Heteronormativity, Penalization, and Explicitness : A Representation of Homosexuality in American Drama and its Adaptations

L. Bos

This thesis analyzes the presence of homosexuality in American drama written in the 1930s-1960s by using twentieth-century sexology theories and ideas of heteronormativity, penalization, and explicitness. The following works and their adaptations will be discussed: The Children's Hour (1934) by Lillian Hellman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) by Tennessee Williams, and The Boys in the Band (1968) by Mart Crowley. This thesis argues that the works reflect as well as criticize and react to sexology ideas and theories in the way in which homosexuality was perceived in twentieth-century American society.