Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)

STUDIES - Judit Kádár: The Figure of 'Everyclown'in Jack Richardson's Gallows Humour

the second part the order, the false values and the effect of conformism are presented in the institution of MARRIAGE. Here Richardson follows the Strindbergian tradition similarly to Albee's method in his American Dream (1961.), The Sandbox (1961.) or in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? (1962.). The romantic traditions have become clichés; for many people marriage means common social status, a shared place of living, money and conventions only. In these dramas the relationship between the

—in most cases childless

—spouses is based on male inferiority and surrender to the conformist values represented by the female partner. There is hypocrisy and aggression on one side and infantilism and opportunism on the other (or both). Albee's expression: MOMISM is a proper one to describe the situation. Similar gender-orientedness can be found in the symbolic objects and utterances of the play, for instance: "Lucy: You're too happy curled up in your little womb [i.e. the cell

—KJ.] to want a company" (GH 90). 1.3. Characters and Masks Walter [rigid with eyes closed]: People are forgetting who, what or where they've been. All getting into new skins, expressions, and troubles. But wanting to laugh through it all. (GH 82) In Gallows Humour a carefully planned set of characters has been created. I feel the figures (Walter-Philip, the Warden and Lucy-Martha) are not 'real' characters but rather faces, aspects and masks for the embodiment of the dual nature of man (i.e. Everyman). As a matter of fact, they are usually played by the same actors and actresses. From the beginning the male-female opposition is transparent and it is also emphasized with the reoccurring 'war of sexes' motif through the two parts. Talking to Lucy, the prostitute in the prison setting, Walter reveals his own uncertainties concerning his life, existence and the world around him. Sticking to the order first he is shown to be conscious and determined. The role of the female is first "to take a man's mind off your gallows, when he's got less than two hours to go" (GH 74), then to undermine his conviction, to 50