Terence Rattigan

Reviews / Votes

This investigation of the work of prolific British playwright Terence Rattigan (1911-77) presents an in-depth analysis of his corpus. Wolfe (emer., Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis) examines Rattigan's work in five thematic chapters: "Hiding in Plain Sight," "Queering the Queer World," "Some English Families at Home," "Homes Away from Home," and "Reaching Out and Pulling Back." Wolfe's analysis of Rattigan's plays and their reception by the critics and the public illuminate primarily the playwright's presumed psychological state of mind and internal struggles and only then the significance of his work. The author is deft in tracing Rattigan's inner conflict between desire for popular success-i.e., appealing to conventional tastes in both subject matter and form-and his personal status as an outsider in the culture of Great Britain, where homosexuality was a felony for most of his career. Offering a welcome reassessment through the lens of a different cultural framework, this volume rehabilitates a playwright who fell into disfavor with the critics of the time for being too conventional and perhaps too genteel.



Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * Choice Reviews * Peter Wolfe, one of our most steadfast and discerning critics, repositions Terence Rattigan as a playwright who deftly anticipated 'audience expectation' yet displayed 'everyday regrets' that bespoke a profound inner loneliness. Wolfe argues convincingly that Rattigan is central to twentieth-century British drama. -- Nicholas Birns, New York University The recent surge of interest in the work of Terence Rattigan is well-augmented by Peter Wolfe's thorough re-appreciation of Rattigan's relevance to modern British drama. It was about time. 'Terence, the next generations hardly knew ye or your plays.' Peter Wolfe has done us all a favor with this necessary book. -- Terrence McNally