2005, Vol., No.22

The Journal of Korean drama and theatre 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.77

pISSN : 1225-7729 / eISSN : 2713-8453
https://journal.kci.go.kr/kdrama

Many plays published during the time between 1910s to 1920s show characters that are driven to insanity or suicide in the end. In these works, such dramatic consequences as insanity or suicide function as a major development within its plot. Usually one or the other appears in the play, but there are also works where both appear, as in <Hwang-hon (Dusk)>. Insanity and suicide are certainly familiar subjects in the field of drama. Insanity can be divided into roughly two categories - psychosis and neurosis. Accordingly, the main characters of the plays analyzed in this paper show symptoms of either psychosis (as in <Gyu-han (The Sorrow of a Wife)>) or neurosis (as in <Hwang-hon (Dusk)>). The psychotic or neurotic symptoms that the main characters of the plays display represent the pain and suffering of an average person living in those times when everything was going through rapid and drastic changes. The plays where its characters commit suicide show in a more direct and radical way, the inner-conflicts of that era. <Gi-juk-bul-ttae (When the Steam Whistle Blows)> and <Gyuh-wool-bul-ggot (Winter Flame)> are representative works that fall under this category. Both works draw our attention in that they show resistance toward colonial rule. <Yun-gwa-jye (Love and Sin)>, <Hwang-hon (Dusk)> and <Gi-juk-bul-ttae (When the Steam Whistle Blows)> have been analyzed in this paper as important works that are in themselves prototypes of 'dae-joong-guk(popular play)', 'shin-guk(modern play)', and 'proletarian play'. These works use insanity and suicide, in order to maximize the effect of the play. The main flaws of these plays seem to be that the actions of the main characters are sometimes unnatural, and the intent of the playwright often unclear. However, such limitations and shortcomings should be understood as an inevitable stage that Korean Modern Play had to go through, in the process of its development.

The enlightening theatre theory in 1920s intends to establish a modern theatre as an enlightenment claimed at the civilization of Chosun. New theatrical people, who came back after learning Western civilization from Japan, denied the theatre of Chosun and followed the example of Western dramas of realism. They clarified the enlightening purpose of society in modern dramas and gave the significance as a national movement. Particularly, the theatrical theory, in the first half year of 1920s, elevated the theatricalc phase in Chosun society through emphasizing the enlightening utility of theatre. It has the meaning that it caught up with Western modern drama as a drama dealing with the reality of nation above all. But it has the limit which made Chosun and its dramas other's, through following the example of the West and Japan which has the different cultural base and environment. This could be shown as a reflection of pioneerism and culruralism which internalized the eyes of the Western civilized people. Accordingly, the theatre theory, of this period, was the product of consciousness but it has the dualism brought around government strategy of japan and the modern planning.

This paper aims at re-illuminating the life and performance of Seok Kuem-seong, and her status in theatrical performance history. Recordings and data about her are usually written according to writers' private tastes. Consequently it can be said that reliable documents do not exist. This problem led to the distortion of drama history, causing biased interpretations about the actress. Thereupon, this work is to restore Seok Kuem-seong's life on a basis of objective historical materials, and to reconstruct the trustworthy data about properties of her performance and her theatrical career. Examining the position of Seok Kuem-seong pioneering the role of an actress in the history of theater, I have found the trouble early actresses must have been faced with and problems in the theatrical and cinematical world. This study will also serve as supplementing some part of the history of actors, which is the weakest point in the Korean dramatical history.