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Abstract: Lillian Hellman’s famous cynical play The Little Foxe shows the conflicts among the siblings in a South- American family early in last century. This drama has acclaimed a successful one and this thesis will mainly focus on analyzing its structural feature and stylistic approach.
Key words: defamiliarization；turn-taking analysis；well-made play
1. Introduction
Lillian Florence Hellman (1905 - 1984) was an American playwright and most of her plays attack universal moral faults. Her famous drama, The Little Foxes, shows how the Hubbard siblings plot against each other to invest in a plan which will win them millions of dollars. Regina, the heroine in the play, became the winner in the end. The story reflects the southern society in America at the turn of the 20th century. It makes allusion that the nature of the emerging bourgeoisies in the South is exploitation. Previous studies on The Little Foxes are mostly concentrated on its feminism theme or characters, but few researchers have studied this play from its writing style. This study tries to analyze the writing approaches in The Little Foxes.
2. Writing Approaches in The Little Foxes
2.1Defamiliarization
According to the Russian Formalism, defamiliarization approach exercises a creative narration of its subject matters, aiming at recreate the image of the subjects. It is to use the simplest things and plainest words to discern social reality. On one hand, Lillian Hellman lays suspension in the plot development. In act three, Horace’s health condition isn’t described in detail which provides an enjoyment of defamiliarization. Readers are kept in expectation and eager to read on. Moreover, its narration is based on experiences of daily life and oral languages rather than using flowery languages. For instance, Lillian Hellman successfully mirrored the social ugliness through defamiliarizing the main characters. In The Little Foxes, Hellman’s trilogy contains a father’s betrayal of his children, interference in betrothals, deceit, and “murder”. There is cyclical revenge whose stoppage is central to the trilogy, and there is at least one character like Alexandra, who wishes to end the familial cycle of revenge. This defamiliarization approach just helps readers better comprehend the hidden tragic color in this play.
2.2 Turn-taking analysis
Turn-taking analysis is one of the methods developed within the relatively new field of drama stylistics thus it can reveal power relations among the characters in this drama. According to turn-taking model, there’re five aspects in turn-taking study: the initiation and control of topics, turn-length, turn-type, interruption and monologue, and turn-control strategies. In this play, we can arrive at those observations about the heroine Regina: Firstly, her lines are the longest, indicating her important status in the plot development. Secondly, Regina often initiates a new topic especially concerned with their money plan, indicating her greedy nature. Thirdly, she usually act as quick-response and intelligent whether she’s the initiator of a turn. Fourthly, Regina for many times acts as an interrupter in a conversation ignoring the speaker who intends to go on with his talk. Last, Regina sometimes jostle for participation privilege with her two brothers in their benefit struggle. Through turn-taking analysis, the image of characters as well as the plot development can be overflowed to the audience more naturally. 2.3 Well-made play
“A well-made play usually contains a plot based upon a withheld secret, steadily mounting suspense relying on precise timing, a climax in which the secret is revealed, and a logical denouement or resolution of all loose ends.” In The Little Foxes, the need for Regina’s share of the investment, Horace’s refusal, Oscar’s secret plan, and the resolution in which Horace permits the theft as penance to Regina, moves to fulfillment with remarkable clarity and speed. However, the play leaves some loose ends untied. At the final curtain it remains unclear whether Ben will pursue with any success his threat to expose Regina’s complicity in Horace’s death. Other unresolved plot details also belie the category of the well-made play — William Marshell appears only in Act One; Leo’s culpability in the theft remains officially undisclosed, and Horace never rewrites his will or has his triumphant moment of confrontation over the Hubbard’s crimes. These loose ends contribute to a sense that the evil of the Hubbards remains unchecked, a sense that Lillian Hellman meant to convey.
3. Conclusion
The Little Foxes is a mirror of the southern society of America at the turn of the 20th century. It reflects the social changes at that time and denounces the immorality nourished in the society. This thesis provides a brief and plain analysis about Lillian Hellman’s stylistic approaches including defamiliarization, turn-taking approach, and well-made play.
Bibliography
[1] Lillian Hellman, The Little Foxes [M], Dramatist Play Service Inc, 1939.
[2] Carole L. Hamilton, in an essay for Drama for Students, Gale, 1997.
[3]李一坤，略论丽莲·海尔曼名剧《小狐狸》之结构特点[J]﹒剧作家，2006（2）
[4]莫詹坤，陌生化理论在英国现代戏剧中的应用[J]﹒文教资料，2010（10）﹒
[5]李定清，象征：打开生命奥秘之门的钥匙—从易卜生戏剧的象征手法切入[J] 外国文学研究，2007（3）﹒
作者简介：王明明，1987年9月生，山东师范大学外国语学院硕士研究生，研究方向：应用语言学。
Key words: defamiliarization；turn-taking analysis；well-made play
1. Introduction
Lillian Florence Hellman (1905 - 1984) was an American playwright and most of her plays attack universal moral faults. Her famous drama, The Little Foxes, shows how the Hubbard siblings plot against each other to invest in a plan which will win them millions of dollars. Regina, the heroine in the play, became the winner in the end. The story reflects the southern society in America at the turn of the 20th century. It makes allusion that the nature of the emerging bourgeoisies in the South is exploitation. Previous studies on The Little Foxes are mostly concentrated on its feminism theme or characters, but few researchers have studied this play from its writing style. This study tries to analyze the writing approaches in The Little Foxes.
2. Writing Approaches in The Little Foxes
2.1Defamiliarization
According to the Russian Formalism, defamiliarization approach exercises a creative narration of its subject matters, aiming at recreate the image of the subjects. It is to use the simplest things and plainest words to discern social reality. On one hand, Lillian Hellman lays suspension in the plot development. In act three, Horace’s health condition isn’t described in detail which provides an enjoyment of defamiliarization. Readers are kept in expectation and eager to read on. Moreover, its narration is based on experiences of daily life and oral languages rather than using flowery languages. For instance, Lillian Hellman successfully mirrored the social ugliness through defamiliarizing the main characters. In The Little Foxes, Hellman’s trilogy contains a father’s betrayal of his children, interference in betrothals, deceit, and “murder”. There is cyclical revenge whose stoppage is central to the trilogy, and there is at least one character like Alexandra, who wishes to end the familial cycle of revenge. This defamiliarization approach just helps readers better comprehend the hidden tragic color in this play.
2.2 Turn-taking analysis
Turn-taking analysis is one of the methods developed within the relatively new field of drama stylistics thus it can reveal power relations among the characters in this drama. According to turn-taking model, there’re five aspects in turn-taking study: the initiation and control of topics, turn-length, turn-type, interruption and monologue, and turn-control strategies. In this play, we can arrive at those observations about the heroine Regina: Firstly, her lines are the longest, indicating her important status in the plot development. Secondly, Regina often initiates a new topic especially concerned with their money plan, indicating her greedy nature. Thirdly, she usually act as quick-response and intelligent whether she’s the initiator of a turn. Fourthly, Regina for many times acts as an interrupter in a conversation ignoring the speaker who intends to go on with his talk. Last, Regina sometimes jostle for participation privilege with her two brothers in their benefit struggle. Through turn-taking analysis, the image of characters as well as the plot development can be overflowed to the audience more naturally. 2.3 Well-made play
“A well-made play usually contains a plot based upon a withheld secret, steadily mounting suspense relying on precise timing, a climax in which the secret is revealed, and a logical denouement or resolution of all loose ends.” In The Little Foxes, the need for Regina’s share of the investment, Horace’s refusal, Oscar’s secret plan, and the resolution in which Horace permits the theft as penance to Regina, moves to fulfillment with remarkable clarity and speed. However, the play leaves some loose ends untied. At the final curtain it remains unclear whether Ben will pursue with any success his threat to expose Regina’s complicity in Horace’s death. Other unresolved plot details also belie the category of the well-made play — William Marshell appears only in Act One; Leo’s culpability in the theft remains officially undisclosed, and Horace never rewrites his will or has his triumphant moment of confrontation over the Hubbard’s crimes. These loose ends contribute to a sense that the evil of the Hubbards remains unchecked, a sense that Lillian Hellman meant to convey.
3. Conclusion
The Little Foxes is a mirror of the southern society of America at the turn of the 20th century. It reflects the social changes at that time and denounces the immorality nourished in the society. This thesis provides a brief and plain analysis about Lillian Hellman’s stylistic approaches including defamiliarization, turn-taking approach, and well-made play.
Bibliography
[1] Lillian Hellman, The Little Foxes [M], Dramatist Play Service Inc, 1939.
[2] Carole L. Hamilton, in an essay for Drama for Students, Gale, 1997.
[3]李一坤，略论丽莲·海尔曼名剧《小狐狸》之结构特点[J]﹒剧作家，2006（2）
[4]莫詹坤，陌生化理论在英国现代戏剧中的应用[J]﹒文教资料，2010（10）﹒
[5]李定清，象征：打开生命奥秘之门的钥匙—从易卜生戏剧的象征手法切入[J] 外国文学研究，2007（3）﹒
作者简介：王明明，1987年9月生，山东师范大学外国语学院硕士研究生，研究方向：应用语言学。