Buried Child (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Sam Shepard
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Work: Play
- Genres: Realism, Drama, Psychological drama, Mythological literature
- Subjects: 1970’s, Family or family life, Sex or sexuality, Midwest, Yards or backyards, Incest, Farms, farmers, or farming, Death or dying, Amputation, amputees, or prosthetics, Old age or elderly people, Fertility
- Locales: Midwest (U.S.)
A family drama, a strange parody of the warm families of many previous American plays, the three-act Buried Child is perhaps the best known of Shepard's work. From the striking images of the old man on the couch to the moment when his son carries in the buried child from the cornfield, the play embodies all that is best about Shepard's combining of realistic family drama with larger mythic patterns. Either as American gothic or as a modern-day version of Greek tragedy, the play invites examination on many levels.
The opening of the play sets the tone of the entire piece;...
[The entire page is 1192 words long]
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