For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222
Call 1-800-351-0222
AFRICAN AMERICAN DRAMAS.
Term Paper ID:30616
Get This Paper Free! or
Essay Subject:
Compares and contrasts two plays of the 1960s.... More...
8 Pages / 1800 Words
9 sources, 19 Citations,
APA Format
$32.00
More Papers on This Topic
Paper Abstract:
Compares and contrasts two plays of the 1960s. James Balwin's BLUES FOR MISTER CHARLIE, and Amiri Baraka's THE DUTCHMAN. Examines ways in which violence affects the lives of African Americans and role racism plays in violence. Intent of both playwrights. Stereotypical mythsof white women and black men in Baraka's drama.
Paper Introduction:
“The Dutchman” and “Blues for Mister Charlie”
For many African-American writers and dramatists, the issue of race and how it impacts on human relationships and societal perceptions is a theme of enormous significance. Two of the most powerful literary voices in the African-American community are those of James Baldwin and Amiri Baraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones). Both Baldwin and Baraka have written prolifically and in a variety of mediums. This brief report however, will compare and contrast a single work by each author. Baraka’s play, The Dutchman and Baldwin’s play, Blues for Mister Charlie address the ways in which violence affects the lives of ordinary African-American men and women and in which a fundamental racism in American society renders these individuals vulnerable to violence.
W. J.
Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.
L. Weatherby, W. Lula is equally morally blind. Baldwin was clearly writing ofthe very real sense of externally imposed inferiority and lowered statusthat many African-Americans felt in the era before the Civil Rightsmovement. This sense ofsuperiority leads Parnell to perjury and Lula to murder and both charactersare drawn by their creators with such authority that audiences accept theseacts as inevitable and in some distorted way perfectly justified from theperspectives of the characters themselves. (2 ). The casual acceptance of Lula's murder of Clay that Barakadescribes in the actions of the other subway passengers is presented asevidence of racism at its most extreme. Whenthe playas re read side-by-side, what emerges is the consciousness thatrace and racism were divisive wherever they appeared. Violence as anartifact of racism was a very real problem as the Civil Rights Movement ofthe 196 s was unfolding, but the personalization of this violence depictedby both Baldwin and Baraka lends it immediacy today. Meridian Henry, theAfrican-American minister, and father of the murdered Richard Henry, is a"man of God" who faces the realization that manhood for African-Americansis a dangerous pursuit in Plaguetown. (1968). W. The play also serves to examine the dilemma that confronts middle classBlacks and uses Black characters who challenge Whites verbally whilepassively rejecting physical confrontation. Both Baldwin and Baraka havewritten prolifically and in a variety of mediums. 219-225. Baldwin's Blues for Mister Charlie is set in a small town in the DeepSouth. Whoever. The "Dutchman" of Baraka's title has been described by Ralph (1985) asa reference to the legendary ghost ship named the "Flying Dutchman" or aslave ship of the Dutch East India Company. Thesetensions disrupted the lives of White and Blacks in both the moreputatively "liberal" North and the more stereotypically racist South. (1988). It is possible, according to Standley (1988), that the play waswritten for a White audience and belongs in the general category oftraditional drama that stresses the similarities between Blacks and Whites. When Lyle states, "you sound like I got somethingagainst colored folks but I don't (Baldwin, 1964, p. WhileBaldwin's intent was to demonstrate that Whites and Blacks can, if they arepeople of good conscience, come together, unfortunately, the play ends witha White liberal named Parnell James lacking the courage to testify at thetrial of the murderer and Meridian Henry (the embodiment of Blackmoderation and nonviolence) calling for the union of the Bible and the gunin the pulpit. Selected Plays and Prose of AmiriBaraka/Leroi Jones. The hatred in this playis expressed by Lula, who takes Clay life, in part, because she simply doesnot wish to listen to him speak about what it means to be a Black male(Tate, 2 ). Baraka'splay, The Dutchman and Baldwin's play, Blues for Mister Charlie address theways in which violence affects the lives of ordinary African-American menand women and in which a fundamental racism in American society rendersthese individuals vulnerable to violence. (1964). Blues for Mister Charlie. As a metaphor, "Dutchman" in its stagecraft function mayimage the façade of civility in Clay and Lula's relationship. Boston: Twayne Publishers. Thomas. Ralph, G. References Baldwin, J. Rather, Baldwin isquoted as stating that "The play is about a state of mind and therelationship of people to each other, helplessly corrupted and destroyed bythis insanity you call color (in Weatherby, 1989, p. Dictionary of LiteraryBiography Yearbook: 1987. Gale Research, Inc., pp. He is a drug addict who comes home to recoverand rebuild his life but instead is killed in an act of senseless andunnecessary violence by a White man. George Piggford (1997) asserts that Baraka's Dutchman represents anemerging militancy on the part of American Blacks and American Blackplaywrights. Richard's death at the hands of Lyle Britten isthe tragic result of a system of racial discrimination that in no way fitswith Baldwin's understanding of Christianity (Pratt, 1978). Baraka (1979, p. (1997). New York: DialPress. 75)." Critics have stated that this play is a complex drama thatdemonstrates a need for the relatively conscious Whites and Blacks toinsist on or create the consciousness of others (Standley, 1988). Britten does not know and refuses to believe that heis a racist and in fact considers himself to be fair-minded and just in hisviews towards Blacks. That periodwas one of escalating racial tensions throughout the United States. James Baldwin. Tate, G. After killing Clay, she is almostimmediately attracted to yet another Black male who enters the subway car.The suggestion is that she will once again entangle herself with a Blackmale, perhaps so that she can once more engage in her not-so-hiddenanimosity toward the same men with whom she sleeps. LeRoi Jones' Dutchman: A brief ride on a doomedship. Greg Tate (2 ) claims that the confrontation between Lula and Clayissued by Baraka to symbolize many of the stereotypical myths regarding thethreat posed to White women by Black men. J. Nelson, H. Pratt, L. 27)," what we arehearing is moral blindness made visible. Two of the most powerful literary voicesin the African-American community are those of James Baldwin and AmiriBaraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones). The religious symbolism implicit in this play is found inClay's name, which evokes the story of the creation and in Lula'scharacter, which evokes Lilith, Adam's first wife before Eve. Weatherby (1989) commented with respect to Blues for MisterCharlie that when the play was first performed, theatergoers and criticsalike received it positively. Educational Theatre Journal, 2 (1), 53-59. Clay and Lula, despite their relationship, are engaged in aconfrontation that is essentially racist. Clay inadvertently "causes" hisown death by clenching Lula's throat, allowing her an opportunity not onlyto kill this Black male, but also to rally other passengers on the train tocollude in this murder. The "African-Americanexperience" as it is depicted in these drams is an experience that defiesthe reader or audience member to be unmoved. It may also refer to thetheater practice of constructing a "Dutchman" which is a narrow band ofmuslin glued vertically onto two adjoining flats to give the appearance ofa solid wall. "The Dutchman" and "Blues for Mister Charlie" For many African-American writers and dramatists, the issue of raceand how it impacts on human relationships and societal perceptions is atheme of enormous significance. American Theatre, 17(5),44. However, it would be wrong to consider this a play about civil rights,even though its subject matter - the murder of a Black man by a White man,who is neither punished nor imprisoned for his crime - touches on legal andpolitical themes. Available athttp://galenet.galegroup.com. In the story, a young Black man has returned to this townafter a six-year absence. The two plays - one set in an urban Northern city, and the other in arural Southern town - take place in about the same time period. At the core of the play, in the view of thisparticular analyst, is Baldwin's determination to express the outragedthoughts and emotions that had blazed within seemingly placid African-Americans for years. 251)." Permeating Blues for Mister Charlie is Baldwin's concern regardingwhat constitutes true or meaningful Christianity. J. Both plays ask their audiencesor readers to examine their own consciences and to assess their ownattitudes towards the "other," and both demand that such an assessment bemade with respect to society as well. Moral blindness, asPiggford (1997) suggests, is a characteristic of the racist that mostangered Baraka; it was a characteristic that appears to have saddenedrather than angered Baldwin, who sees this condition as damaging to allconcerned and not only to its victims. New York:Donald I. Pratt (1978) believes that Baldwin ismaking a case that even a White liberal finds it difficult to act as anagent for positive change in the Black community when doing so wouldrequire the liberal to "take sides" against other Whites. Interestingly, Baldwin (1964) inthe character of Lyle Britten, also presents a White who is unaware of hisdeeply racist views. (1985). Uncle Tom. James Baldwin. Baraka, A./Jones L. Looking into black skulls: Amiri Baraka's"Dutchman" and the psychology of race. Baraka's view of American social history seems tosuggest that a "Dutchman" has been imposed by Whites and that even the mostliberal Whites in America do not want to see the existing system change.Unlike Baldwin, for whom the system was maintained by the passivity and thedenial of both Whites and Blacks, Baraka appears to be willing to confrontracism with violence or at the very least to permit a character such asClay the expression of violence. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. It's none of your business. 93) has Claychallenge Lula's preconceptions of what it means to be an African-Americanby stating "let me be who I feel like being. He has effectively accommodatedhimself to the circumstances in which he lives, a luxury that his son,Richard, cannot afford. (1979). You don't know anything except what's therefor you to see." The message here is that meaningful communication between the races isall but impossible because of the preconceptions that both Blacks andWhites bring to their encounters. Baldwin (1964) makes a similar point inhis play, particularly with respect to the character of Parnell, whopresents himself as a liberal and a friend to the Black community but failsthem at the trial of Lyle Britten. Some critics regarded the White characters in the playas little more than stereotypes, however, while others felt that Baldwinhad not fully mastered the form of the drama. Jones's Dutchman. H. Weatherby (1989) states, for example, that Baldwinhimself did not regard his play as about civil rights. Much the same comment can be advanced about Lula,who sees nothing wrong in sexual relations with a Black male, but whocannot tolerate having that male challenge her own deeply held beliefs.Lula and Parnell are both convinced that because they are White, they arein some critically important way superior to Blacks. The Explicator, 43(2), 58. It is Lula'sinsistence that Clay must conform to her view of him that leads to hisdeath. In Amiri Baraka's Dutchman, the setting is a subway car in which anAfrican-American male named Clay and a White woman named Lula, meet,interact, and join in a tragedy of racial hatred. Piggford, G. (1978). The White racism isaffirmed when one of the characters, Lyle, states "may every nigger likethat nigger end like that nigger - face down in the weeds (Baldwin, 1964,p. For Baldwin (1964), Parnell becomes typical of all liberals who givelip service to the concept of social justice but fail to match theiractions to their words. Modern Drama, 4 (1), 74-86. However, it isimportant to recognize that Baldwin sees this tragedy as damaging Whites asmuch as it damages Blacks. How we talk about race. Standley, F. Baldwin (1964) commented in the notes for the play that it wasbased very distantly on the case of Emmett Till, a Black youth murdered inMississippi in 1955. The play takes place in Plaguetown, which Baldwin(1964) identified as a town in which the plague was race and our concept ofChristianity. Ralph (1985) contends that Clay's superficial attempt at "passing" forWhite is abandoned when Clay finally explodes in anger against Lula,claiming that she cannot possibly know or identify with his life, hisexperience, or being. This brief reporthowever, will compare and contrast a single work by each author. The play reconstructs the crime and illustrates the ways in whichboth Whites and Blacks made the death inevitable. Fine, Inc. (1989). James Baldwin Artist on Fire.
If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:
or
We can write a Custom Essay just for you.
Browse Essays by Subject