Queerness in British Drama between 1890-2000

This book deals with one particular aspect of British drama between the 1890s and the late 20th century: ‘queerness’. ‘Queerness’ is a term that in the last two decades has come to be used predominantly to refer to manifestations of homosexuality, male and female, and otherness. In total, this book concentrates on four examples: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton, Boom Bang-A-Bang by Jonathan Harvey and Handbag by Mark Ravenhill. These works are analysed with sections concentrating on figure conception and characterisation and additionally discourse and language use. Furthermore, an introduction to drama theory, discourse theory and ‘queer theories’ will be given as well as some preliminary definitions of ‘homosexuality’, ‘queerness’, ‘heteronormativity’ and ‘otherness’.