THE TRAUMA OF WAR: A STUDY IN SELECTED CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN PLAYS

Abstract

The theme of trauma of war has emerged strongly on the American stage in the last four decades due to its severe and negative impact not only on the traumatized veterans who have served in the armed forces of their country, especially during wars, but also on the entire warring community, prompting many concerned playwrights to document and show the horrible events of war and its horrific consequences not only on the fighters after returning home but also on the civilians who are in the same violent conflict situation of warfare. In their plays, playwrights have depicted the painful feelings of the fighters during a war and pursued the traumatic impacts of war and problems that they face after the end of war and show the trauma's causes so that they can find remedies to help overcome the dangerous psychological disease of war trauma. This thesis is mainly concerned with the disastrous impacts of war on the psyches of people, including the protagonists of the plays, who participate in wars and also on the other characters who are not involved in wars. The concerned playwrights show in their plays how traumatic experience of most of veterans which stems from their painful and harsh memories of hard situations and the very cruel and shocking actions against innocent people which are carried out by themselves or by their comrades during time of war can be triggered through their minds, pushing unconsciously some of them to act violently against the people of their communities. The research will examine and analyze the psyches of the main characters in the texts of two following American modern war plays which are Bill Cain's 9 circles (2013) and Karen Malpede's Prophecy viii (2008). The research comprises five chapters and conclusions. The First chapter is divided into two sections. The first one consists of a historical survey of literature while the second one is a review of related literature. The second chapter displays the atrocities of war in the American drama. The third chapter discusses prominent figures' views over trauma. The fourth chapter probes the theme of trauma of war and methods of recovery. The fifth chapter discusses two contemporary American plays as examples of the trauma of war and its horrific impact on veterans who have experienced the scourges of war and civilians who also suffer from the harsh circumstances during wartime