{"id":225,"date":"2019-10-21T15:35:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T15:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/?p=225"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:38:20","slug":"age-and-politics-in-early-american-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/age-and-politics-in-early-american-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Age and Politics in Early American Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zoe Detsi<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This paper seeks to explore how age as a determining category of identity was represented on the American stage in the years following the American Revolution. By bringing early American drama\u2014a field largely neglected in itself\u2014into the discussion of performance and age studies, this paper examines age from a political perspective, as performance of the emerging American republican culture and as metaphor for national identity-formation and development.
Keywords: <\/strong>early American drama, age, national identity, political rhetoric<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\none of the most popular political cartoons of the American Revolution, \u201cThe\nFemale Combatants\u201d (anon. 1776),[1]<\/sup><\/a> the increasing animosity and irreconcilable conflict between the Old and the\nNew World takes the form of a domestic brawl between mother and daughter.\nFalling within the colonial paradigm of a parent-child relationship, the\ncartoon portrays Britain as an opulent older woman who chastises her young\nNative American daughter for her rebellious behavior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nthe specific cartoon has received multiple interpretations that combine its\npolitical intent with issues of gender and race, the age difference in the\nallegorical representation of the two women has been overlooked. Within a\ncontext of age dynamics, America is presented as young and vigorous, lacking\nthe pretentious refinement of Britain and embodying the innocence and\nnaturalness of the new land as well as the determination to attain liberty and\nindependence. America\u2019s youthful impetuousness and disobedience are justifiable\nin the face of an abusive and tyrannical Britain whose controlling attitude\npertains to an age-old loss of innocence. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notion of America as a young nation among the older\nEuropean nations has been a powerful ideological constant in American history.\nIt was Oscar Wilde who wittily remarked that \u201cThe youth of America is their\noldest tradition. It has been going on for three hundred years.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nnations are conceded to be \u201cimagined communities,\u201d then the imagining of the\nUnited States has been a complex process of forsaking an immemorial European\npast and reinventing a bright new destiny and\nfuture on the American land.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nbirth of the American nation during the turbulent revolutionary years occurred\nwithin an ideological context where political rhetoric and cultural\nrepresentation existed in powerful convergence. Images of America as a\ndivinely-ordained land of freedom and democracy, in stark contrast to an old,\ndecadent, outworn Europe, pervaded both political and cultural texts, in an\nattempt to construct a new national identity defined by the regenerative\npotential of republicanism and the promise of rebirth and dynamic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
\u201cBetsy Ross presenting the first American flag to General George Washington,\u201d painting by Edward Percy Moran, 1917, from the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. The painting captures the heightened feeling of nationalism and patriotic ardor that permeated the American consciousness across generations in the aftermath of the Revolution <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Historian Sacvan Bercovitch has drawn special attention to the sense of continuity\nand undiminished fervor in the realization of the national project as well as\nthe role the younger generation of Americans were called upon to play in the\nnew republic. As he explains, the Revolution in America required \u201cthe ordained succession from one\ngeneration to the next. What the American Puritan fathers had begun\u2014their\nsons\nwere bound to complete\u2014bound\nby covenant and precedent\u201d (38).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis the aim of this paper to explore how, in the process of reinventing the\nAmerican nation and changing public mentality in\nthe years following the American Revolution, the concept of age was invested with\npolitical significance and became associated with the emerging\u2014albeit rather\nabstract\u2014notion  of \u201cAmericanness.\u201d By\nfocusing on early American drama, I have sought to expand the still limited\nscholarly attention to the concept of age and examine how age as a determining\ncategory of identity was represented on the early American stage reflecting\nand, at the same time, inviting audiences to evaluate\u2014consciously or not\u2014the\nchanging political ideas and cultural values of their new nation.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though\nthere have been a number of studies attempting to redress the neglect of the\nconcept of age when analyzing identity in drama, they have mostly engaged with\ncanonical plays, elaborating primarily on the performative elements inherent in\nage as cultural construction.[5]<\/sup><\/a> It has been intriguing to bring early American drama\u2014a field largely neglected\nin itself\u2014into the discussion of performance and age studies. Despite their ostensible dramatic weaknesses and their persistent\ntendency to draw heavily on European theatrical conventions, post-revolutionary\nAmerican plays, as both product and expression of their political culture,\ncontributed to the national narrative of republicanism and American\nexceptionalism. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Interior of the Park Theatre, built in New York City, in 1798. After the Revolution, opposition against the theatre began to gradually wane and anti-theatre laws were repealed. Theatres were built in big urban centers, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and drama was considered part of the national effort toward cultural independence and indoctrination in the new republican values. Photo: Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Given the distinct role of early American\ntheatre as a public platform for staging national identity, I am less concerned with the\nappearance of age on early American stage than with its representation as\npolitical trope for the ideological transition into the republican values of\nthe new nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My starting point has been the assumption that age is both solid and fluid\u2014 solid in the sense that it is firmly rooted in the materiality of the body,[6]<\/sup><\/a> and fluid since audience members respond to the performances of age based not only on their own perspective and experience of age, but also on the often-changing cultural dynamics of their sociopolitical context. Kathleen Woodward has broken age down to a number of categories arguing that \u201cto subjective or personal age [how old we feel we are], we must add social age [how age affects the ways other people treat us], which is mediated by chronological age (how many years old we are) and biological age (the state of health of the body)\u201d (Aging and Its Discontents<\/em> 149). Exploring representations of youth as well as older age[7]<\/sup><\/a> in early American drama, I suggest approaching age from a political perspective, as performance of the emerging American republican culture, as metaphor for national identity-formation and development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Age becomes a complex matter when brought\ninto the domain of political ideas and the framework of an incipient\nnationalism. When Royall Tyler\u2019s comedy of manners, The Contrast<\/em> (1787), appeared on the post-revolutionary American\nstage, it was greeted with enthusiastic applause and critical acclaim earning a\ndistinguished place in the annals of American theatre and an unremitting\nscholarly attention to this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Contrast<\/em> possessed all the staple ingredients for a\nsuccessful rendering in its time: it was customized to meet the developing\ncultural needs of a republican audience,[8]<\/sup><\/a> it was proudly advertized as the work of \u201ca Citizen of the United States,\u201d it\nemployed themes and types from the American social landscape, it reinvigorated\npatriotic sentiment and fostered national consciousness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the title itself suggests, the play follows the ideological line of the revolutionary discourse bringing to the stage, with an obvious tinge of didacticism, the sharp contrast between a socially bankrupt European culture of pretentiousness and artificiality and an invigorating American culture of simplicity, honesty and moderation. However, the specific reference to America\u2019s \u201cmodern youth\u201d in the Prologue to the play and the cast of young characters place The Contrast<\/em> in a different light, with age as a defining factor in the political construction of a republican self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emphasis on the younger generation of\nAmericans as the future of the republic is burdened with political demands and\ncultural expectations. The new nation, proud of its achievements and confident\nof its prospects, is ready to embark on a long process toward the\nmaterialization of the revolutionary promises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the characters in the play are young people, with the exception of Maria\u2019s father, the aptly named Van Rough, a domineering man who calls his daughter \u201clittle baggage\u201d (99), demands that she marry a man \u201cof his choice\u201d (49), and poses, in truly melodramatic fashion, a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to the loving union between Maria and Colonel Manly. Verging on the grotesque, Van Rough stubbornly clings to a patriarchal model of parental control in total dissonance with the new republican patterns of family and social life, especially as regards women\u2019s education and greater freedom over marriage choice.[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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The Life and age of woman, stages of woman’s life from the cradle to the grave<\/em>. New York: James Baillie, c1848. Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division<\/a>. Although the social status of American women was not substantially affected by the republican promises of the revolution, the emergence of the concept of \u201cRepublican Motherhood\u201d gave political significance to the domestic role of women charging them with the responsibility to instill republican values into their children. Within this context, more women gained access to education and were given greater freedom to choose their marital partners<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

His language is a cacophony of obsolete ideas\nand gender prejudices, relics of an old colonial social order and provincial\noutlook. However, after a series of plot twists, Van Rough awakens to a\nrealization of his own false judgment and narrow-mindedness and consents to\nMaria\u2019s marriage to Colonel Manly, no longer being able to resist the\nrepublican forces at work that challenge traditional authorities and usher in\nnew cultural paradigms and gender ideals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Age\ntheorist Margaret Morganroth Gullette has defined \u201ctwo dominant American fables\nof aging\u201d (Agewise<\/em> 7) that position age\nidentity in terms of narratives of progress and narratives of decline. The idea\nof progress\u2014so optimistic and desirable\u2014has been ingrained in American\nmythology since the time of colonization and expansion, while the idea of\ndecline is associated with cultural forces that have demonized\n\u201caging-past-youth\u201d (8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nThe Contrast<\/em>, the concept of decline does not refer to the experience of\naging as physical deterioration, but rather to an aged mentality, a mentality\nof conservatism and regression, while the concept of progress is inextricably\nlinked to youth, newness, growth. The ending of the play is a celebration of\nthe younger generation and the revolutionary values they have been nurtured\ninto. Even those young characters in the play who have rather naively advocated\na more European life-style are duly reformed and\nreadily embrace the fundamental principles of equality, freedom and virtue that\nconstitute the essence of the American national identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, a\nmajor shift occurred in American drama from the cultural juxtaposition between\nAmerican virtue and European vice to a concern over the increasing discrepancy\nbetween the egalitarian rhetoric of republicanism and the reality of political\nrestrictions in the process of social reconstruction. As the new nation was rapidly growing\nwithin its own borders and as an international power, the need to establish its\npolitical character became all the more imperative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Judith S. Murray\u2019s The\nMedium; or, Virtue Triumphant<\/em> (1795),[10]<\/sup><\/a> the intersection of age and politics falls within the wider political debate\nover the shape the American society should take in terms of social hierarchies\nand democratic governance. In the play, age becomes a barometer of the opposing\nideologies of revolutionary radicalism and political conservatism, each seeking\nto determine the future of the nation.[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Judith S. Murray. The first-ever theatrical revival of The Medium<\/em> was mounted by the North Shore Folklore Theatre in Murray\u2019s hometown of Gloucester, Mass. on December 13, 2015. Photo: W<\/a>ikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mr. Maitland, a member of the older generation of the American elite, who strongly opposes his son\u2019s romantic attachment to Eliza on the basis of social class, espouses a rigid mentality of social stratification and economic distinction, expressing the fear that the egalitarian promises of the revolution might lead to social disruption and cultural dissolution. Echoing pre-revolutionary patterns of patriarchy and class hierarchy, Maitland\u2019s ideas betray a lingering anxiety regarding the new nation\u2019s changing social profile and cultural attitudes. However, in his meeting with Eliza, Maitland is surprisingly disarmed by the force of her values and principles, by her autonomy and sound judgment, evident in her determination to \u201cnever, but on equal terms,\u201d plight her faith with Charles\u2019 (32). Although Eliza herself appears to be class conscious, and is conveniently rewarded with social status and wealth at the end of the play, she represents the new generation of American women whose experience of the post-revolutionary political culture of equal rights and opportunities have led them toward a redefinition of their social role and gender identity. Eliza is the new American girl who wins Maitland over with her frankness and confidence. She supports the more \u201crepublican\u201d view of marriage as woman\u2019s choice, based not only on love, but also on mutual respect and admiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nboth The Contrast<\/em> and The Medium<\/em>, the time-honored association\nof wisdom with older age is undermined as both Van Rough and Maitland seem to\nlack a capacity for sound judgment and reflection in matters of life, conduct\nand interpersonal relations. Their age-old experience is fraught with rigid\nideas and long-held biases. They insist on judging the social and political\nchanges taking place in the new nation by the standards of an older regime\nwhose validity is steadily fading. They both appear ill-adapted to the new\nsocial order and, eventually, withdraw to the margins, without any feelings of\nbitterness or anger. The weakening of their influence is a smooth\u2014and\ninevitable\u2014process of relinquishing authority and control to the younger\ngeneration of Americans, whose political system and social vision are\nendorsed.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association of youth with national regeneration, optimism and progress is a dominant metaphor in early American plays. In Mary Carr\u2019s The Fair Americans<\/em> (1815),[12]<\/sup><\/a> the focus is on the impact of the War of 1812 on the mentality of the younger generation of Americans. The play explores the role of young people as doers, as agents of action, as participants in the political arena of decision-making. The young men and women of the new nation, experiencing a renewed state of patriotic fervor and national pride, assume responsibility for safeguarding the revolutionary values and republican ideals their predecessors had heroically fought for. In this moment of national crisis, the revolutionary metaphor of the rebellious child acting against an abusive parent is replaced by the image of deferential young Americans trying to emulate the heroic virtue of their forefathers (Detsi-Diamanti, Patriotic Revival, 2012: 134-35). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nyoung men and women, armed with the legacy of the Revolution, respond to\nnational matters with political maturity and confidence. The \u201cfair Americans\u201d\nof the play\u2019s title are the young women of the nation who successfully combine\ntheir domestic role with an active involvement in public affairs. The girls\nengage in discussions of political matters and seek fulfillment in more\nsubstantial education. The play draws a clear dividing line between the younger\nand older generation of American women. Mrs. Fairfield is portrayed as the\nepitome of the traditional domestic woman whose constant nagging about\nunfinished household chores transforms her into a caricature, a comic reminder\nof America\u2019s provincial past (Detsi-Diamanti, \u201cPatriotic Revival\u201d 141). What is\nat stake in the play is no longer the easily identifiable juxtaposition between\nthe disparate political systems and social\ncultures of Europe and the United States, but the challenge of national\ndevelopment from the post-revolutionary atmosphere of ideological probing and\npolitical conflict to a society of unity, coherence, morality and\ngreatness.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Pease has described the \u201cnational narrative\u201d as a\nmeans of creating a nation by constructing \u201cimaginary relations to actual\nsociopolitical conditions\u201d (3). Approaching age in the plays as part of the\nAmerican national narrative involves an examination of how age\u2014like race, class\nand gender\u2014is not a fixed identity category, but embodies inherent\ncontradictions pertaining to the changing social and political context as well\nas to personal experience and social outlook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Medium<\/em>, the rigidity of old age, represented by Maitland, is sharply undercut by the wit and open-mindedness of Matronia Aimwell. An older, single woman, Matronia has not fulfilled her culturally prescribed destiny to become a wife and a mother. Yet, instead of feeling marginalized, slowly retreating into the \u201cinvisibility of old age,\u201d[13]<\/sup><\/a> she moves in the public world with an air of confidence and independence, carrying out her own business affairs and enjoying the esteem of society. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Godey’s Lady’s Book<\/a><\/em> (Jan.-June 1853). While American women\u2019s destiny remained to become wives and mothers, single women enjoyed greater freedom under the law to conduct their own business and public affairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Maitland and Matronia\u2019s chronological age is filtered through\ntheir gender identity, the social ideas they espouse and the cultural meanings\nthey convey. As a result, age is inflected with the degree of acceptance or\nrejection of specific ideas and behaviors. Though belonging to the same age\ngroup, Maitland represents an outdated, waning patriarchal mentality, while\nMatronia stands for a new alternative social existence for older American women,\none that entails a considerable degree of freedom and autonomy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same applies to the younger generation of Americans, who\nare not presented as a homogeneous group in their social behavior and cultural\npursuits. In The Contrast<\/em>, the young\npeople are divided among those who have eagerly adopted the republican\nprinciples of the new nation and live by them, and those who adhere to European\nvalues and manners, exhibiting a dangerous frivolity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the plays, the present and the past, the young and the old, meet to negotiate the ideas, values and attitudes that will carry America into the unfailing progress of its national future. In this process, however, a number of questions inevitably arise: What role should the past play in determining the present and the future of the nation? To what extent should the present be recognized as an improved continuance of the past, or as a disruptive force? Which ideas, values and attitudes should define and defend the new national identity through time? What does it mean to be old in the new nation? What does it entail to be young? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of age adds a new perspective to the underlying complexities of America\u2019s journey to nationhood. The representation of age is a political act in the sense that it enacts conceptions of national identity through narratives of America\u2019s relation\u2014real or fabricated\u2014to the past, present and future. America\u2019s relation to the past has assumed two contradictory doctrines, each contributing equally to the shaping of an enduring American national consciousness: 1. embrace the past as a reminder of America\u2019s \u201cmanifest destiny\u201d in the world, and 2. repudiate the past, its dogmas and traditions, to declare a fresh start, a new beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a context of generational tension between parents and\nchildren, old and new regimes, age becomes politicized emphasizing both\nconflict and continuity. Especially during the post-revolutionary period, the\npast acquired contradictory meanings depending on the changing discourses of\nthe time. On the one hand, it represented the oppressive regime of British monarchy\nand the discredited European political values, and, on the other, it stood for the\nlegacy of the American Revolution and the triumph of republicanism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, the challenge of nation-making would be met through\na Freudian-like \u201crhetorical patricide\u201d that would enable the American youth to \u201csupersede\ntheir own fathers and other \u2018heroic\u2019 founding figures to achieve their own\nidentity\u201d (Wallach 6). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image of America as a perennially youthful nation, whose heroic flight from the past had been a reassuring reminder of the nation\u2019s potential and power, gained momentum and dominated the American national imagination for the years to come. In his essay, \u201cThe Young American\u201d (1844), Ralph W. Emerson attributes to the American land all the qualities associated with youth. For Emerson, America is \u201cnew-born, free, healthful, strong\u201d; \u201cit is the country of the Future\u201d; \u201cit is a country of beginnings, of projects, of designs, and expectations.\u201d[14]<\/sup><\/a> Another American writer and lecturer of the time, George William Curtis also embraces the new against the old, the political and literary freshness against the inert adherence to the past. As Curtis pointed out in 1853, \u201call these works of antiquity are only partial and incomplete affairs, not to be compared with what can be done in our day\u201d (qtd. in Eyal 252).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this day, however, the way young Americans understand their relationship to the past and the future seems to cause more frustration than optimism. According to social historians, although there\u2019s a lot of focus in the media on the younger generation of Americans, financial power, political power and consumer power are still in the hands of the baby boomer generation (Frey 35). Overshadowed by those aged 60+, young Americans have a hard path to follow in determining political life and social culture, especially in the face of pressing issues, such as war and climate change, among others. It appears that today\u2019s youth are inheriting, along with the obligation to defend the legacy of their forefathers, the errors of the previous generation. \u201cThe mistakes of the past are fast creating a crisis for younger Americans, writes Lyman Stone in The Atlantic<\/em> (June 24, 2019).[15]<\/sup><\/a> In these challenging economic times and globally-connected culture, young Americans see progress as a break from the previous generation\u2019s conservatism and as a move toward embracing diversity and tolerance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Endnotes<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> See McKellop. Also,\nfor more information regarding the political cartoons of the American\nRevolution, see Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> The quote is from Oscar Wilde\u2019s play A Woman of No Importance<\/em> (1893, Act I).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> I have borrowed the term from Benedict Anderson to refer to America\u2019s transition from colony to nation. In this transition, the narrative of America as a \u201cNew World,\u201d a \u201cNew Eden,\u201d a mythical land of promise and rebirth, became a powerful metaphor in the construction of America\u2019s cultural profile and political mythology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> Particularly at the time\nof the American Revolution and in its aftermath, American drama held a unique\nposition as a powerful ideological mechanism for representing republican values\nand encouraging a mentality of common heritage and shared future among the\ndiverse American citizens. For more information on the political resonances of\nthe American theatre and its role in the construction of American identity, see\nDetsi-Diamanti (2004); Mason; Richards; Wilmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> See, Basting; Lipscomb;\nLipscomb and Marshall; Mangan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a>Judith Butler\u2019s argument regarding the concept of gender, that \u201cthe matter of bodies will be indissociable from the regulatory norms that govern their materialization and the signification of those material effects\u201d (2), can also be applied to an understanding of the formation of age as cultural identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a> In Aged by Culture<\/em>, Margaret Gullette has proposed an\nexploration of all ages redefining the field of aging studies as age studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> The Contrast<\/em> was tailored after\nSheridan\u2019s The School for Scandal<\/em>. It\nwas \u201cboth entertaining and corrective, a school not for scandal but for new\nAmerican identities (Richards 299). The play\u2019s significance lies in its role in\nreinforcing a sense of national identity among a diverse citizenship and as a\nfirst attempt toward the creation of a distinctly American theatre.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a> For more\ninformation, see Kerber; Norton.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/sup><\/a> The\nBoston newspaper Federal Orrery<\/em>\nannounced that a new comedy, written by a \u201cCitizen of the United States\u201d would\nbe performed at the Federal Street Theatre on March 2, 1795 (Skemp 254). Though\nit enjoyed only one performance, the play has come down to early American\ntheatre annals as the first American-authored play to have been performed on Boston\nstage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/sup><\/a> The\nprocess of party formation gave rise to divergent political orientations\nregarding the future of the nation. On the one hand, the Federalists proposed a\nstrong, centralized government favoring a clearly stratified society and the\nleadership of a wealthy and educated elite. On the other hand, the Democratic\nRepublicans envisioned a social order in which race and gender, instead of\nclass, were the principal factors determining one\u2019s access to public sphere and\neligibility for self-government. For more information about the political and\nsocial vision of the two competing parties, see Ben-Atar; Horn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/sup><\/a> There is no production\ninformation for The Fair Americans<\/em>. However, it is probable that the\nplay may have been produced under the title The Return from Camp <\/em>on\nJanuary 6, 1815, at Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theatre (Kritzer 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/sup><\/a> I have\nborrowed the term from Woodward who has made a case regarding the invisibility\nof older women in everyday life (1999).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14]<\/sup><\/a> Emerson is among the first to mention \u201cYoung America\u201d as a promising concept in the American national project toward \u201cgreatness,\u201d in terms of technological and commercial development, as well as literary achievement. For Emerson\u2019s essay, follow this link<\/a>. See also, Eyal for information on \u201cThe Young America Movement\u201d of the 1840s and 1850s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15]<\/sup><\/a> See here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Bibliography<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities<\/em>. Verso, 1991.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basting, Anne Davis. \u201cPerformance Studies and Age.\u201d Handbook\nof the Humanities and Aging<\/em>, edited by Thomas R. Cole, Robert Kastenbaum,\nand Ruth E. Ray, 2nd<\/sup> ed., Springer Publishing, 2000, p. 258-71.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bercovitch, Sacvan. The Rites of Assent: Transformations in\nthe Symbolic Construction of America. Routledge, 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ben- Atar, Doron, and Barbara B. Oberg, eds. Federalists\nReconsidered. The UP of Virginia, 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Butler, Judith. Bodies\nthat Matter. <\/em>Routledge, 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carr, Mary. The Fair Americans: A Play of the War of 1812<\/em>.\nPlays by Early American Women, 1775\u20131850<\/em>, edited by Amelia Howe Kritzer,\nU of Michigan P, 1995, pp. 183-215.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detsi-Diamanti, Zoe. \u201cThe Language of Assent: Republican\nRhetoric and the Metaphors of National Redemption in American Revolutionary\nDrama.\u201d American Drama<\/em>, vol. 13, 2004, pp. 1-30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201c\u2018The youth grasp the sword and for battle prepare\u2019: Patriotic Revival and National Optimism in Mary Carr\u2019s The Fair Americans<\/em> (1815).\u201d\u00a0 Forever Young? The Changing Images of America<\/em>, edited by Philip Coleman and Stephen Matterson, Universit\u00e4tsverlag, 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eyal, Yonatan. The Young America Movement and the Transformation of the Democratic\nParty<\/em>. Cambridge UP, 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frey, William H. \u201cBaby Boomers and the New Demographics of America\u2019s Seniors.\u201d Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging<\/em>, vol. 34, 2010, pp. 28-37.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gullette, Margaret Morganroth. Agewise: Fighting the New Ageism in America<\/em>.\nThe U of Chicago P, 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014. Aged By Culture. <\/em>Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horn,\nJames, Jan Ellen Lewis, and Peter S. Onuf, eds. The Revolution of 1800: Democracy, Race, and the New Republic<\/em>. The UP\nof Virginia, 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacobson, Matthew F. Whiteness of a Different Color: European\nImmigrants and the Alchemy of Race<\/em>. Harvard UP, 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones, Michael Wynn. The Cartoon History of the American\nRevolution<\/em>.  Putnam, 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kerber,\nLinda. \u201c\u2018I have Don . . . much to Carrey on the War\u2019: Women and the Shaping of\nRepublican Ideology after the American Revolution.\u201d Women and Politics<\/em> in the Age of\nthe Democratic Revolution<\/em>,\nedited by Harriet B. Applewhite and Darline G. Levy, U of Michigan P, 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kritzer,\nAmelia Howe. Plays by Early American Women,\n1775\u20131850<\/em>. U of Michigan P, 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lipscomb,\nValerie Barnes. Performing Age in Modern\nDrama<\/em>. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lipscomb,\nValerie Barnes, and Leni Marshall, eds. Staging Age: The Performance of Age\nin Theatre, Dance, and Film. <\/em>Palgrave, 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mangan,\nMichael. Staging Ageing<\/em>: Theatre, Performance, and the Narrative of <\/em> Decline.<\/em>\nIntellect, 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mason, Jeffrey D. and J. Ellen Gainor.\nPerforming America: Cultural Nationalism\nin American Theater<\/em>. The U of Michigan P, 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKellop, Stephanie. \u201cAmerica, the \u201cRebellious Slut\u201d: Gender and Political Cartoons in the American Revolution.\u201d Common-Place: The Journal of Early American Life<\/em>, vol. 17, 2017, common-place.org\/book\/vol-17-no-3-mckellop\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murray,\nJudith. S. The Medium; or, Virtue Triumphant<\/em>. The Gleaner<\/em>.  Thomas and Andrews, 1798.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norton, Mary Beth. Liberty\u2019s Daughters: The Revolutionary\nExperience of American Women, 1750-1800<\/em>. Cornell UP, 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pease, Donald. \u201cNational Identities,\nPostmodern Artifacts, and Postnational Narratives.\u201d National Identities and Post-Americanist Narratives<\/em>. Duke UP, 1994,\npp. 1-13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richards, Jeffrey H. Drama, Theatre, and Identity in the American\nNew Republic<\/em>. Cambridge UP, 2005. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skemp, Sheila L. First Lady of Letters: Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for\nFemale Independence<\/em>. U of Pennsylvania P, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler, Royall. \u201cThe Contrast.\u201d 1787<\/strong>. The Contrast:\nManners, Morals, and Authority in the Early American Republic<\/em>, edited by Cynthia\nA. Kierner, New York UP, 2007, pp. 35-100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014\u2014\u2014. ed. Figuring Age: Women, Bodies, Generations<\/em>. Indiana UP, 1999.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\"\"
 \n\n\n\n

*<\/a>Zoe Detsi<\/strong> is Professor at the Department of American Literature at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She has been teaching and researching in the fields of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American culture and ideology, American drama and politics, and popular culture. Her publications include articles in American Drama<\/em>, American Studies<\/em>, New England Theatre Journal<\/em>, and Prospects<\/em>. She is the author of a book on Early American Women Dramatists, 1775\u20131860<\/em> (New York: Garland, 1998), and has also co-edited The Flesh Made Text Made Flesh: Cultural and Theoretical Returns to the Body<\/em> (New York: Peter Lang, 2007), The Future of Flesh<\/em> (New York: Palgrave\/Macmillan, 2009), and The Viewing of Politics and the Politics of Viewing: Theatre Challenges in the Age of Globalized Communities<\/em> (Thessaloniki: Aristotle University Press, 2017). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2019 Zoe Detsi
Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Creative<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-topic","tag-st-front"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image2-8.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":756,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/a-note-from-the-guest-editors\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":0},"title":"A Note from the Guest Editors","author":"Zoe Detsi","date":"December 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Manabu Noda* and Yun Cheol Kim** The world is ageing\u2212and fast. According to the United Nations, already one in eleven of the world population is over 65, and by 2050 the rate will be one in six. The 65+ age band outnumbered children under five years of age for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Manabu_Noda2-140x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":79,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/reminiscence-drama-in-an-ageing-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":1},"title":"Reminiscence Drama in an Ageing World","author":"Zoe Detsi","date":"October 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Katerina Kosti* Abstract Today the world\u2019s population is ageing, due to both an ongoing decline in fertility and an accompanying increase in longevity. This poses a myriad of challenges for the elderly, most notably the creative use of leisure time. In this context, drama has the potential to promote a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image3-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":534,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/theatre-at-the-crossroads-trends-and-challenges-of-georgian-theatre-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":2},"title":"Theatre at the Crossroads: Trends and Challenges of Georgian Theatre Today","author":"Zoe Detsi","date":"December 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Natalia Tvaltchrelidze* Abstract The paper overviews recent tendencies in the theatre life in Georgia. In particular, it presents the latest statistical data and audience research on theatre; it discusses theatre festival life in Georgia and the latest trends in the productions of young directors in the country.Keywords: Georgia, theatre, festivals,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National Reports"","block_context":{"text":"National Reports","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/national-reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image5-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image5-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image5-3.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image5-3.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":296,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/the-dramaturgy-of-non-belonging-jeroen-coppens-in-dialogue-with-motus-on-sharing-identity-in-panorama\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":3},"title":"The Drama(turgy) of Non-Belonging: Jeroen Coppens in Dialogue with Motus on Sharing Identity in Panorama","author":"Zoe Detsi","date":"October 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Jeroen Coppens* and Motus** Abstract This article presents a dialogue with the founders of the Motus\u00a0theatre collective,\u00a0Daniela Nicol\u00f2\u00a0and Enrico\u00a0Casagrande. It discusses the performance\u00a0Panorama\u00a0(2017), in regard to the recurring themes\u00a0of identity and\u00a0exclusion, (post-)nationalism and (non-)belonging in the work of Motus, and\u00a0explores how these\u00a0themes relate to the issue of verbal expression and\u00a0multilinguality\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image2-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image2-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image2-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/image2-2.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":827,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/modern-scottish-theatre-emerging-from-the-shadow-of-the-reformation\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":4},"title":"Modern Scottish Theatre: Emerging from the Shadow of the Reformation","author":"Zoe Detsi","date":"December 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark Brown* Abstract Scottish theatre has, arguably, enjoyed its richest period over the last half-century. This paper will seek to explain Scotland\u2019s relative lack of a historical theatre tradition and to explore the key elements in what the author proposes has been a \u201cEuropean modernist renaissance\u201d on the national stage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National Reports"","block_context":{"text":"National Reports","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/national-reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image8-4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image8-4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image8-4.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image8-4.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/age-on-stage\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":5},"title":"Age on Stage","author":"Zoe Detsi","date":"October 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Nancy Westman* Abstract Age on Stage started in Sweden in 2015, in order to allow mature professional dance artists to carry on their careers for as long as they wish. Charlotta \u00d6fverholm is the woman behind the project. She and Age on Stage are now joining forces, in Sweden as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1272,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/1272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}