A Lie of the Mind (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Sam Shepard
- First Published: 1986
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1970’s or the 1980’s
- Setting: Oklahoma and Montana
- Principal Characters: Jake, Beth, Frankie, Sally, Lorraine, Baylor, Meg, Mike
- Genres: Drama, Psychological drama
- Subjects: 1970’s, Family or family life, North America or North Americans, Self-discovery, United States or Americans, Communication, Marriage, 1980’s, West, U.S., Domestic violence, Oklahoma, Reality, Honesty, Isolation
- Locales: Oklahoma, Montana
The Play
The first act of A Lie of the Mind consists of a series of short scenes, the first scene focusing on Jake, the second shifting to another locale and focusing on Beth, the third shifting back to Jake, the fourth to Beth again, and so on. The play begins with a phone conversation between Jake, a jealous man with an explosive temper, and Frankie, Jake’s brother, in which Jake gradually reveals that he has badly beaten—perhaps killed—his wife, Beth. Although she has suffered brain damage and utters an inarticulate garble of sounds and words, Beth is in fact...
[The entire page is 2898 words long]
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