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The Failure of Revolution and Political Dilemmas in Howard Brenton’s Magnificence

  • Journal of Modern English Drama
  • Abbr : JMBARD
  • 2016, 29(2), pp.155-181
  • Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama

KIM, YOO 1

1성균관대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Magnificence, Brenton’s 1973 play, narrates the fateful career of a group of disillusioned young people, who really want to change the world. Invoking the experience of the events of May 1968, the play not only reflects the contemporary despair of defeated alternative culture but also probes for the possibility of viable courses of political action on the Left. Concentrating on the revolutionary’s struggle for political change through ‘seemingly revolutionary action,’ Magnificence investigates the limitation and dilemma of politically oppositional force in comparison with and in relation to the dominant capitalist ideology. Brenton’s primary concern in Magnificence lies not in the failure of the revolutionary movement itself but in the exploration into the ideological elements that support the continuous dominance by the ruling class over the oppressed, and degrade revolutionary activism to local and futile terrorism. That is, in Magnificence Brenton explains the gigantic and massive layers of the capitalist ideological machinery which turn the revolutionary’s desperate struggle for political change into a petty gesture of terrorism, and he further probes for the possibility of opening the door for genuine revolution. This paper argues that Magnificence is not an agitational propaganda that thrives only in emotional terms. It not only brings oppositional concerns into the heart of official culture but also searches for an active, dialectical relationship with the audience through a more complex account of the existing structure of society. Brenton invites his audience into political dilemmas through the open-ended debates among the revolutionary, the articulate characterization of Right-wing characters, and the evaluation of political terrorism.

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