Issues Of Individual and Group Identities in Modern American Drama and Cinema

Abstract

The twentieth century witnessed a profound shift in the portrayal of heroism within American drama and cinema, where the boundaries between heroism and barbarity blurred significantly. Playwrights such as Maxwell Anderson, Edward Albee, and particularly Tony Kushner, critically engaged with the traditional concept of heroism, systematically deconstructing the myth of heroic nonchalance — an ideal popularized by Baldassare Castiglione during the European Renaissance. This dismantling of the invulnerable heroic figure led to the emergence of the sentimental hero, a character increasingly burdened by internal doubts and the fragility of their own ideals. The trauma of the Vietnam War served as a critical catalyst in this transformation, infusing American cultural discourse with a pervasive sense of victimization. Consequently, heroism evolved into a vulnerable, almost tragic condition, wherein heroes occupy a precarious societal position. The collective hysteria surrounding victimhood became a driving force, sustaining a cycle of internal and external conflicts that demanded new representations of heroism—ones marked by emotional exposure, ethical ambiguity, and political disillusionment. This paper explores how twentieth-century American dramatists and filmmakers reflect the sociopolitical anxieties of their time through such reconceptualization of heroism, ultimately suggesting that the cultural need for heroic figures persists, albeit in complex, conflicted forms.