Wendy Wasserstein: Dramatizing Women, Their Choices and Their Boundaries (review)

Wendy Wasserstein: Dramatizing Women, Their Choices And Their Boundaries. By Gail Ciociola. Jefferson: McFarland, 1998; pp. 168. $29.50.

Believing that a comprehensive and scholarly exploration of Wendy Wasserstein's oeuvre is long overdue, Gail Ciociola makes a case for the playwright's place in the canon with this analytical study. Ciociola explains that as she attempted to contextualize Wasserstein's work and position her among other feminist playwrights, she became dissatisfied with existing labels. She found that the current terminology, such as feminist drama, feminist theatre, and woman-conscious drama, applies "only somewhat satisfactorily to Wasserstein" (10). Facing this epistemological challenge head on, Ciociola coins a new term inspired by the type of feminist work Wasserstein accomplishes, called "fem-en(act)ment."

The book begins with an explanation of the current feminist terminology in textual and performance study. Ciociola then dissects her own term, fem-en(act)ment, which encompasses both political agenda and style: "'fem' for female perspective and feminist intent; '(act),' for stage drama; and 'en(act)ment,' for the revelation and successful execution of one's overall motifs and motives" (2). What follows is her application of her new-found critical lens in close textual analysis and in-depth character study of Wasserstein's "uncommon women" in plays including Uncommon Women and Others, Isn't It Romantic, The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosenweig, and An American Daughter.

As Ciociola discovered, "Wasserstein utilizes fem-en(act)ment primarily as a cyclic rendering of the impact of the women's movement on private life" (1). The author looks for the intersection of the women's movement with its effect on how the characters make their life choices as they attempt to "have it all." She also notes recurring patterns and themes in the works as each character is faced with life choices regarding the either/or conflict between professional success and a full personal life, replete with husband and children. The author notes, as Wasserstein herself admits, that these women truly are uncommon. The characters are not universal, but instead reflect difficulties specific to educated, middle-class women. Their struggles cover the impact of the women's movement on college students, through adulthood, and into mid-life. Additional themes include the mother-daughter conflict, feminist solidarity and sisterhood, and the conflicting pull between motherhood and the professional world. Ciociola also reads the works as a collective, identifying these major questions posed by the playwright through her characters: Where are we going? Where are we now? Where have we been? The plays create a conversation with each other as they attempt to answer these questions about the feminist movement and the movement's effects on the personal lives of women.

Ciociola's book succeeds in large part due to her excellent character analysis. She does a fine job at providing enough background information for each main character and story line so that even those unfamiliar with some of Wasserstein's works will easily follow her interpretation. The author also succeeds in responding to opposing voices in feminist criticism in order to develop and support her own assertions more fully.

By coining the term fem-en(act)ment, Ciociola faces the epistemological challenges of the contemporary theatre, specifically the challenge of forming the necessary language for discussing works by, for, and about women. She makes an excellent case for including Wasserstein in the canon, despite criticism regarding the playwright's predilection for couching struggle within humor. Not only is Ciociola's study valuable for its thorough and lucid analysis of Wasserstein's oeuvre, but it also provides the blueprint for future use of fem-en(act)ment in the reader's own study and analysis.

Jennifer Aldridge
California State University, Los Angeles

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