J. B. (Masterplots II: Drama)
At a glance:
- Author: Archibald MacLeish
- First Published: 1958
- Type of Work: Mythic
- Time of Work: The 1950’s
- Setting: A circus tent and a New England suburb
- Principal Characters: Mr. Zuss, Nickles, J. B., Sarah
- Genres: Drama, Verse drama
- Subjects: Values, Suffering, United States or Americans, Twentieth century, Religion, Guilt, God, Victims, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism, Masks, Banks, bankers, or banking
- Locales: United States
The Play
J.B., a brief but intense restaging of the story of Job, consists of a prologue and eleven scenes that flow into one another without observing the conventional structure of a three-act play. The play primarily comprises the dialogue between observers of and participants in the agonizing plight and despair of an American family undergoing perverse human suffering. The play begins in the shadows of an apparently abandoned circus site as two circus vendors converse, dressed characteristically in white caps and jackets. Each bears his wares—one popcorn, the other...
[The entire page is 2664 words long]
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