Abstract

In this study an effort has been made to explore plays selected from the body of Lee Blessing's work, Two Rooms , Down the Road , and Fortinbras , focusing on his view and use of the protagonist as a remaindered subject seeking recognition, meaning, or affirmation in a world that seems capricious and unconcerned with the essence of his/her existence. Remaindered subjects are defined as those who, like remaindered books, are valued primarily as outdated, discounted, or surplussed individuals. These are not dishonored, but rather powerless individuals who vacillate between hope and despair, faithfulness and fault, unable to express or exert influence in their world. ;This view is evident in Blessing's plays and can be identified in the writing of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Several of Lacan's ideas were examined and used as analytical tools: the imaginary, real, and symbolic orders, the mirror stage, narcissism, desire, the phallus, object petit a, jouissance, fantasy, the Oedipus complex, and mourning. While Lacan's purpose is not generally to predict nor to psychoanalyze character or author motives, he uses these literary texts and classical theatrical literature as examples of the manifestation of the psychoanalytic theories. A comparison of Blessing's and Lacan's work dovetails in such a way that each is more understandable through juxtaposition and simultaneous exploration of the other. ;The result of this study was a detailed and critical examination of Blessing's plays Two Rooms, Down the Road, and Fortinbras, including a synopsis, a summary of the dramatic action, and an overview of selected critical responses to each play. This was followed by a exploration of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory and its application to dramatic criticism; an investigation of Blessing's protagonists as Lacanian desiring subjects negotiating the interstices of the imaginary, the symbolic and the real; and a suggestion for a language and methodology useful for an analytical critique of theatrical literature