earticle

영어

Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles has long faced criticism from second-wave feminist critics, who argue that the play lacks the political militancy needed to challenge the patriarchal order. Rather than embracing an overtly radical aesthetic, the play relies on the accessibility of realism and the commercial stage. In response, Wasserstein defended her artistic vision by advocating for “contents over form,” arguing that rigid aesthetic expectations can constrain the agency of individual creators. Instead, The Heidi Chronicles centers on the liberation of the individual woman as its vision of social change, tracing one woman’s pursuit of ideals through a loosely episodic, chronicle-like structure. Though it follows the conventions of realism and avoids overtly declaring a feminist aesthetic, its use of the rocking chair—a symbolic object also featured in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles—evokes a deeper feminist lineage. In both plays, the rocking chair symbolizes not only the essence of femininity but also unsettles it by representing the existential anxiety that women must endure in their lives. This intertextual gesture suggests an “unessentialized” feminist aesthetic, positioning the play within a broader tradition of feminist theatre.