Content area
Full text
abstract: This article explores Sylvia Gellburg's awakening at the end of Arthur Miller's Broken Glass through the lens of "méconnaissance" (misrecognition), a term coined by Lacan and applied by feminine theorist Kathleen Woodward to a second "mirror stage" of aging. Lacan's mirror stage describes how a human infant creates a fixed sense of an ideal self, an integrated "whole" albeit illusionary, toward which the individual strives his or her entire life. Woodward writes that many postmenopausal women experience a "misrecognition" of their aging selves in the mirror or in photographs. While this is often a traumatic experience, she argues that it opens the possibility for a second mirror stage, where the individual can reimagine the self. The death of the illusion of the ideal allows for greater self-awareness and a more authentic life. I argue that Sylvia's gradual awakening in the play can be viewed through the lens of a second mirror stage and also is linked to Phillip's self-realization.
keywords: Arthur Miller, Broken Glass, Sylvia Gellburg, Phillip Gellburg, méconnaissance, mirror stage, second mirror stage, Jacques Lacan, Kathleen Woodward
Arthur Miller's relationships with women, both on and off stage, have been the subject of much critical argument. Feminist and gender readings of his plays have offered many new perspectives of his female characters. Critics such as Kay Stanton, Jan Balakian, June Schluter, Wendy Schissel, and Stefani Koorey explore the significance of the secondary role women such as Kate Keller, Linda Loman, Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Beatrice Carbone have in the early plays. Miller is often accused of writing flat female characters who act as foils for the male protagonists, are marginalized, or are "mere caricatures of a sexist ideology" (Sharma 183). Critics such as Charlotte Canning and Isak Alter take an alternate view of Miller's reputation as a playwright mainly interested in dramatizing male authority and have examined the powerful and influential role of his female characters.
Many recent productions of Miller's work have contributed to debunking the myth of him as a playwright who relegates women to minor roles. Perhaps the turning point was Elizabeth Franz's performance as Linda Loman in the 1999 fiftieth anniversary Broadway production of Death of a Salesman. Miller himself, in a 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace,...