It is possible to know what makes a good play. Above all, a writer must follow the logic of his material relentlessly, no matter where it leads. Once situations are established and characters alive, they must develop in a world of their own making. Art demands truth…. The lesser artist cannot resist rearranging his material or cannot summon the courage to follow wherever it leads…. In Dark at the Top of the Stairs, the adolescent problems of the children and the material dislocations are not resolved honestly, when Ruben at the top of the stairs urges Cora to come to bed with him. (p. 145)
[The most disturbing of Inge's techniques is his] popularization of Freudian analysis. Evil is clinically analyzed rather than dramatically presented. In Dark at the Top of the Stairs, for example, Lottie, the vulgar-mouthed sister of Cora, tells of her sexual difficulties with her husband Morris. Her confession is a self-analysis that presumably resolves the problem by unearthing it. Her coarse talk is a compensation for her unsatisfactory sex life, but no character change occurs, nor do relationships with her husband or sister move in new directions. (p. 146)
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