SOURCE: "The Taking of Miss Janie," in The Strands Entwined: A New Direction in American Drama, Northeastern University, 1980, pp. 61-80.

In the excerpt below, Bernstein offers a thematic and structural analysis of The Taking of Miss Janie, focusing on the intraracial and interracial relationships depicted in the play.

The Taking of Miss Janie, which is a long one-act play, is concerned with black/white relations in America. As its title suggests, the play focuses upon the rape of a white woman by a black man. Actually, it is a second sexual assault that is imminent when the play begins; Janie (or "Miss Janie," to use Monty's disparaging nickname, a throwback to slave/owner relationships) has already been raped by Monty once. In the prologue, which is angry and bitter in tone, Monty stalks Janie. As we move into the body of the play, a flashback, we wonder whether...