
'Michael Blankfort, one of its
members, asserted that it has a touchstone; and Rabkin explains: uAnd this
'touchstone' was ideological; the group was less concerned with the creation
of a theatrical style than with the presentation of plans which had at their core
a coherent political point of view; its purpose was "to produce plays about the
working class," and to create a professional theatre supported primarily by
working class organizations. Theatre Union, in short, represented Marxism's
most ambitious excursion into the mainstream of the American theatre."
The Theatre Union was the direct outcome of the impact of Marxism on
American thinkers. Its emergence in 1933 and the te'mination in 1937
coincided with the highest point of the influence of Marxism on America. The
amateur Communist theatre which emerged subsequent to the 1929 debacle
and the Depression that followed was a major contribution factor. The
formation of the Popular Front gave added impetus. The Worker's Drama
League (1926) and the New Playwrights (1927) to be considered precursors
of the 'social theatre" in the USA contributed very little to the founding of a
radical theatrical group. Non-professional, Marxist-orientedtheatres sprang up
with @mazingrapidity. Among them, the most important were the German
-
speaking Prolet BOhne, and the Worker's Laboratory Theatre of New York.
They specialized in a form of drama called 'agit-prop,." aimed at agitation and
propaganda.
The 'Agit-prop', the 'Living Newspaper' and such forms of drama that
became popular in the 1930s come into prominence. The Marxist 'agit-prop'
and the Living Newspaper, produced in large members in the 1930's were
meant to confront the audience directly with specific social issues, suggesting
probable alternatives. These represented attempts to channelize the general
mood of protest into specific directions. They were not aimed at producing
wholesome works of literature with high aesthetic standards. The Living
Newspaper unit was one of the several projects of the Federal Theatre. The
Federal Theatre presented educational propaganda by using all the facilities
in the theatre such as the screen, charts, the living actor, the loud speaker,
lighting and soon. The purpose was to arouse the American conscience to
matters of vital social interest. Yet, it differed from the film documentary as it
was concerned only with the dramatization of a problem; it was not just a plain
record of contemporary events.
This drama of didacticism and invective, held together by symbolic
devices, and rhythmic expression, was created for the specific purpose of
serving its unorthodox theatrical environment: labour meetings, rallies of the
unemployed, etc. The titles of the agit-prop plays are indicative of their
dramatic simplicity; Work or Wages, Newsboy, Dlmitroff, The Miners are
Striking, Vote Communist and so on. To achieve didactive ends, a variety of
dramaturgical devices were employed, many of them stemming from the
theatrical experimentation of the twenties: choral recitation, episodic structure,
satiric caricature and theatrical stylization.
These two forms of dramatic presentation cannot claim aesthetic or
literary value. They are, as the producers themselves accept, only tracts,
meant to serve specific purposes. Yet, they succeed, not by aesthetic appeal,
but by the portrays of specimens of suffering humanity, in establishing rapport
with the audience, arousing a deep sense of social consciousness, very
others is justified in this respect. They were meant only to create a sudden,
though temporary, jolt among the smug, complacent, Americans. Beyond this,
real theatre does not include them. At the same time, they have the
significance of having shown to what extent the emphatic portrayals could
arrest and sustain the interest of the common man. Though both 'agit-prop"
and the 'Living Newspaper' are not more than theatrical curiosities today,
subsequent developments in the field of drama, especially in the United
States of America, have shown traces of their indirect, sometimes even direct
influence. It is in this context that the major playwrights like Clifford Odets,
Elmer Rice, and John Howard Lawson have to be evaluated. They have made
substantial contribution to American drama, and have produced literary works,
whose aesthetic value did not suffer in spite of the overtones of extra literary
considerations.
The Group theatre, the socially based new theatrical organization, was
a splinter group formed by a few members of the Theatre Guild. Herald
Clurman, the main figure who spearheaded this movement, sum up the
purpose behind such a new outlet: "The Group's inclusive philosophy
adumbrated a cosmos, therefore the Group's function, even its duty, was to
become a cosmos. It had to provide what society itself failed to provide."
lo
Clurman explains in the foreword to The Fervent Years what the Group
Theatre symbolized: "...The Group Theatre, in my view, was a symptom and
an expression of a profound impulse that certainly did not begin with the
Group Theatre, and did not end with it...In this light I regard the Group
Theatre as a kind of outpost an a main line of American exderience which not
only has not come to an end but has barely begun. If the impulse that gave
birth to the group were to die out, the result not merely would spell tragedy for
a handful of artists and workers in and around the theatre, but would
constitute something like a fatal wound in the American spirit." l1
This is clear expression of the health, positive attitude the founders had
towards the theatre of the right kind of forum for proper artistic expression of
the 'American Spirit' of the times. Theatre as the most 'living' medium where
both aesthetic and social values could mingle with integrity had to be taken
wlth a spirit of dedication. For an age, as complex as thirties, a voice which
would convey all its discontent, frustration, yearning for alternatives, and
above all, the positive assurance of a better future, had to be found in its most
articulate form in the theatre. And it was imperative that such a theatre. And it
was imperative that such a theatre should not be circumscribed by rigid
affiliation to one political ideology or organization alone. It had to be aware of
the variety of approaches and analyses to all the issue concerning the social
problems and their solutions. In short, the ideal theatre, according to Harold
Clurman, Lee Strasberg, and Cheryl Crawford, the founders of the Group
Theatre, was one based on the collective principle, where individuals holding
different views could work together and reflect, not the spirit of an individual or
a group, but of the entire age. In short, it had to be, as Clurman says, a
miniature cosmos. It is in this sense that the Group Theatre becomes the
symbol of social commitment in the true, deep sense of the term. Commitment
is to the society at large, it does not exclude political solutions, but it is
committed to issues more than of rigid party affiliations. Theatre as a
reflection of collective activity, where the best of a large number of dedicated
artists could contribute their best, was manifest in the Group Theatre which
had sponsored many playwrights of original talents, including Clifford Odets.
In April 1931, Harold Clurrnan Submitted a detailed programme to the
Board of Directors of the Theatre Guild to which he himself belonged,
excepting that the Guild would permit him to form a new company with the
permanent status of a first studio. He has explained the necessity for having
singleness of meaning and direction, and that though individual experiences
would be valid, there should be a collective basis for art. Stressing this aspect,
Clurman explained further: "The generations before us seemed to have been
strenuously individualistic without behaving very steadily in any particular
good for their individuals...we believe that the individual can achieve his
fullest stature only through the identificationof his own good with the good of
his group, a group which he himself must help to create."
l2
This principle was
exemplified by the foundation as well as the subsequent history of the Group
Theatre which was a successful experiment in collective living as well, as
described in his The Fervent Years by Harold Clurman. From the statement
of the general policy, it became clear that the choice of the plays for
production will not depend exclusively on the political commitment of the
playwright, or on the political ideology reflected in the work, but more on broad
based principles. In spite of the fact that many of the personalities associated
with the Group Theatre had commitment to Marxism, the plays produced were
of a wider range.
The Group Theatre did not openly acknowledge their adherence to the
'Stanislavski system' or the Moscow Art Theatre system, but the actors and
directors, especially Lee Strasberg, tried to be as close to the methods
practiced by the Russian director Constantine Stanislavski. The system
insisted on the maximum development of the actor's mental ability to identify
himsetf with the role he was playing. Exercising his sensibilities to the highest
degree, the actor must place himself at the focal point for a choir, and see that
the entire action is logically distributed. Harold Clurrnan himself explains the
Stanislavski system: The system is not theory, but a way of doing something
with the actor ...The aim of the system is to enable the actor to use himself
more consciously as an instrument for the attainment of truth on the
stage...with few exceptions, what we saw in most shows was 'performance',
fabrication, artifice. Theatrical experience was, for the greater part, the
antithesis of human experience; it bespoke a familiarity with the cliches of
stage deportment rather than experience with direct root in life. It seemed to
us that without such true experience plays in the theatre were locking in all
creative justification. In short, the system was not an end itself, but a means
employed for the true interpretation of plays." l3Clurrnan's instructions to the
actor during the rehearsals of Rocket to the Moon made it dear: ''The spine
of the c h a ~ c t eshould
r
be found by the actor himself. What the simplest thing
an actor can do today? He knows immediately he is talking about his (own)
life.. .If you feel the impulse to do something, to do more than is called for, do
it. If you are doing too much, I'll stop YOU."l4
The central principle, driven home repeatedly by the director s of the
Group Theatre was the insistence on the realization of the social significance
of a play before it was actually presented on the stage. No play represented
the isolated experiences of an isolated individual. Individual is a unit of
society; and therefore, every impulse belongs to the vast gamut of human
experience. The social relevance of a good play, overtly Marxist in them or
not, was clearly understood. The spirit of the thirties, with its turbulence at
every realm, was absorbed and reflected in its totality by the Group Theatre.
The miniature cosmos, as Clunan referred to the new venture, played a very
crucial role in giving adequate expression to the general tone of the day. The
artist's awareness of his role as a citizen was of great importance in this
contest, as he had to be conscious of his social obligations. The Group
Theater did not try to cultivate a proletarian audience as the Theatre Union
did, but attempted to produce plays M i c h would appeal to a large section of
the audience. In a way, it was still within the commercial frame work of
Broadway. Gerald Rabkin explains: 'The Group's commitment was more
moral than political; it felt compelled to raise and reflect social questions,
rather than to offer a uniform solution. If the Group possessed one generic
political assumption, it was that social problems were soluble; but beyond a
general affirmation of the feasibility of political action, the directors of the
Group affirmed no overt political commitment."
l5Harold
Cluman defines: "A
good play for us is... one which ...is the image or symbol of the living problems
of our time. These problems are chiefly moral social and our feeling is that
they must be faced with an essentially affirmative attitude, that is, in the belief
that to all of them there must be some answer, an answer that should be
considered operative for at least the humanity of all times and piaces.'16
It was this 'affirmative' tone that proved to be the distinct hallmark of
the Group Theatre. Undeterred by the endless practical problems connected
with the initial establishment and the subsequent maintenance of the Group
Theatre, the trio, Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, and Cheryl Crawford forged
their way ahead. It had instances of failures and success stories, but for
positive, moral commitment to society, the Group Theatre has served as the
greatest example. The first major production of the Group Theatre in 1930
was Paul Green's The House of Connelly. A play which offered a meaningful
study of character and milieu of the south, almost along the lines of Chekhov,
this was considered an ideal piece for the initlal production of the new theatre.
The play printed in 1931, carried the following observation on its fly leaf (It is
believed that it was written by Barrett H .Clark). "...a play which interprets the
-
struggle between the old and the new south the old south of the culture and
last causes, and the new south of the bourgeoisie and a future filled with
hopes."' The play was decadence of the old order and of the emergence of
the new class from among the poor tenant formers. Clurman emphasis was
on the basic struggle between old and new orders as an integral factor in life.
He recalls how the actors began observing the parallels between the House
of Connelly and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. Though the director did not
agree with the points of observation, he noticed that such attempts at
comparisons with continental playwrights would only add to the general
understanding of all the aspects of the play, and would strengthen the actor's
performance.
The change that was effected to the ending of the play speaks volume
of the positives, social approach that the Group Theatre in general and Herald
Clurman in particular had entertained. In the virginal version, Patay, the tenant
farm girl is murder by a few servant women. Clurman did not approve of the
'pessimistic drag' in Paul Green's mind, and insisted on its being altered to
give it a happy ending, not because the conventional ending of comedies was
wanted, but it was only the changed conclusion that would suit the general
tempo of the age. Clurman himself explains: "The House of Connelly had
originally been written with the tenant farmer girl, Patay, strangled to death at
-
the end by the two old Negro maid servants of the Connelly house remnants
of the slave past-who were presented of Fates, Macbeth-fashions...The
vacillating hero, a scion of the old south, had to be giveh his chance to
redeem his land and his life with the aid of the tenant girl, who loved him. The
resistance of the black servants was something that had to be overcome
through a memory of the functions of Fates in literary drama. Paul was not
altogether sure, partly because, though basically of a sound, affirmative
nature, he has never been able wholly to over-come pessimistic drag on his
spirit, bafflement before evil. Our own sense of the perfectibility of man, or at
least, the inevitability of the struggle against evil, not only made us impatient
with the play's violent ending, but roused Paul's own verve and decision in our
direction."
It is the tone of affirmation and the deep faith in the perfectibility of man
which characterized the Group Theatre. The sponsors could not reckon with
the 'pessimistic drag of spirit' in any playwright; they stood for hope based on
individual will and collective action. It need not necessarily have to be along
the Marxist lines, but having been the only clear political ideology which could
provide people with a strong, concrete frame work for political action meant to
bring about positive alternatives; it was inevitable that the general leaning was
towards the path of proletarian groupings and revolutionary activities. Yet,
Clurman and the others managed to evade the necessity of clear Marxist
commitment. But it was not practical. They realized that every wind of doctrine
was reflected in some corresponding manner in the flow of live in general. The
deliberate effort to keep the Group Theatre from being overtly committed to
Marxism made it a butt of criticism in the Marxist camp. They criticized even
Paul Green's The House of Connelly as having sentimentalized the South.
While approving of the progressive tendencies displayed by the organization,
they were emphatically opposed to the Group Theatre's hesitation to enlist
itself among the Marxist institutions.
The major productions of the Group Theatre were John Howard
Lawson's Success Story, Sidney Kingsley's Men in White, and Melvin
Levy's Gold Eagle Guy. The Group Theatre did not mean to present super
human or subhuman characters like Faustus, Hamlet or Tamburline; in had to
raise issues which were closely linked with the major social upheavals of the
day. Any play which did not have a direct bearing on the social questions
immediately relevant indicated a failure to keep up their commitment to
society.
The advent of Clifford Odets on the scene at this stage indicated the
general trend of the Group towards its own commitment. Odets has been with
the Group for quite a long time, sharing the Group's initial teething troubles
along with the dedicated directors, actors and other artists. He had himself
played certain minor roles in some of the early productions an intimate
personal friend of Harold Clurman, Cliiord Odets was symbol of a promise for
the world of drama. His play Waiting for Letty was k i n g read by the
company, when Ruther Adler, a seasoned actor told Clurman: "Harold, the
Group has produced the finest revolutionary playwright in ~merica.""
Clurman recalls how, on the closing night of Gold Eagle Guy, he announced
that their next production was to be the work of their "own Clifford Odets'. The
actors gave forth a shout of joy and threw their costumes in the air. It was as if
we had been working and writing for this' for four years." 20
Sunday night, January 5,1935, in the word of Harold Clurman again, "at
the old Civic Repertory Theatre, an even took place to the noted in the annals
of the American Theatre.. .The flrst scene of Lefty had not played two minutes
when a shock delighted recognition struck the audience like a tidal wave.
Deep laughter, hot assent, a kind of joyous fervour seemed to sweep the
audience towards the stage. The actor no longer performed; they were being
carried along as if by an exultancy of communication such as I had never
witnessed in the theatre before. Audience and actors had become one. Line
after line brought applause, whistles, bravos, and heartfelt shouts of
kinship.""
The play had as its central theme a proposed strike of a group of taxi
drivers. At the end of the play, a militant question is asked, of course, among
the actors, expecting replies from them. But the answer to the question "Well,
what the answer?" came, not from the stage, but from the audience. There
was spontaneous outburst of 'Strike! Strike!" " It was the birth cry of the
thirties. Our youth had found its voice." 22
,
It was this voice of the Thirties that Clifford Odets represented, not in
the first alone, but even in his subsequent works. Committed to society
through not necessarily along Marxist lines all the time, his themes entered
round individuals victimized by one defective aspect or the other of the
contemporary social setup. Awake and Sing! portrayed a Bronx Jewish
family, suffocating under the economic pressure which had eaten into the very
core of their moral principles. Ralph in the play became a symbol of the
unoornpromlsing new generation, ready to forge ahead, decide on their own,
and to make sure that life was no more "printed on dollar bills." Paradise Lost
and Rocket on the Moon introduce two decadent families were individual
appear buried alive under the debris of modem social system. They reflect
contemporary American scenes so thoroughly Odets could win loud public
acclaim in a meteoric fashion. The BigrKnlfe deals with another phase of
Odets' literary as well as personal career - his association with the world of
celluloid, Hollywood. It makes a great triumph where intense personal drama
combines itself with a frank exposition of what Hollywood stands for. And
society with all that it means pulsates in every word of the play. Nlght Music,
though short and apparently simple, sums up the problem of the Thirties -the
question whether individuals should surrender and collapse, or take up the
challenge of society and forge ahead. The play stands far the second
alternative. The Country Glrl, another Hollywood drama, is a masterpiece of
characterization. The last play The Flowering Peach is an individual piece by
itself; it does not follow any rigid definition. It is an original re-telling of the
story of Noah's Arc, with genuine sense of humour, and an astounding
undertone of modem social relevance.
Growing up along with the Group Theatre, Clifford Odets ultimately
outgrew it to become a major figure in America drama. Still, it was the Group
Theatre's definition of social commitment that he stood for, and practiced.
Clifford Odets who began his career under the shield of The Theatre Guild,
and developed under the aegis of the Group Theatre, was the perfect reply to
the public taste. His plays represented the positive militant spirit, defying the
hopelessness of the present, and looking ahead to the forging of a better
future, frequently with Marxism as the practical philosophy. At the same time,
they maintained high aesthetic values as works of literature. Dealing with
political, social, or even domestic problems, Odets was always focusing
attention on the individual who was at the very core. Every problem was
analyzed from the perspective of the individual focal point, examining who
human life was conditioned by economic and social factors. It is this aspect
that he interprets in his plays, presenting candid expositions of the individual
struggling under the pressure of several forces. He was committed to the
individual, and to society, irrespectiveof the actual political commitment which
was rather very brief, coinciding with the short span of his membership of the
Communist Party. In fact, Odets became a member of the Communist Party in
1934, in the depth of the depression. He himself was 'facing the struggle for
existence. His association with the party continued for eight months. He
discovered that the pressures which the party aied to bring to bear upon his
M ~ n were
g stifling to him as an artist. So he discontinued his membership of
the Communist Party. In some of his plays, especially the early once, the
influence of Marxism can clearly be discerned, yet, as in the words of John
Gassner. "No one gave himself to radical thought stemming from Marxist
dialectics as wholeheartedly in the theatre as did Odets, just as no one
succeeded in investing cold theory with so much palpitating and tormented
flesh." 23
It will be difficult to arrange his plays and classing them in order of any
strict chronology, as Odets himself has stated in his letter to Marion
~allaway.'~Thus based on thematic similarity, the play Golden Boy is
included along with the four plays of his early period, Waiting for Lefty,
Awake and Sing! Till the Day I Die, and Paradise Lost. The order of
production in which the plays are discussed here is not exactly the order of
composition. It is known that Awake and Singl existed in an early draft before
Waiting for Lefty was written, and that Paradise Lost was almost completed
by the end of 1934. Even though Till the Day I Die does not coincide
thematically with the other plays of this group, the general concern with the
influence of Marxism on the common man and the understanding of the
interrelation of Communist and Fascist philosophies can clearly be detected in
the play. This was the general spirit operating in the other eirly plays, voicing
the millant protest against all negative forces in society. Odets projects a
personal conflict through Earnst Tausig. Eamst Tausig's struggle with his
environment is not brief, but a prolonged period of agonized protest. His
revolutionary will is strained to the breaking point. The personal conflict arising
out of the various stages through which his political and social concepts
certainly had a hold over his creativity. In his plays, the
m m m e n t is issued beyond the immediately political ones; he is committed
to d e t y at large, considering even the deep-seated psychological
implications of social conflict in an individual's life. It is in this scene that he is
a socially committed playwright.
Clifford Odets himself refers to the urgency and sense of 'usefulness'
that he found regarding his early plays. He says In his preface to Six plays of
Clifford Odets that "...much of my concern during the past years has been
with fashioning a play immediately and dynamically useful and yet as
psychologically profound as my present years and experience will permit." 25
He realizes that the time was such that "new art works should shoot bullets."26
His early plays especially Waiting for Lefty certainly functions as a bullet
which straight goes deep into the heart of America.
A change of focus and first in emphasis could be expected in Odets'
plays as well as in American drama in general by the middecade, 1934-36.
This period recorded a gradual decline of Left-wing drama. Among the variety
of factors responsible for this change is the different direction taken in the
ideology of the popular front. President Roosevelt's New deal policy had gone
along way .in clearing the depression blues in the nation, there by lessening
the intensity of the appeal of Marxism as an alternate political theory. The
militant 'agit-prop' pattern consequently lost its immediate emotional impact.
Aesthetic appeal began asserting its due place in the evolution of literature,
this causing Clifford Odets among other writers to concentrate more on the
individual as the centre of the emotional whirl pool reflecting the social factors
acting in each case. His plays became increasingly preoccupied with personal
problems especially after the establishment of his connection with Hollywood.
Gerald Rabkin says: "Anger at the manifest failure of capitalism gave
way to apprehension at the immanence of war, and the mood at the end of
the thirties was unquestionably less socially aggressive then at the middecade. Perhaps the wistful, almost desperate optimism of William Saroyan
reflected the mood of the late thirties, a determined but largely unreasoned
faith in the possibilities of man's goodness. Survival was soon to be the only
basic social question, and the spirit of social commitment which dominated by
the entry of America into the Second World War."
''
The plays, Rocket to the Moon and Night Music represent the middle
span of Clifford Odets' career. They are intensely preoccupied by individual
conflict and consequential suffering. The playwright's concern with social
analysis does not leave him; social injustice and cases of anomaly loom
largely in the background. Specifically subjective elements also are clearly
discernible in these plays written during a period of personal uncertainties,
disillusionment, and frustration for the playwright. Interpretation in terms of
general social criticism is possible in spite of the comparatively smaller focus
of attention. Rocket to the Moon primarily deals with marriage relationship.
Night Music, a simple play tells us about budding young love against the dull,
grim, and frustrating background of unemployment and uncertain future.
Thus the plays of the middle period of Odets' career mark a greater
concentration on personal themes against the general background of social
discontent. Themes of love are present in almost all these plays, given the
appropriate modification in treatment depending on the chosen point of
emphasis. The playwrights' social commitment is never blunted; it takes are
another aspect of life for focusing attention. The three plays of the final phase
of Cliord Odets' career, The Big Knife, The Country Girl and The
Flowering Peach testify to his versatility. The Big Knife originally named A
Winter Journey, was satirical diatribe on Hollywood. The Country Glrl
appeared in 1950. The last play, The Flowering Peach, quite different in
many ways from the earlier ones, was produced in 1954. Odets displays great
capacity to pursue new themes and techniques, even though his basic
commitment to social problems and the human predicament never leaves
him. 'Certainly, these plays compel us to distrust the all-too-familiar depictions
of Odets as a prisoner of history and of the thirties in particular.. .This is not a
matter of politics, but rather of artistic vision."
Odets' artistic vision had
never left him even in the militant 'agit-prop' play, Waiting for Lefty. It was
not as a prisoner of the age that he has obliged to deal with social problems of
contemporary interest. His moral concern was with human suffering, dilemma,
and the awakening to accept the challenge. These are basic aspects of
h u m n chamcter, tlmeless in principle. Immediate social pressures might
differ in mntempomry details, but the dramatic depiction of souls under
pressure reacting to circumstances is the eternal theme of literature. Odets
did it, in every play of his, without any weakening of the aesthetic standards.
Conflict is the essence of drama. Social commitment on the part of the
playwright adds to the artistic dimension of the play, testifying to his sincerity
of purpose. It is not imprisonment to any circumscribing external force, it is a
self-imposed conditioning, with which is not negative in its implications.
An analysis of Clifford Odets dramatic technique may not reveal any
aspect innovatory in nature in the full sense. It is reflection of his subjectivity
and commitment in handling techniques that are already popular that makes a
study of his plays from this perspective rewarding. An age that made extraordinary demands on literature, especially on drama, the thirties made the
playwright acutely conscious of the vast scope of the potentialities of the art
from he has been handing. He had to endow his plays with all the technical
possibilitieswhich would enable them to play a meaningful role in society.
It was but natural that the drama of the 1930's was basically realistic. It
was also natural that the term 'social realism' and 'socialist realism' meant to
describe socially committed literature with clear political ideologies could be
applied to Odets' plays which reflected his commitment. When literature in
Europe and later on in the USA also came under the influence of Marxist
ideology, the term "socialist realism" came to be frequently applied to works
which were realistic and revolutionary in spirit. This definition was especially
applicable to drama which had direct appeal to the public through human
medium unlike the other forms of fiction. 'Naturalism' in fiction, defined and
practiced by Emile Zola to begin with, could be called scientific realism. Its
subsequent development covered the entire Europe, spreading to Britain and
gradually to the USA as well. John Galsworthy's plays are some of the finest
specimens of naturalism.
"Naturalism" is another significant term that can be applied to most of
Clifford Odets' plays. Symbolism which is natural concomitant of naturalism
has enriched his works. Though subtle, the symbols are eloquent and
effective from point of view of the playwright's social commitment. The
individual contribution of Clifford Odets to these common place techniques
sums up his contribution to drama and even to society in general. It retlects
the acceptance of basic realism to a certain extent. 'Naturalism' which is
empirical and deterministic in content in followed on several of his early plays.
But Odets could modify naturalism to suite his own challenging attitude
towards the evils in society. Naturalistic in concept and execution till the end,
the plays close, not on the deterministic note of defeat and tragedy, but on the
positive note of affirmation and faith. This redemptive note, personally or
politically motivated, lays stress on human possibilities,and potentialities
against all odds. The assertion of faith which sums up the nature of Odets'
commitment makes a step of improvement over the European specimens of
naturalism. It is from this perspective that a study of Odets' dramatic
technique is to be undertaken.
George J. Becker defines realism: 'Realism, them is a formula of art,
which, conceiving of reality in a certain way, under takes to present a
simulacrum of it."
*'
Damian Grant explains this statement and attempts to
prove how Becker is 'referring to the conscience of literature, which implies
that literature owes a duty to society, and that 'realism' is the ideal technique
which would help the conscience to discharge its obligation to the society of
which it is a product."
30
In the general sense of the term, 'realism' can be
applied the all plays of Odets, with the possible exception of The Flowering
Peach. The conscientious playwright, committed to society during the
turbulent period of the Thirties, had to fulfil his social obligations by exposing
the evils of society, and by presenting life-like scenes of indihduals cracking
under deferent kinds of pressure. The plays present some defective aspect or
the other In contemporary society, being as true to the gruesome details as art
would permit. In the comprehensive sense, thus, all the plays are realistic,
with nothing conspicuously innovatory about them. According to Becker's
definition, art should present a simulacrum of reality. Odets plays do that.
Stretching the definition of 'realism', Damian Grant refers to
'conscientious' and 'conscious', realism, to indicate the degree of commitment
reflected In the particular work. He observes that it is the conscious of an age,
conscious of its duty towards society, or "the conscience that awoke to find
itself called realism" that was manifest in the realistic depiction of the evils in
society causing untold misery to people. The sincerity at the root of such
candid treatment of themes is referred to as 'conscious realism' by Grant. This
true of almost all realistic writers who took it up on themselves as the proof of
their commitment to society, to expose the effect of social evils on individuals.
This term 'conscientious realism', is specially applicable to the plays of Clifford
Odets who was a product of the Depression era, restless as the age itself,
and eager to contribute his very best to society in the language of drama.
Each play of his is a reflection of this sincerity of approach.
"Socialist Realism" denotes Realism which has a clear social objective,
a part from literary expositions of contemporary scenes. Grant calls it "the
realism of Marxist philosophy, and offering a social and political alternative
based on the principle can have this label. This definition, with its emphasis
on political issues as in the case of Clifford Odets' plays, unlike those of
Tolstoy who placed emphasis on moral and religious issues, becomes largely
applicable to the works of insurgents in the Thirties like John Howard Lawson
and Odets. Socialist realism, therefore, marked the revolutionary Zeal of the
individual, and the objective presentation of life as it was reproduced on the
stage. It was a synthesis, thus, of objective and subjective elements.
Emile Zola, the exponent of 'Naturalism' in his novels, was convinced
of the likely turn drama would take in the direction of naturalism which is
scientific in spirit. The contemporary age would demand nothing less than an
empirical approach even in literature. "...I am absolutely convinced that we
shall next see the naturalism movement imposed on the theatre and brining to
it the power of reality the new life on modem art ...The drama dies unless it is
rejuvenated by new life. We must put new blood in to this corpse. They say
that the operatia and fairy play have killed the drama. That is false. The drama
is dying its own fine death. It is dying of extravagances, lies, and
platitudes...the experimental and scientific spirit of the century will enter the
domain of the drama, and in this lies the only possible salvation of the
drama...we must look to the future and the future will have to do with the
human pmblems studied in that frame work of reality. The drama will either
die or become modem and realistic." 31
Emile Zola's diagnosis and prescription are both correct. The need to
rejuvenate drama so as it would become alive to social reallties and perform
the active role that is expected of it was felt all over Europe to begin with.
Later it was strengthened by the influence of Marxist, which came to be
considered as a positive political philosophy leading to a healthy social setup.
It spread to the other countries including the USA in the early decades of the
present century.
'Naturalism' is defined as follows: "Nature commonly means the sumtotal of events in space-time, or what can in principle become known by
scientific method in the broadest sense. Though the naturalist is committed to
the denied of a supernatural deity, a supernatural element in man, and a
supernatural basis of aesthetic and ethical value, he is not necessarily a
materialist in his metaphysics or an egoist in ethics, though some forms of
evolutionary naturalism are associated with ethical system that reduce all
motives to self-preservation are will to power." 32 Elaboratingthis concept and
explaining hoe it is applied to in literature, the definition goes further: "It
referred to, and should be referred to, for works of literature, especially since
Zola, that utilized realistic methods and materials to embody a certain form of
philosophical naturalism. Broadly speaking, naturalistic writing (e.g. Zola,
Hauptmann, Dreiser, and Farrell) presents, explicitly or implicitly, a view of
experience that might be characterized as pessimidic materialistic
determinism. It emphasizes the strength of external forces (social and natural)
that obstruct human freedom and the strength of internal forces (genetic and
unconscious) that limit human rationality and moral responsibility."
33
The
definitions go on, very aptly, to refer to the negative outlook that can be traced
In naturalistic writing: "There is a tendency in naturalistic writing to look upon
life as a down hill struggle with the only outcome in quiescence or death.
Sinag they arrest man's kinship with the lower animals, writers in this mode
take a behaviouristic or epiphenomena1view of mind and to shoe
W primadly of mptstic or "instinctive" behaviour, assigning a large part of
artp
likely
human motivation to sex, hunger and other basic drivers.. .from the beginning,
naturalism has been under attack as being sordid, gloomy, and subverslve,
notably by the New Humanists. Its preoccupation with the less cerebral
function of human behaviour has led many writers to sensationalism and has
helped produce the popular confusion that identifies anything "raw" or "stark"
or "sordidwas naturalistic," 34
In the United States of America, naturalismwas closely associated with
social changes. American naturalism grew in direct response to the
contemporary social tensions. The struggle of the poor and the machinations
of the capitalists formed recurring themes of naturalistic writing. As in the case
of Zola and the other European masters of the technique, it began with fiction
even in the USA. In the words of Lillian Furst, "He was the instrument of
liberation than a pattern." 35
Clifford Odets has been considered by Eric Bentley as one among the
major naturalistic writers. He has stated: "Without naturalism, there would be
no Shaw, no Chekhov, no Schnitzler, no 0'Casey, no Odets."
36
Odets, a
product of the restless 1930fs, presented works which were objective and
analytical according to the board, realistic sense. "Naturalism" could certainly
be applied to most of his plays, based on the fact that they were truly scientific
in concept, following the cause and effect experimental pattern. This is
especially true regarding his early plays. Individual plays deal with the impact
of economic causes and other social evils on individual lives, aggravating
personal suffering. The direct effect of causes that are very conspicuous could
easily be presented, on predictable lines, as in the case of Writing for Lefty,
Awake and Sing! And Paradise Lost. But Clifford Odets' personal
contribution lies in another direction. The stamp of his subjectivity is clearly
marked in the note of affirmation
with which most of his plays close. In
Waiting for Lefty, Awake and Sing! and in Paradise Lost, even in Night
Music, the ending in not in tragic acceptance or collapse, There is a clear,
assertive note of redemption characterizing Odets' drama. This redemptive
factor is influenced by the Marxist revolutinaty zeal as in the case of Waltlng
for Lefty and of Awake and Sing! to some extant. In some of his other plays
like Paradise Lost and The Country Glrl, the redemptive agent is not any
specific political philosophy, but the strength of personal will. It is the
redemptive OVertone averting the final tragic collapse that is the personal
contribution of Odets. Thus, while accepting the general naturalistic setting,
Odets has managed to mark a step of improvement over the conventional
pattern by the imprint of the Odetsian assertion and optimism.
'Naturalism' as the empirical counterpart in literature, demands
scientific analysis of characters and situations, each character is considered
to have been moulded by the forces of heredity and environment, creating a
sense of predictability and inevitability as in the case of scientific experiments.
Whether consciously naturalistic or otherwise, Clifford Odets has been
empirical and analytical in his early plays in particular. The plays abounded in
naturalistic descriptions, life-like and gripping in their direct appeal.
Naturalistic description must produce verisimilitude. Odets is a master of this
aspect. Almost all his plays abound in scenes drawn with utmost fidelity to
details. Waiting for Lefty is a master piece in this regard. Awake and Sing!
is a perfect example of naturalistic description with the typical Jewish family
atmosphere being reproduced effectively. Verisimilitude is an important
aspect of naturalism, scrupulously upheld by Odets. All the families introduced
through his plays seem so true to life that they are even recognizable. With
deterministic fate hanging over their heads, the typical products of the
Depression make their appearance and serve the social purpose that Odets
had in mind.
Symbolism is an integral part of naturalism. As a concomitant of the
technique, the use of symbols essentially goes with naturalism. John
Galsworthy, a great exponent of naturalistic drama, considered naturalism to
include symbols almost by definition, and followed the precept himself. While
explaining the practical problems confronting a dramatist obliged to resort to
naturalism, Galsworthy points out how the use of symbols becomes
inevitable. According to him, naturalism is the most exacting and difficult of all
techniques. This difficulty could be surmounted only by 'resorting to
symbolism. "Chekhov, lbsen and Strindberg, who resorted to symbolic
methods themselves, in fact, spent much time in perfecting the typical
reaction, the typical behaviour, in reproducing the typical tempo of life in given
circumstances, in order to solicit our attention. They discovered that their
plays had to create what is verisimilitude rather than an exact replica of life.'
37
To create verisimilitude, symbols are absolutely essential. John
Galsworthy explains the point: "It is easy enough to reproduce the exact
conversation and movement of persons in a room; it is desperately hard to
produce the perfectly natural conversation and movements of those persons,
when is natural phrase spoken and each natural movement was made has
not only to contribute towards the growth and perfection of a drama's soul, but
also to e revelation, phrase by phrase, movement by movement, of essential
traits of character. To put it another way, naturalistic art, when alive indeed to
be alive to all, is simply the art of manipulating a procession of most delicate
symbols."
38
The technique, already handled by such exponents as Ibsen,
Chekhov, and John Galsworthy, has had its potentialities is explored in the
hands of Clifford Odets. Symbolism was not an adjunct, but an integral part of
his thought process. Almost all his plays are rich in the use of symbols,
conspicuous or subtly suggested.
Although Odets' works are in the realistic naturalistic tradition, based
on the observation and objective presentation, he manages to give it a distinct
subjective touch. His social commitment could be fulfilled only by introducing
the note of a positive and optimistic attitude to contemporary social problems.
The insurgents of the Thirties had to have faith in the new political programme
of action. Naturalistic analysis which is always scientific in concept has been
followed with scrupulous details in his earlier plays. The deterministic factors
also have been worked out with the sense of inevitability governing the lives
of the oppressed members of society. The personal touch which set his
drama apart from the other specimens of naturalism is when he introduces the
redemptive note, refusing to accept the surrender of individuals as puppets in
the hands of modem society which has almost taken up the role of ancient
nemesis in thwarting the individual's efforts to get out of the mire begging then
down at every step. The hope of a positive change for the better with the
awareness of individual contribution to the process of social transformation is
the contribution of the playwright to the conventional type of characters
frequenting social play of the day. For an artist who considered his art as a
purposeful and powerful intellectual weapon, Clifford Odets has performed his
role very effectively.
Committed as Odets is to human welfare, it was, but natural that he
wanted to focus attention on the individual struggling under the heavy odds in
society. Concentration on individual scenes was essential for such a strong
appeal. Odets' plays do create the expected cumulative effect. The total
impact is complete; the only conspicuous fact being that the playwright has
managed to every scene a miniature drama. If this is to be attributed to his
association to Hollywood, it can only be observed that the influence of the
celluloid world on Clifford Odets was on the whole, wholesome. Malcolm
Goldstein elaborates this point. "...out of his experience and education as a
screenwriter, he acquired some details of construction useful in the making of
Golden Boy: the vision (sic) of the play in to numerous scenes-twelve in all to
provide a logical basis a shift in tone, and the "fade out" to replace the
'curtain" or "blackout" as a device for ending them." 39
Odets' plays have a perfect underlying unity in spite of each unit having
its own identity. The symbols, the main theme, characterization and the
recumng redemptive metaphor are brought into close organic harmony and
cohesion with the help of the appropriate use of language. His sense of drama
or the clear theatrical instinct has been of great practical value to him in play
construction. He had an unerring sense of timing. His plays, with the
exception of Paradise Lost and The Flowering Peach which belong to
different category, cover only very short span of time. Short time sequences
have helped the plays to be highly compressed, quick and therefore
concentrated and intense in their impact.
Joseph Mersand has observed Odets' language and said: "Odets'
language merits special attention. It is unlike that of any other dramatist is
America."
HH&TO~~
Clurman attempts to describe Odets' theatre dialogue: "It
was a compound of lefty moral feelings, anger and the feverish spirit, and a
In fact, his language reflected his personality. His attitude
rough t~ngue,"~'
towards contemporary society itself was a compound of all the emotional
attributes enumerated by Clurrnan, and it was only natural that the language
reflected the working of the mind of an author with a clear sense of social
commitment. Joseph Mersand's obsenration can be applied more specifically
to a great personal advantage Odets had in being familiar with the language
of the Bronx Jews, an admixture of Yiddish and English idioms. Himself a
member of the tribe, he had imbibed a taste for it with all its inflections. His
language was highly lyrical, very often charged with passionate sentiments.
REFERENCES:
John Gassner, Masters of the Drama, 3d.rev.ed. (Dover, New York,
1954), pp. 662-663.
lbid, pp.664-665.
Ibid, p.689.
Ibid, pp.638-639.
Ibid, p.639.
Anita Block, The Changing World in Plays and Theatre (Little,
Brown, Boston, 1939), pp.413-414.
Ibid, p.275.
Gerald Rabkin, Drama and Commitment (Indiana University Press,
Bloomington, 1964), p.45.
Ibid.
Harold Clurman, The Fervent Years, (Harcourt Brace, Jovanovich,
New York, 1974), p.211.
Ibid, preface, P. ix
12.
Geoffrey Grigson, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Modem
Literature, 2"d Ed. (Hutchinson &GO, London, 1963), p.263.
14.
Ibid.
I . Op. cit., 8, p.74.
Herald Clurman, "The Group Theatre Campaigns," Theatre Ark
Monthly, May 1932, p.347.
Quoted in Introduction to The House of Connelly, ed. John Gassner,
Best American Plays (supplementary volume, 1918- 1958),
(Crown
Publishers, Inc. New York, 1961), p.170.
Op. cit. 10, pp.47-48.
Ibid, p.142.
Ibid. p.145.
Ibid. pp.147-148.
Ibid. p.148.
Op. cit., 1.
Clifford Odets' letter to Marion Callaway, dated, June, 1940, New York;
cited in her unpublished doctoral dissertation, A Comparative
Study of the Development of Skills i n Plot Construction by a Group
of Living American Dramatists. p.8.
Six Plays of Clifford Odets, (Random House, New York, 1939), p. ix
Ibid.
Op. cit. 8. , pp. 33-34.
Harold Cantor, Clifford Odets: Playwright-poet (The Scarecrow
Press, London, 1978), p.29.
George J. Becker, Documents of Modem Literary Realism,
(Princeton, 1963), p.36.
Damain Grant, Realism, (Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1974), p.14.
Quoted in Eric Bentley, The Playwright as Thinker, (Harcourt, Brace,
New York, 1955) pp.5-6.
Dlctionary of World Literary Terms, ed. Joseph T. Shipley (George
Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, 1970), pp. 210-211.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Lillian, R. Furst, and Peter N. Skrine, Naturalism, (Methuen 8 Co. Ltd.,
London, 1971), p.35.
Op. cit. 32, p.7.
J. L. Styan, The Dark Comedy, (Cambridge University Press, 1962),
p.65.
John Galsworthy, "Some Platitudes Concerning Draman Commentary
and Other Essays (William Heinemann Ltd., London, 1949), .p.206-
207.
Malcolm Goldstein, "Clifford Odets and the fund Generation",
American Drama and its Centers, ed. Alam Downer
(University of
Chicago press, Chicago, 1965), p.321.
Joseph Mersand, The American Drama 1930-1940, (Modem
Chapbooks, New York, 1949), p.72.
Op. cit. 18, p.140.