SOURCE: Forte, Jeanie. “Realism, Narrative, and the Feminist Playwright—A Problem of Reception.” Modern Drama 32, no. 1 (March 1989): 115-27.

In the following essay, Forte asserts that Norman's use of theatrical realism in 'night, Mother ultimately perpetuates dominant patriarchal ideology, despite its surface-level treatment of feminist concerns.

The inquiry into what constitutes a feminist playwriting practice today necessarily involves the critic with the investigation of structures of realism and narrative, structures which are implicated in relation to patriarchal ideology. Concomitantly, the theatrical institution, with its accretions of cultural convention and inscription of a dominant system of representation, operates to inhibit radicality (e.g. feminism) in service of the ideology which supports and informs its tradition. However, theories concerning realism and narrative must be called to account for the specific reception of a play text, must address historical particularity and, in the terms of feminist criticism, political efficacy. Playwriting, in an...