LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:12 December 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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A Psychological Conflict in the Selected Characters in Sam Shepard’s One Act Play Icarus’ Mother

C. Priscilla Lydia Sathya, M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil.


Courtesy: http://www.sam-shepard.com/sambw5x.jpg

Abstract

The play Icarus’ Mother is a one act play by Sam Shepard. This was first produced at the Caffe Cino and directed by Michael Smith on the 16th of November 1965 at New York. The play Icarus’ Mother is one of Shepard’s dramatic reflections upon creativity. In the play, the scene of action is much wider, and the vision of a traumatic existence is elaborated more fully and seriously than in the earlier plays like 4-H Club and Chicago. There is a sense of the outside world in the play and there is also a pervasive fear that transmits a powerful gestalt to the audience.

Keywords: Sam Shepard, Icarus’ Mother, gestalt, Greek mythology, primordial struggle

Primordial Struggle

According to Albert Wilhelm, Icarus’ Mother foregrounds the primordial struggle for (the son’s, the present) creative expression in the face of opposition (by the father figure, the past) and the accessibility of the inspiriting figure (the mother figure). The play Icarus’ Mother also represents the conflict between genders and generations.

Opening Scene

The play Icarus’ Mother opens with a portable barbecue in the center of the stage and on one side there is a table cloth with the remnants of a huge meal the picnickers have just finished. Bill, Howard, Frank, Jill and Pat are the five picnickers in the play Icarus’ Mother. All of these characters are seen lying on their back staring up at the sky watching the gimmick of a plane. They are wondering: “Is it skywriting or just a gas trial?” (IM 32) The picnickers are frightened because the plane has been in the same area for the past one hour. They shout at the pilot and ask him to get away.Only Jill is sensible. She asks them to stop being silly. Quite coolly she tells them that she is the pilot’s wife.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

C. Priscilla Lydia Sathya, M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil.
PG Teacher (English)
GGHS School
Sankagiri – 637301
Tamilnadu
India
daffodildrops@gmail.com
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