Psychology in Modern Drama and Buchners Woyzeck Essay -- Psychology B

Psychology in Modern Drama and Buchner's Woyzeck When reading the play Woyzeck by Georg Buchner, one must be willing to delve deep into the surreal as well as the confusing and even uncomfortable. The play hinges upon psychology and the fact (one of the few facts found in the play, even) that the main character of the play (Woyzeck) has obvious psychological problems that none of the other characters seem to pay attention to. Psychology is a constant theme in modern drama, and Buchner seems to bring that to the forefront in Woyzeck, especially. But why is psychology so pertinent to modern drama? Modern drama, specifically, seems to focus on the more dark and twisted things in human nature, and what can be the darkest and most twisted creations besides the mind? C. Bigsby, in his article titled, Drama As Cultural Sign states, â€Å"drama has always had the power to engage the present in a way that is less true of other genres.† Again, modern drama especially seems to focus on psychology. It is engaging to the audience, and an interesting new subject to explore in drama. There are far too many examples of psychology used in modern drama to focus on in this essay, but a few to name have been read in class, such as Machinal, A Doll’s House, The Birthday Party and even Angels in America. It is true that every play in existence incorporates psychology into it, but modern plays, and these specifically, make it much more obvious and almost seem to take it upon themselves to purposely make the audience uncomfort able and push the audience into a position where they are forced to recognize some sense of surrealism in life and a basic sense of â€Å"screwed-up†ness, as it were, that exists in life. If there are so many examples... ...himself and the doctor (the conversations that Buchner provides for the play are creations of his own mind, as his research did not state specifically what Woyzeck said to people). Were it not for the development of modern psychology, modern drama would no doubt be unable to explore the darker side of human nature as thoroughly as it does with plays such as Woyzeck. Works Cited Bigsby, C. W. E. Drama as Cultural Sign: American Dramatic Criticism, 1945-1978. American Quarterly. Vol. 30 (1978), pp. 331-357. Buchner, Georg. Woyzeck. The Longman Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Drama. pp 16-28. Hauser, Ronald. â€Å"Georg Buchner†. 1963. McCarthy, John. Some Aspects of Imagery in Buchner’s Woyzeck. MLN. Vol. 91. April 1976. pp 543-551. Somerville, John. The Strange Case of Modern Psychology. The Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 31. October 1934. pp. 571-577.