Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1993. [Vol. 1.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 21)

STUDIES - Péter Egri: From the British Grotesque To the American Absurd: the Dramatist's Dilemma

COOPER ALBEE 4. External determinism is heavy. 5. Characters are introduced with British reservation and a measure of formality. 6. The action of the play takes place in a real world; the reality of the actual is taken seriously even if it is ironized. 7. The theatrical space is immediate and calls for a direct emotional relationship. 8. The plot evolves relatively slowly. 9. The procuress is socially and racially an outsider. The conflict between her principles and those of middle-class society is external. It is, for a long time, playfully suspended: the possibility of a personal choice, or at least the illusion of an alternative are suggested. They are presented with American informality (first names, more common names)

. The dramatic action unfolds in a belt between the real and the unreal; the actual is reduced to a mere semblance of the real. It is often distanced and alienated; simetimes it is doubled. Alienation, certainly not unknown in European drama, is one of the central concerns and formative principles of the American dramatic tradition from O'Neill through Miller and Williams to Albee. The action develops energetically: people take risks with less hesitation. She is within the social sphere of "good society". The conflict has been internalized and sharpened.