Boston Marriage is a 1999 play by AmericanplaywrightDavid Mamet. The play concerns two women at the turn of the 20th century who are in a Boston marriage, a relationship between two women that may involve both physical and emotional intimacy. After widespread belief that Mamet could only write for men, the playwright released this play, which centers exclusively on women.
Synopsis
Anna and Claire argue over Claire's new found "Love" while Anna's Scottish maid, Catherine, is brought to tears by her employer's harsh verbal rebukes. Things get tense as Anna, a mistress to a wealthy gentleman, tries to talk Claire out of her profession of love for another: a young woman. Claire, on the other hand, has already made plans with her young love to meet at Anna's house in the hopes that she will be able to persuade her new love to engage in a "vile assignation." Things go awry, however, when the girl arrives and recognizes that an emerald necklace that Anna is wearing belongs to her mother. The plot line focuses on whether Anna and Claire will be able to find a way to hold on to both the girl and her wealthy but unfaithful father. The play is delivered through quick, witty Victorian-era dialogue, mixed with double entendres and vernacular expressions, to explore the relationship between the two women and their maid. Through humor and nuance, the play explores the negotiation, conflict, compromise and reconciliation that arise in their relationship.
Boston Marriage is one of the few plays written by a male playwright that exclusively includes lesbian characters. The play takes on an anti-patriarchal stance. Anna does not show any genuine interest in the man she is involved with. In the end of the play, Anna’s male love interest leaves her for his wife and wants her to return the emerald jewel that he gave her. This gives Claire fiscal power over Anna which contrasts the Victorian tradition of men owning their wives’ money. The plot of Boston Marriage does not include the common stereotypes of women being married to a man, financially dependent on their husbands, and spend most of their time taking care of their children. Lesbian themes in theatre is a direct response to America’s anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-theatrical attitudes in its history. “Lesbian” was not a word used in Western society until the nineteenth century. The roles of lesbian and gay characters in theatre were considered to be two separate themes until the latter half of the twentieth century. There is not as much public interest in plays written exclusively about lesbian characters than there are about plays with exclusively gay characters. Similarly to early plays that included gay characters, plays including lesbians traditionally ended in violence and death. Plays with exclusively lesbian characters that were written by lesbian playwrights targeted all-female audiences. More lesbian plays were written in the 1960s and 1970s largely due to the feminist movement. Lack of public interest lead to a decrease in the number of lesbian plays written and performed until the late 1990s when The Boston Marriage was written and early twenty-first century. LGBTQ+ theatre is dominated by white gay men. David Mamet is one of the few heterosexual male playwrights to write about a play with exclusively lesbian characters. Boston Marriage is the only play David Mamet wrote that only includes lesbian characters.
