In this article, Ralph offers another meaning for the title of Jones's play, one that has a meaning more directly rooted in the vocabulary of theatre and one that bears considerable significance to the events that transpire between Lula and Clay.
The relation of LeRoi Jones's careening subway car in Dutchman to two "Dutchman" ocean vessels - the legendary ghost ship Flying Dutchman and a slave ship of the Dutch East India Company-has been amply explicated. It is likely, however, that a further, purely theatrical reference may be intended. In stage practice the "Dutchman" is a narrow band of muslin glued vertically onto two adjoining flats to give the appearance of a solid wall. In point of fact, little effort is required to pull the flats apart, breaking the "wall" and dispelling the illusion of.....
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