Paula Vogel was born on the sixteenth of November in the twelvemonth 1951. She is an American university professor and author. In 1998, she received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her drama known as ; How I Learned to Drive ‘ ( Klinck, p89 ) . She was born in the metropolis of Washington D.C, and her male parent is known as Donald Stephen Vogel, who by so was an advertisement executive and her female parent is called Phyllis Rita Bremerman, who was besides a secretary for the for the United States Postal Service Training and Development centre ( Klinck, p89 ) . Vogel graduated from The Catholic University of America in the twelvemonth 1974 with ( B.A. ) and besides the University of Cornell in the twelvemonth 1976 with ( M.A. ) . She besides attended the Bryn Mawr Collage from 1969 to 1970, and besides from 1971 to1972 ( Barzun, p162 ) .
She has been an outstanding and a fecund writer and playwright since the period of the late seventiess. Her first lifting to national famous person was as a consequence of her AIDs-related tragicomedy, known as ‘The Baltimore Waltz ‘ . This drama won the Obie award for the Best Play in the twelvemonth 1992 ( Barzun, p162 ) . However, the greatest drama that she wrote and which she is best known for is ‘How I Learned to Drive ‘ which won the Pulitzer Prize in the twelvemonth 1997. The book highlights the effects and echos of child sexual maltreatment and incest ( Baugh, p76 ) . Vogel besides wrote some other books and among the noteworthy or popular 1s are ; ‘Desdemona, A Play About A Handkerchief ‘ which was written in the twelvemonth 1979 ; ‘The Oldest Profession written in the twelvemonth 1981 ; ‘And Baby Makes Seven ‘ written in the twelvemonth 1984 ; ‘Hot ‘N ‘ Throbing ‘ written in the twelvemonth 1994 ; and ‘The Mineola Twins ‘ written in the twelvemonth 1996 ( Baugh, p76 ) .
Although her plants do non hold a common ligature subject or specific subject ruling her work, she ever examines conventionally and traditionally combative issues like harlotry and sexual maltreatment ( Altick, p45 ) . Claiming that her dramas are written backwards, that is, traveling from emotional fortunes or state of affairss and character to craft narrative construction, Vogel asserts that her authorship is non truly directed by fortunes, she states that she merely writes about issues that have direct impact on her life. Nevertheless, her full household, peculiarly her late brother, Carl Vogel greatly influenced her work. Carl ‘s image appears in dramas such as ‘The Baltimore Waltz, ‘And Baby Makes Seven ‘ and ‘The Long Christmas Ride Home ‘ that was written in the twelvemonth two 1000 and three ( Barzun, p162 ) .
Vogel appears to choose perceptive, hard, burdened issues to set them into drama. Harmonizing to Jill Dolan, a theatre theoretician, Vogel could whirl the issues with a dramatic art that is at one time imaginative, extremely originative, and brutally honest. Her work holds theoretical devices or techniques from different civilizations, incorporating, in different plants, Bunraku-puppetry, all-knowing narrative, direct reference and fantasy effects ( Altick, p45 ) .
This girth in the calling of Vogel is brooding of a common inclination toward stylistic reinvention from different plants ( Nesbit, p67 ) . This author retreats at the thought of drama Hagiographas that are similar in their composing ; Finkel states that she wants every drama to be different from those that have preceded it in construction. Vogel, who is a popular dramatist, can be rated alongside her former pupils who include Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winner Bridget Carpenter, Adam Bock who won the Obie- Award, MacArthur Fellow Sarah Rulh and Lynn Nottage and Nilo Cruz who both won the Pulitzer Prize ( Collingwood, p34 ) .
However, during her two decennaries taking the new drama festival and alumnus playwriting plan at the University of Brown, Vogel well helped in the development of the centre for educational theater that became nationally recognized subsequently, reasoning with the constitution of the Brown and three Repertory Company Consortium with Eustis Oskar, with the so manager of the artistic three, in the twelvemonth two 1000 and two ( Collingwood, p34 ) . She left brown in the twelvemonth two 1000 and eight to take up her current places as adjunct professor every bit good as the Chairperson of the and the section of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, and besides the Playwright-in-Residence at the Yale repertory Theatre. Previously, Vogel served as a supervisor at the University of Cornell during her alumnus work during the mid-1970s ( Collingwood, p34 ) .
Personal life
Vogel ‘s lone brothers viz. , Carl and Mark died of AIDS in the twelvemonth 1988. However, the name Carl was adopted from the Carl Vogel Center in the City of Washington, D.C. , an organisation that was founded by their male parent Don Vogel ( Nesbit, p67 ) . The chief intent of the organisation is to supply services to the persons populating with HIV. Vogel was married to Anne Fausto Sterling, a author and besides a professor of Brown University, in Truro, Massachusetts, on the month of September in the twelvemonth 2004 ( Collingwood, p34 ) .
Awards and awards
After having the Obie Award for the Best Play during the twelvemonth 1992, together with the Pulitzer Prize in Drama during the twelvemonth 1998, Vogel in the twelvemonth two 1000 and four, received the Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and letters ( Abrams, p54 ) . She besides emerged the victor of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in the twelvemonth 1998. In the twelvemonth two 1000 and three, the Kennedy centre American Collage Theatre festival established a annual award known as the ‘Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting ‘ for the pupils who wrote the best dramas that appreciates and recognizes diverseness and promotes patience and leniency whereas foregrounding the affairs of weak voices that are non considered mainstream traditionally ( Abrams, p54 ) .
How I Learned to Drive
The drama ‘How I Learned to Drive ‘ written by American author Paula Vogel premiered on the sixteenth of March in the 1997 off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. This work earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in the twelvemonth 1988. The narrative follows the tense, sexual relationship between Li’l Bit and her uncle known as Peck ( Paula p93 ) . The relationship existed from her adolescence phase through to her teenage old ages into montage degree non likely to stop. Using the simile of drive and the affairs of incest, misogynism and paedophilia, the drama highlights the thoughts of use and control ( Paula, p93 ) .
Production
The first public presentation of the drama ‘How I Learned To Drive ‘ was done by the Vineyard Theatre: Douglas Aibel, who was the Artistic Director ; Jon Nakagawa, The Managing Director, in the City of New York in the month of February during the twelvemonth 1997. The manager of the drama was Mark Brokaw, Narelle Sissons did the set design, the interior decorator of the costume was Jess Goldstein, Mark McCullough did the lighting design, David van Tieghem designed the original sound, and Thea Bradshwo Gillies was the production phase director. The Vineyard Theatre Production in coaction with Roy Gabay and Daryl Roth, moved to the Century Theatre in the month of April in the twelvemonth 1997.
A 1998-1999 season production at the Arena State in the City of Washington DC was directed by Molly Smith. A 1999 production which featured Brian Kerwin and Molly Ringwald was done at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The way of the 2007 production at The Playground in Duluth, Minnesota was done by Molly O’Neill. The 2009-2010 season public presentation was done at the Malibu State Company as its concluding offering of the season. The public presentation of the drama was directed by Veronica Brady, the Emmy Award victor. ‘How I Learned to Drive ‘ opened on Friday, thirtieth of April and continued through to Sunday at the Malibu Repertory Theatre, in Malibu at the 29243 Pacific Coast Highway.
Harmonizing to Paula ( p93 ) , in the book, we see Li’l Bit turning up in the countryside Maryland during the sixtiess with a big drawn-out household ; her female parent, who became pregnant at a immature age ; her naA?ve, male chauvinist gramps ; her grandma, a Devout ex- child-bride ; batch, her uncle who has been hit by experiences in struggle and is a retrieving alcoholic ; Mary, her aunt who is denies the behaviour of her hubby. At the age of 11, Li’l Bit is given a driving lesson by her uncle, and abuses her in the procedure. As a consequence of her immature age, Li’l Bit is non in a place of understanding what has happened and, whereas her female parent suspects that the uncle has some evil involvements in her girl, she takes no measure at all.
As times go by, Li’l Bit enters her period of pubescence. Although she is a spot superb and intelligent, she is merely recognized by her schoolmates for her big chest. The maltreatments from her uncle continue, and even at some clip utilizing his proletarian exposure studio for taking violative and provocative exposure of her. Although batch makes her uncomfortable, he is the lone individual in her household who appears to be good to her and besides supportive of her purposes of traveling to collage. The impulsive lessons continue to be given to her by her uncle, and while driving, there is a feeling of control that develops in her which she does non hold in her place life.
The uncle tries to convert her to hold sex with him but she turns down the petition although in a half-hearted mode ; she feels an uneven relationship with him since they are both foreigners in their household. When Li’l Bit goes to collage, she is astonished to have gifts from her uncle through mail, together with letters of count down to her 18th birthday. When she finally reaches the age of 18, she decided to face her uncle, Peck. Uncle batch has been skiping to finally hold sex with her since she has now become to the full an grownup, but besides that, he wants her to get married him.
Li’l Bit refuses this proposal and serves their relationship for good. After she has to the full become an grownup, in her narrative, Li’l Bit reveals that she eventually got an ejection from montage and that her uncle, Peck drank himself to decease. Reflecting on the experiences that she has had, she has learned to forgive her uncle for his evildoing or misconduct. She comes to a decision that he gave her something cherished ; that is, the freedom she enjoys merely while driving. Klinck, ( p89 ) asserts that the narrative is non told with a sort of straightforward secret plan, but alternatively it is told with an irregular mixture of soliloquies narrative, flashbacks and incompatible voice-over that driver instruction films. It begins with Li’I Bit as a grown up individual, speaking to the audience, as if she is offering a address on how to drive. She describes Maryland during her teenage in the sixtiess ; the scene so dissolves into the twelvemonth 1969, with Peck sitting down in a Buick Rivera.
Li’l Bit who is 17 years-old ascents near him. He takes the portion of a kid, stating her how good she has been to her, and she is like an authorization figure to him. However, when he says that he has n’t had a drink for a period of one hebdomad, she allows her for one time the favour of undoing her bandeau. Li’I Bit so drives when they leave the parking topographic point. In the twelvemonth 1969 at a household dinner, the treatment that is concentrating on the size of Li’l Bit ‘s chests embarrasses her. Harmonizing to Collingwood ( p34 ) , we find that her gramps so makes back-to-back clefts about the size of her chests until she decides to go forth the room for some privateness. She is so followed by Peck who comforts her. Li’l Bit the programs on how to run into him during the dark after experiencing better.
An a storyteller, mature Li’l Bit explains to the audience that she was expelled from montage in the twelvemonth 1970 for uninterrupted imbibing and so got a occupation in a certain mill and spent most of her darks imbibing and crisscrossing the streets in her auto ( Abrams, p54 ) . The scene ends to Peck and Li’l Bit at a eating house far from place along the Maryland shore in the twelvemonth 1968, which was a twelvemonth before the household dinner that was shown before. The happening is a jubilation Li’l spot holding got her driver ‘s licence.
Batch does non order a drink because he has had a imbibing job, he alternatively advices Li’l Bit to take merely one, though she is merely 16 old ages old. Her female parent so comes on at the side of the phase to offer the audience what is known as ‘A female parent ‘s advice or usher to societal imbibing ‘ , which includes advices like eating much staff of life together with butter and besides ne’er to take ladies ‘ sugary drinks. She so takes martini and becomes intoxicated rapidly ( Nesbit, p67 ) . She is non able to walk good when they leave the hostel, and in that status, she expects her uncle to seek taking advantage of the state of affairs and hold sex with her. She objects to their affinity and he tells her ne’er to hold concerns, that he is a soft adult male and will non seek making anything sexual until she wishes to.
Time Period of the Play
The chief character of the drama, Li’l Bit, starts narrating what had happened in her young person in 1960s, and so it dissolved into 1969. Therefore, the drama is about 1960. Besides there are some groundss that the drama is about 1960s ; most of the happenings or occurrences are merely in the sixtiess and really small touch the period of 1970s and beyond, the lone scene in the drama that happens in the 1970s is where the storyteller states that that she was expelled from montage in the twelvemonth 1970 for uninterrupted imbibing and so got a occupation in a certain mill and spent most of her darks imbibing and crisscrossing the streets in her auto.
Location
Harmonizing to the Li’l Bit ‘s narrative, I can state that the drama is in Maryland ; Li’l Bit narrates how she grew up in the countryside Maryland during the sixtiess with a big drawn-out household ; her female parent, who became pregnant at a immature age ; her naA?ve, male chauvinist gramps ; her grandma, a Devout ex- child-bride ; batch, her uncle who has been hit by experiences in struggle and is a retrieving alcoholic. Furthermore, another grounds to demo that the drama is set in Maryland is the fact that most of the scenes or happenings in the narrative were in Maryland where she learned how to drive and there is no other topographic point mentioned that they went or anything happened ( Houtchens, p67 ) .
Historical
Intercourse between a kid and an grownup is known as ‘statutory colza ‘ : this means a colza that may non look to suit the description of the word since both participants agree in holding sex, although that is regarded as colza harmonizing to the legal jurisprudence since kids are considered to be unable to hold on such issues wittingly. The age at which a immature person can lawfully hold to sex is really different in assorted provinces but it is normally between the ages of 16 and 18. Nevertheless, in this drama, the immature miss ‘s uncle nervously counts the yearss that lead to her 18th birthday, and she merely comes to acknowledge that he has been waiting for the opportunity to hold sex with her lawfully, without the fright of being arrested for statutory colza. The Torahs that are against holding sex with kids have ever tried to be enforced within the United States of America. During the 1960s, nevertheless, there was a sexual revolution that cleared up much of the societal shame attached to most sexual patterns.
When Begin with the 1950s, erotica was made a mainstream or normal commercial venture by a Playboy magazine, and so the late sixtiess and early 1970s, during the period of counter-culture revolution of the montage pupils who established their individuality in the societal insubordination against the Vietnam War, gender came to be regarded as a private issue, and non governmental. Laws disputing homosexualism were in some instances successfully challenged while others were altered to do it easier to acquire divorces, supplying people more freedom the determining of what they could see an unsatisfactory matrimony.
Social
There are societal issues in the drama that include household relationships and affinity ; for case we are told that Li’l Bit was populating with a big drawn-out household ; her female parent, who became pregnant at a immature age ; her naA?ve, male chauvinist gramps ; her grandma, a Devout ex- child-bride ; batch, her uncle who has been hit by experiences in struggle and is a retrieving alcoholic ; Mary, her aunt who is denies the behaviour of her hubby.
Economic
We see economic issues in the drama when Li’l Bit explains to the audience that she was expelled from montage in the twelvemonth 1970 for uninterrupted imbibing and so got a occupation in a certain mill and spent most of her darks imbibing and crisscrossing the streets in her auto.
Cultural
There are grounds of cultural issues in the drama in that, the whole narrative is about Li’l Bit who has a love relationship with her uncle and is considered immoral or culturally unacceptable and incorrect. The relationship existed from her adolescence phase through to her teenage old ages into montage degree non likely to stop. Using the simile of drive and the affairs of incest, misogynism and paedophilia, the drama highlights the thoughts of use and control.
Criticism
Theoretically, a character like Peck is non one that can be liked. Morally, he lacks a land to stand on. In the start of the drama, Li’l Bit is, as she portrays herself, “ really old, really leery of the universe, and knows it all. To be brief, she is 18 years-old. There may be some room for moral lie when Uncle Peck kisses her chests. The audience might merely believe that batch accepts Li’l Bit for the age she feels, forcing her age up by merely a few month, that she is a despairing romantic who sees her love as a moral necessity more persuasive than the legal age of consent ( Paula, p93 ) .
This is a really weak statement at best, one that is possibly used by paedophiles at all clip ; with her propinquity to the delicious 18th birthday and her consent to his touch, at least he has a instance to reason. The drama merely begins with that state of affairs, although ; where it develops to, where it builds to, even after the intelligence of the decease of Peck, while the miss is in her mid-twentiess, is a scene of the same individual caressing the chests of the same miss when she is 11 old ages old. There is really no statement that could do this acceptable ( Houtchens, p67 ) .
The scene of the drama can non be overlooked. It inside informations much on what makes these persons and what they make of themselves. Its countryside or rural scene provides Li’l Bit and Peck excessively much free reign to cover with their ain psycho-social moral force between themselves, like it happens in several Southern Gothic narratives, whereby the environment of the characters is more symbolic that existent. Nevertheless, a town scene would be much existent, although, doing it implausible that they could remain the focal point of each other ‘s attending every twelvemonth. Rather, the author has put them in an unreal environment ; they are seen populating in the suburbs, and when they want to be entirely, they decide to drive to the farms that are under the direction of the Department of Agriculture, or even they go far off to the shore, whereby the attitudes are known or described as ‘European ‘ .
The writer really depends on the physical topographic point in stating the audience about the sort of universe occupied by these characters than she does on the music traveling in the air around them.
The vocals that she choices are largely sweet and melodious, jubilations of young person and love every bit good as the particular synergism that are created by the two when they are brought together. Songs such as ‘Hold Me ‘ , ‘You are Sixteen ‘ and ‘Come Back When You Grow Up, Girl ‘ . Appear to hold been chosen in order to suit the peculiar inside informations of the circumstance or state of affairs, although they all repress their cognition or consciousness of the danger of love. These are love vocals with an border. That is, pure, cloying love vocals would non be suited for the narrative of the illegal relationship. The have an attitude or stone and axial rotation.
