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Lorraine Hansberry's Absurdity: The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window

Lorraine Hansberry's Absurdity: The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window M A R K H O D I N To face the fundamental ambiguity of existence is to live authentically: on Beauvoir's analysis, women's lives offer greater scope for existential authenticity--and greater risks of existential failure. Existentially speaking, under patriarchy women risk more, fall deeper and rise higher than men; while the woman who fails in her struggle for authenticity is not to be condoned, she most certainly is to be understood. Toril Moi, Simone De Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman What (I was reasoning to myself) could be more absurd than a theatre in which the esthetic criterion is something like this: a "good" play is one which makes money; a "bad" play (in the sense of "Naughty! Naughty!" I guess) is one which does not. . . . Edward Albee, "Which Theatre Is the Absurd One?" riting in The Village Voice in August 1959, Lorraine Hansberry analyzed the poor reception of A Raisin in the Sun among "the ultra-sophisticates" ("Willy" 194). Although such disapproval was typically expressed by "gazing cooly down their noses" and calling the play "soap opera" (194), the deeper problem was that the drama challenged the "accustomed . . . dynamics http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Contemporary Literature University of Wisconsin Press

Lorraine Hansberry's Absurdity: The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window

Contemporary Literature , Volume 50 (4) – Jun 13, 2009

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Publisher
University of Wisconsin Press
Copyright
Copyright © University of Wisconsin Press
ISSN
1548-9949
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Abstract

M A R K H O D I N To face the fundamental ambiguity of existence is to live authentically: on Beauvoir's analysis, women's lives offer greater scope for existential authenticity--and greater risks of existential failure. Existentially speaking, under patriarchy women risk more, fall deeper and rise higher than men; while the woman who fails in her struggle for authenticity is not to be condoned, she most certainly is to be understood. Toril Moi, Simone De Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman What (I was reasoning to myself) could be more absurd than a theatre in which the esthetic criterion is something like this: a "good" play is one which makes money; a "bad" play (in the sense of "Naughty! Naughty!" I guess) is one which does not. . . . Edward Albee, "Which Theatre Is the Absurd One?" riting in The Village Voice in August 1959, Lorraine Hansberry analyzed the poor reception of A Raisin in the Sun among "the ultra-sophisticates" ("Willy" 194). Although such disapproval was typically expressed by "gazing cooly down their noses" and calling the play "soap opera" (194), the deeper problem was that the drama challenged the "accustomed . . . dynamics

Journal

Contemporary LiteratureUniversity of Wisconsin Press

Published: Jun 13, 2009

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