Plays in American Periodicals, 1890-1918

Between 1890 and 1918, over 125 American, English, Irish and AngloIndian plays by 70 dramatists were published in 14 American general interest periodicals aimed at the middle-class reader and consumer. Ranging from elite publications such as The Atlantic Monthly and Scribner's to more mid-level venues such as McClure's and Everybody's Magazine to progressive magazines such as Arena and Forum , the plays dramatized a wide range of American concerns, including anxieties about " race suicide," immigration, " white slavery," the New Woman, class distinctions, global warfare, and the creation of a unique national identity. These plays show Americans to have been " dis/contented" citizens, conflicted by the demands of a dynamically changing nation.

Susan Harris Smith is Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the author of American Drama: The Bastard Art (1997, 2006), Masks in Modern Drama (1984), and co-editor with Melanie Dawson of The American 1890s: A Cultural Reader (2000) as well as many articles on modern drama in scholarly journals.