Date Presented

Spring 4-1-2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

English

First Advisor

Tom Nowell

Second Advisor

Brown Cardwell

Third Advisor

Kate Gray

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between Rebecca Gilman’s contemporary plays and Bertolt Brecht’s Epic Theatre and theory of alienation. The question “How Brechtian are Rebecca Gilman’s plays?” is answered through addressing the dramatic theories of Aristotle and Brecht, the plays of Brecht and Gilman, and finding correspondences between the two playwrights. The result of the study finds that Gilman uses many Brechtian traits with a more contemporary interpretation. This paper proposes that Gilman’s use of Brecht’s theory in a modernized form is an excellent way to communicate ideas to a contemporary audience.

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