Curse of the Starving Class

How did the absurdist humor and sometimes cartoonish action and characterizations in Curse of the Starving Class affect the experience of the story, as compared to more conventional plays about troubled families such as Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? Did the “alienation effect” of Shepard’s stylized characters make their fates more impactful or less so? Explain, incorporating textual evidence.

Some of Shepard’s plays have been noted for their similarities, in theme and structure, to Greek tragedy. Compare Curse to Aeschylus’s Oresteia trilogy (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides) or Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex. Include textual evidence from both texts.

Taylor and Ellis, crooked businessmen who act independently of each other, both attach themselves to the Tate family. Compare and contrast their personalities and their differing means and motives in exploiting the Tates. Use textual evidence to illustrate their differences.