When Sarah Kane, born in 1971 in Essex, England, committed suicide at the age of 28 in February 1999, she left five plays and the script for a ten minute screenplay. Kane had dedicated much of her short life to the understanding, exploration and (re)invention of drama.
While still at school she started writing and acting, activities which she continued at university, where she further experimented with theatre and where she also took up directing. After leaving the University of Bristol with a First Class Honours Degree in drama studies, she enrolled at Birmingham University and crowned her education with a Master’s degree in playwriting. After several minor dramatic experiments, staged as student productions in unofficial venues, her first full-length play, Blasted, premièred at the Royal Court Theatre in London in January 1995.
The play immediately became notorious for its depiction of all kinds of physical and verbal violence for which it was fiercely attacked by both public opinion and reviewers. The fact that the plays which followed contained many unspeakable scenes of sheer cruelty, earned her the reputation as the enfant terrible of contemporary British drama. During her brief career Sarah Kane created a body of work that brought her both success and notoriety. Her controversial theatre divided critics and audiences from the beginning. While some attacked her persistently, others recognised her as a new voice, and after she explored and discovered different linguistic and theatrical devices, critical approval followed.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 The theatrical background
3 Sarah Kane’s dramatic art
3.1 Kane’s writing: similarities and points of difference in her plays
3.2 The interaction between realism and surrealism
3.3 The art of reduction
4 A critical analysis of Cleansed
4.1 Form and content of the play
4.2 Themes
4.2.1 Love
4.2.2 Identity
4.2.2.1 Sexual identity
4.2.2.2 The incongruity of body and soul
4.2.3 Language
4.2.3.1 The word “lovely”
4.2.3.2 The struggle with language
4.2.3.3 The powerlessness of language
4.3 Imagery and symbolism
4.3.1 The element of flowers
4.3.2 The element of light
4.3.3 The image of blindness
5 The use and function of violence
5.1 Influences on Kane and her treatment of violence
5.2 Physical violence
5.2.1 Self-mutilation and suicide as extreme forms of physical violence
5.3 Verbal violence
5.3.1 Words as weapons
6 The spectator’s role
7 Conclusion
Research Objectives & Key Topics
This study explores the nature of violence in Sarah Kane’s writing, focusing primarily on her play Cleansed to investigate how brutal, visceral imagery functions as a metaphorical exploration of love, identity, and the limitations of language. It seeks to uncover whether these illustrations of physical and verbal brutality are merely gratuitous shock tactics or integral components of her dramatic vision.
- The role of excessive, visceral violence in Kane's dramatic structure.
- The interplay between realism and surrealism in representing human experience.
- Thematic investigations into love, pathological identity, and the struggle with language.
- The function of the spectator as both victim and accomplice.
- The potential for hope and redemptive meaning within a bleak, nihilistic setting.
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3.1 Kane’s writing: similarities and points of difference in her plays
In the short period between 1993 and 1999 Sarah Kane wrote five plays which constitute her lifework. Each of them is marked by “the explosive theatricality, the lyricism, the emotional power, and the bleak humour” that are hallmarks of Kane’s writing. Just as her models Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, Kane departed from the path of (British) naturalism. Kane was a constant experimenter. Each of her plays has its own quality and develops an independent style of its own. Even though there is an evident development in her work, a red thread which (thematically) links all of her plays, different styles crystallised in the process of her writing, which allow the subdivision of Kane’s theatre. The critic Ruby Cohn makes out “two radically different theatre styles” in Kane’s work, the result of which are three violent and two linguistic plays.
While Kane’s first three plays, Blasted, Phaedra’s Love, and Cleansed, are characterised by their excessive violence, her last two plays, Crave and 4.48 Psychosis, show a language oriented dramaturgy and put emphasis on a poetically dense language. The atrocities of her first three plays are substituted in her last two works by verbal devices. The imagery thus moved from a mainly physical to a textual realisation and in her last two plays it is words, rather than action, that build the play. However, Kane’s linguistic plays do not entirely renounce the poetic imagery which dominates her first three plays. In Crave and 4.48 Psychosis, language does not substitute the visual images, it rather comprises them. In each of her plays Kane employed different stylistic and linguistic techniques. Hence, “enfold[ing] a different architecture,” every single play is special and stands on its own as a piece of art.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Provides an overview of Sarah Kane’s career and defines the central research question regarding the purpose of violence in her work.
2 The theatrical background: Situates Kane’s work within the context of 1990s “in-yer-face” theatre and the shift towards confrontational, non-naturalistic drama.
3 Sarah Kane’s dramatic art: Analyzes the stylistic development of Kane’s work, focusing on the interplay of realism, surrealism, and her artistic reduction.
4 A critical analysis of Cleansed: Examines the themes, imagery, and symbolism of the play, exploring love, identity, and the struggle with language.
5 The use and function of violence: Investigates the motivations behind the excessive physical and verbal violence presented in the play.
6 The spectator’s role: Analyzes the impact of the performance on the audience, positing that they are forced into the roles of witness and accomplice.
7 Conclusion: Summarizes the findings, affirming that violence in Kane's work serves as a necessary metaphor for love and survival rather than mere sensation.
Keywords
Sarah Kane, Cleansed, Contemporary British Drama, In-Yer-Face Theatre, Violence, Love, Identity, Language, Surrealism, Symbolism, Mutilation, Spectator, Metaphor, 4.48 Psychosis, Blasted.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The study provides a deep critical analysis of Sarah Kane's play Cleansed, examining how its intense portrayal of violence serves as a vehicle for exploring love, identity, and linguistic struggle.
Which theatrical movements are associated with Sarah Kane?
Kane is typically associated with “in-yer-face” theatre, known for its explicit representation of violence and sex, as well as influences from Brecht, Beckett, and Artaud.
What is the central research question?
The work investigates the purpose of the excessive violence in Kane's plays, asking whether it is purely for shock value or integral to the plot, themes, and characters.
What methodological approach does the author take?
The author avoids a rigid theoretical framework, preferring a close and accurate reading of the texts to approach the work on its own terms, free from over-categorization.
How is the main body of the work structured?
The work is divided into chapters covering the theatrical background, analysis of Kane’s dramatic art, an in-depth study of Cleansed (themes, imagery, language), and an investigation into the function of violence and the role of the spectator.
What characterizes the work's primary keywords?
The keywords include artistic terms like “in-yer-face theatre,” “surrealism,” and “metaphor,” as well as thematic concepts like “violence,” “love,” and “identity.”
How does the play define the identity of the character Tinker?
Tinker is analyzed as a highly enigmatic and contradictory figure who functions as both a brutal torturer and a symbolic redeemer, embodying the play's fluid and opaque characterizations.
What is the significance of the “word ‘lovely’” in the play?
The word “lovely” is explored as a recurring motif, specifically reserved for the siblings Grace and Graham, acting as a contrast to the surrounding violence and signaling moments of intense emotional connection.
How does the author interpret the play's ending?
The ending is viewed as fundamentally ambiguous, offering no easy resolution; while some critics see potential salvation, others interpret the blinding light and sound as a final act of annihilation.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Magistra Artium Lea Jasmin Gutscher (Autor:in), 2007, Violence in Contemporary British Drama: Sarah Kane's play "Cleansed", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/118141
