Kara Krichman
Dramaturgy
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AugusT: Osage County
Beverly opens August: Osage County by quoting T.S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men' when he says,
"Life is very long..."
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T.S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men' themes:
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loss of hope
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Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom”
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identity
“We are all the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together”
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passivity
“Shape without form, shade without colour
Paralyzed force, gesture without motion;”
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Pictured below (left-right, then below):
T.S Eliot, Hart Crane, John Berryman and Vivienne Haigh-Wood
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-T.S. Eliot 's 'The Hollow Men' was a reflection his failing relationship with Haigh-Wood in mind, similarly Beverly and Violet's marriage is falling apart
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-Haigh-Wood had mental issues and was in and out of mental institutions, Beverly recognizes that Eliot didn't commit suicide (like the 'Olympian Suicidalists') even though his marriage was falling apart
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-The line "here we go round the prickly pear" speaks specifically to this Oklahoma native plant
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-The line "This is the way the world ends foreshadows Beverly's suicide and Violet destroying her family
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-John Berrymen and Hart Crane were both poets inspired by T.S. Eliot and struggled with depression and alcoholism.
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Ultimately both poets committed suicide:
-Crane by jumping off of a boat in the Gulf of Mexico shouting 'Goodbye, everybody!'
Crane also struggled with his sexuality.
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-Berryman jumped off a bridge into the Mississippi River. Berryman was married three times, all of which were failed marriages.
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Parallels with Beverly
There is a long lineage of poets of the 20th Century who committed suicide.
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For a full list of poets who committed suicide click here.
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For information about the psychology of suicidal poets click here.
For the full version of T.S. Eliots 'The Hollow Men' Click here.
For the full version of John Berryman's Dream Song 149, Click here.