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    A Study Guide for Alice Gerstenberg's "Overtones"
    A Study Guide for Alice Gerstenberg's "Overtones"
    A Study Guide for Alice Gerstenberg's "Overtones"
    Ebook32 pages21 minutes

    A Study Guide for Alice Gerstenberg's "Overtones"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Alice Gerstenberg's "Overtones," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateAug 3, 2016
    ISBN9781535830485
    A Study Guide for Alice Gerstenberg's "Overtones"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Alice Gerstenberg's "Overtones" - Gale

      1

      Overtones

      Alice Gerstenberg

      1915

      Introduction

      Alice Gerstenberg's Overtones is considered the earliest example of a play that dramatizes the unconscious on stage. In it, Gerstenberg uses two actresses for both Margaret and Harriet to represent the single character of Margaret and Harriet. Each embodies a disparate part of the character's personality; or, to put it in Freudian terms, one is the id and the other the ego. In Overtones, Harriet and Margaret are the cultured and refined selves, while Hetty and Maggie represent the wild, primitive desires of these same women. Using two women to play one character was a unique convention that had not been seen before. This new technique, along with Gerstenberg's ability to write witty, interesting dialogue made the play an instant success. Overtones was first produced November 8, 1915, by the Washington Square Players at the Bandbox Theater in New York. At the time of its production, Sigmund Freud had recently made his first trip to the United States, and the publication of his works had spread interest in the workings of the unconscious mind. Freud's theories were a common topic of discussion and the play capitalized upon this fad. The play influenced many later playwrights including Eugene O'Neill, who used a similar technique in his play Strange Interlude.

      Overtones was Gerstenberg's second New York success. Earlier that same year, she had received accolades for her adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Overtones was to become her most popular and most widely produced play, however. It was presented by numerous theatres across the country, had a successful run on vaudeville, and was performed in London by the great actress Lily Langtry. Overtones was originally published in 1921

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