Abstracts Language, Literature, and Linguistic

'Memoirs of a Life Before Taking the Globe' and 'Uncover the Moon'

by Susan Chambers

???Memoirs of a Life Before Taking the Globe??? presents the muddled realities of human relationships through the vibrant memoirs of a false, self-proclaimed king. Human faults such as greed, pride, and miscommunication are often embodied in non-human characters. A flustered old turkey-woman, an obnoxious rotting egg, and a murderous piggy bank are just a few of characters who color the chapters of the king???s strange memoirs. Through unconventional characters and situations, an imaginative, abstract world forces one to look upon human nature from the outside. ???Uncover the Moon??? questions the continuing taboo of menstruation, a prevailing concern not only in Eastern cultures, but in Western culture as well. The world within the play is dark and eerie, and menstruation is presented as an unspeakable curse brought to a young girl by a mysterious mad woman. In most cultures and religions, menstruation has become a means to subjugate women through inconvenient rules and laws, as well as isolation. The play presents several instances of these practices, through its use of ritual and magic, in order to expose the injustice and irrationality of the continuation of this taboo. Advisors/Committee Members: Barresi, Dorothy M (advisor), Spratt, Danielle L (committee member).