SOURCE: Lingard, Lorelei. “The Daughter's Double Bind: The Single-parent Family as Cultural Analogue in Two Turn-of-the-Century Dramas.” Modern Drama 40 (1997): 123-38.

In the following essay, Lingard examines the relationship between Julie and her father in Miss Julie in light of contemporary ideas of parental and sex roles.

It may seem surprising how frequently single-parent families are found in plays written at the turn of the twentieth century. The number of plays by Ibsen Chekhov, Brecht, Strindberg, and Shaw that involve single-parent families is remarkable, particularly as the issue of single parenthood itself rarely surfaces in the action. But upon examination, we can see how these fictional families often reflect the social dynamic of their era. As we encounter Nora Helmer, Hedda Gabler, Peer Gynt, the Prozorov sisters, the children of Mother Courage, Grusha's son, Miss Julie, and the daughters of Heartbreak House, the effect of the single-parent family is...