Psycho-analysis of disturbed identity in post-modern civilization as depicted in modern American drama

This article discusses the concept of disturbed identity and impaired identity and loss of status amid psychopaths in modern American drama. It touches upon a convocation of themes and issues related to the concept of disturbed identity to explore an ongoing debate about modern drama with reference to some works of prominent American playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill, Edward Albee, and Tennessee Williams. Such concept is discussed in terms of their tragic vision, influences, and thematic concerns. The article shows that what is common is that the protagonists of this drama attempt to invest their lives with meaning in a context in which they seek to rediscover their lost or disturbed identities as they suffer from the pressure of loss of meaning in life. What has also been discovered in this article and is so common in modern American drama is the sense that the past pressed unbearably on the present. That past may be the disturbing history of a family or a community or even a country. The tragic mode allows dramatists to go beyond the exploration of personal psychology and to take on more universal and political themes. The plays in modern American drama create an environment where empathy is demanded, where catharsis can occur, where the tension between the decisions and actions of individuals and the needs of their communities matters, where our modern drama plays out against the backdrop and demands of the American dream in all its forms; such plays whose themes, plots and symbolism touched upon the dehumanizing impact of capitalism in post-modern states in which the unyielding pursuit of wealth and power distorts one’s worth as a human being, eventually showing that with this attitude to life, one is likely to lose a true feeling of the mere value of life. In this vein, this article focuses more generally on personality transformations, particularly the impact and outcomes of the relentless pursuit for money from a culturally critical and psycho-analytical perspective. The fanciful storylines in such plays archetypally depicts the cruel involuntary journey of modern man in which he suffers the unrestrained disorder of moral incoherence. Thus, the article seeks to explain the paradox of modern man being equally suffering in society both as a victim and victimizer of modern life. This image of modern men delineated as purely money-wise is well put in exemplar modern American drama. Many examples of such plays provide ample opportunity for discussing and reflecting on psychological issues that make prominent the image of the modern soul-less man in post-modern, post-industrial society, and it well presents men's relationships towards the others, highlighting much of the venomous picture of human relationships in capitalist societies.