The World of the Play
Setting: New England, Spring 1935
Gender & feminism:
Historical events:
1928: Steamboat Willie opens
1929: Beginning of the Great Depression
1931: The Empire State Building opens
1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president
1933: New Deal, end of the Great Depression
1933: Prohibition ends
1935: Social Security Act
Place:
Northeast region of the United States including Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island
Education:
Upper-class girls and women were afforded academic opportunities, including higher education in some cases. Despite this, they were still discouraged from appearing too smart because that was socially unacceptable for their sex. Women of all classes were pressured to have children rather than going to college.
Creation: New York, 1977
Gender & feminism:
The Women's Rights Movement gained traction during the 1960s and 1970s
Second wave feminism — sought equal rights in politics, employment, sexuality, and personal freedom
1963: The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, written to challenge the limitation of women to the domestic sphere
Sexuality:
The Sexual Revolution (1960s-1980s) advocated for liberation in personal relationships and sexual agency
Acknowledgement of previously taboo topics: nudity, pornography, contraceptives, masturbation, abortion, masturbation
Historical events:
1969: Woodstock
1970: Kent State shooting
1972-1974: Watergate scandal
1973: Roe v. Wade
1975: Vietnam War ends
Protest after Siege of Mecca, 1979
In the 1960s, Fornés led the theatrical movement that sought to break the artistic rules of the past. She believes Fefu is meant to be felt rather than understood, which is supported by its nearly plotless nature.
Never finished high school, but was educated
in painting and abstract act
Popular works:
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Promenade (1965)
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The Successful Life of 3 (1965)
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Fefu and Her Friends (1977)
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Mud (1983)
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Sarita (1984)
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And What of the Night? (1990)
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Letters from Cuba (2000)