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Chapter 8 - August Wilson’s Women

from Part II - Politics and Debates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2025

By
Leticia L. Ridley
Edited by
Khalid Y. Long  and
Isaiah Matthew Wooden
Khalid Y. Long
Affiliation:
Howard University, Washington DC
Isaiah Matthew Wooden
Affiliation:
Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
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Summary

This chapter adds to the chorus of critical scholarship aimed at addressing the women characters in Wilson’s dramas. It specifically interrogates what possibilities and limitations Wilson’s constructions of Black women accomplish within the context of when the plays are set, as well as within our contemporary (re)encounters with them. Utilizing the framework of Black feminist theatrical critique to examine Gem of the Ocean (2003) and Seven Guitars (1995), it maintains that even though Wilson chronicles the changing perceptions of Black women across the decades, contemporary (re)encounters with his work illuminate the persistent gender ideologies that his depictions of Black women are built upon.

Keywords

August WilsonAmerican Century CycleWilson’s WomenPearl CleageGem of the OceanSeven Guitars

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Chapter
Information
August Wilson in Context , pp. 103 - 112
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Further Reading

Elam, Harry J., Jr., The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dehn Kubitschek, Missy, “August Wilson’s Gender Lesson” in May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson, edited by Nadel, Alan (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993).Google Scholar
Mara, Kim, “Ma Rainey and the Boyz: Gender Ideology in August Wilson’s Broadway Canon” in August Wilson: A Casebook, edited by Elkins, Marilyn (London: Routledge, 2013).Google Scholar
Shannon, Sandra G., editor, August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle: Critical Perspectives on the Plays (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016).Google Scholar
Shannon, Sandra G., “The Ground on which I Stand: August Wilson’s Perspective on African American Women” in May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson, edited by Nadel, Alan (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993).Google Scholar

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