Speed-the-Plow | The Complicated Role of Karen
In this essay, Petrusso discusses the complicated
role of Karen in Speed-the-Plow, particularly
the manner in which she exemplifies the problematic
nature of female characters in Mamet’s plays.
Many critics have noted that David Mamet does not write strong female characters. Indeed, many of his best plays, including American Buffalo and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross, do not feature women at all. One critic, the Nation’s Moira Hudson, writing on the original New York production of Speed-the-Plow, observed: ‘‘Mamet’s parts for women have never been the equal of his parts for men: Women...
[The entire page is 1829 words long]
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