SOURCE: Spencer, Jenny S. “Norman's 'night, Mother: Psycho-Drama of Female Identity.” Modern Drama 30, no. 3 (September 1987): 364-75.

In the following essay, Spencer contrasts the responses of male and female critics to 'night, Mother, asserting that the play foregrounds issues of female identity, feminine autonomy, and the mother-daughter relationships.

By the time I saw a production of Norman's play 'night, Mother, it was a highly acclaimed Broadway success that had already won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.¹ Like most of the audience, I knew the play ended with a suicide. But being armed against an indulgently emotional response did not prevent me from having one. What I experienced as almost overwhelmingly painful, however, was viewed with utter indifference by the otherwise sensitive men in my company. The post-production discussion re-affirmed what I found to be a surprising difference between men's and women's responses to this play. Most of the discussion...