Hot L Baltimore | Loss and Nostalgia

In the following essay,
Brent discusses the themes of loss and nostalgia in
Wilson’s play.

Langford Wilson’s play The Hot L Baltimore, set in the lobby of a soon-to-be demolished hotel, currentH ly a flophouse, focuses on the interactions between a motley set of hotel tenants in exploring deeper themes of loss, death, and nostalgia. The setting of the play is itself steeped in nostalgia. Opening descriptions of the hotel, as well as the nearby railroad station, paint a picture of faded elegance.

Once there was a railroad and the neighborhood of the railroad terminals bloomed (boomed) with gracious hotels. The Hotel Baltimore, built in the late...

[The entire page is 1811 words long]

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