Petruso is a freelance author and screenwriter in Austin. Texas. In the following essay, she explores how the female characters and the dynamics of their relationships with their male counterparts reflects the changing status of women in the United States in the mid-1970s.

In Edward Albee's Seascape, there are two female characters, each part of a couple One, Nancy, is a human being, in a struggle with her husband, Charlie, over their future. She is more dominant than her husband and wants to take chances. The other female character is Sarah, the human-sized lizard who has just emerged with her mate, Leslie, from the sea to live on the land. Sarah generally defers to Leslie, giving her opinion when asked but rarely acting completely on her own. The contrast between these two characters echoes some of the changes women's status and position in the United States...