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Rhetoricizing English Studies: Students' Ways of Reading Oleanna

Rhetoricizing English Studies: Students' Ways of Reading Oleanna Rhetoricizing English Studies: Students’ Ways of Reading Oleanna Richard C. Raymond “It’s not about sexual harassment. It’s about power” (Ryan 1996: 393). So says David Mamet in describing his Oleanna, a play that has stirred controversy in dramatic reviews, theaters, and classrooms since its first staging in 1992. It’s not about sexual harassment or power; it’s about love. So says Socrates to his young lover in Phaedrus, a dialogue that has stirred contro- versy about the nature of rhetoric for a somewhat longer time. Juxtaposing Mamet’s claim with this paraphrase of Plato exposes the ancient roots of a play that focuses, as Mamet says, on the power struggle between a male professor and a female student. Predictably, given the pub- lication date, Mamet’s play has been more often associated with contempo- rary headliners — Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky— than with Socrates and Phaedrus. Nevertheless, placing Mamet’s work in this Platonic context acknowledges the central project of both Oleanna and Phaedrus: the effects of good and bad rhetoric, the language of love and the language of rape. Realizing that Plato and Mamet held this common ground, I used Mamet’s play as the focal point http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Pedagogy Duke University Press

Rhetoricizing English Studies: Students' Ways of Reading Oleanna

Raymond, Richard C.
Pedagogy , Volume 3 (1) – Jan 1, 2003
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Copyright
© 2003 Duke University Press
ISSN
1531-4200
eISSN
1533-6255
DOI
10.1215/15314200-3-1-53
Publisher site
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Abstract

Rhetoricizing English Studies: Students’ Ways of Reading Oleanna Richard C. Raymond “It’s not about sexual harassment. It’s about power” (Ryan 1996: 393). So says David Mamet in describing his Oleanna, a play that has stirred controversy in dramatic reviews, theaters, and classrooms since its first staging in 1992. It’s not about sexual harassment or power; it’s about love. So says Socrates to his young lover in Phaedrus, a dialogue that has stirred contro- versy about the nature of rhetoric for a somewhat longer time. Juxtaposing Mamet’s claim with this paraphrase of Plato exposes the ancient roots of a play that focuses, as Mamet says, on the power struggle between a male professor and a female student. Predictably, given the pub- lication date, Mamet’s play has been more often associated with contempo- rary headliners — Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky— than with Socrates and Phaedrus. Nevertheless, placing Mamet’s work in this Platonic context acknowledges the central project of both Oleanna and Phaedrus: the effects of good and bad rhetoric, the language of love and the language of rape. Realizing that Plato and Mamet held this common ground, I used Mamet’s play as the focal point

Journal

Pedagogy – Duke University Press

Published: Jan 1, 2003

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