Discussion of Sarah Kane's Plays: 4.48 Psychosis, Cleansed and Blasted

Introduction

The title "4.48 Psychosis" refers to the time when the victim of chronic insomnia and depression in the play used to wake up before dawn. According to statistics, this is the time when most suicides and attempts of suicide occur. This time represents the period of clear-mindedness when an individual is in his or her most sober mental state. Kane (2001: 242) describes this time as the happy hour when clarity visits. Many would consider this time as a moment of drastic madness. From the perspective of Sarah's demise, many would argue that the work is a suicide note. Some of the occurrences in the author's life before her death help to back this argument. Before eventually taking her own life in 1999, Kane had a long struggle with depression, unsuccessful therapies and a range of medical sessions.

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Consequently, in 4.48 Psychosis, there are phrases such as "I would like to kill myself" (206), "I have resigned myself to death this year" (208), or "Take an overdose, slash my wrists then hang myself" (210). Both expressions portray suicidal thoughts. Conversely, in as much as suicidal thoughts dominate the 4.88 Psychosis, we cannot conclude that the piece is a suicide note by the author. Kane's fascination with death is eminent in her other works like Blasted and Cleansed, both which will be discussed later in the paper. Therefore, this ambiguity presents the play as a piece of bewildered fragments. The plot of the play is centered on a mentally ill patient who plans to kill themselves at 4.48 a.m. The identity of the protagonist is anonymous (Tycer 23-36). The protagonist is at a mental health institution getting a psychological evaluation. The author does not reveal the setting of the play. Also, there is no evidence that there exists more than one character. The structure of the script takes the form of a poem. Another peculiarity of this work is that it does not specify on fundamental features like stage directions, characters, and settings. The central theme of the play is depression. As stated earlier, the title itself is symbolic, signifying the time when most patients suffering from depression often wake up to meditate. It is also at this time when most suicides are committed, or the attempts to do the same occurs.

Assuming that the protagonist is Kane herself, then a contradiction emerges. For instance, let us deconstruct the character without allowing our knowledge about the author cloud our thinking. Analyze the script by looking at from the viewpoint of a person dealing with depression in real life. Sarah Kane as the protagonist is in the middle of a spiritual and mental breakdown. It is surprising that she manages to write this beautiful piece of art amidst all the hullabaloo in her life. A feat which is almost impossible to achieve in such a state of mind. Therefore, we can deduce that the play tries to portray a sense of hopefulness for brighter days in dire situations. In the text, the protagonist is in need of help, but no one seems to notice her troubles (Sanchez-Palencia 2006). On the contrary, the writing itself as a masterpiece does not cry for help but sheds light on the freedom to express oneself out of our every struggle.

That being said, our next play for discussion is that by the title Cleansed. The central theme in the play is that of physical violence. The piece pushes literary works on horrors to the limit. The author's message portrays the world as a cruel and an intolerable place to live in (Kane 1998). In that sense, one can argue that it is this enthusiasm with death and violence that propelled Kane to commit suicide. The play has no discernable plot. However, the narration is vivid and easy to understand. At the beginning of the play, Graham is given a massive injection of crack into his eyeball by Tinker upon his request. Grace, Graham's sister, visits the place later on to collect his belongings. She wears his brother's clothes and offers to undergo treatment. Graham appears to her, and they have sex. Grace also befriends another inmate/resident by the name of Robin. She teaches him to read and write, but he gets enough of the torture and decides to kill himself. Also at the institution are two other resident/inmates, that is, Carl and Rod who happen to be lovers. Tinker conducts tests on their protestations of love by cutting out Carl's tongue, hands, and feet. Grace is savagely attacked and subjected to an operation involving being surgically given a set of Graham's genitals. Tinker often visits a dancing woman in a booth. He seems to like her, and eventually, they make love. Though Grace finally unites with Graham through the virtue of the operation, she ends up losing him after he dies as a result of the surgery.

One key feature that runs throughout the play is the aspect of doubling, that is, the parallelism of character. Grace and Graham are a reflection of each other. For example, Graham insists on being given an injection of crack into his eyeball by Tinker. Similarly, Grace wears Graham clothes and asks Tinker to treat her. Tinker himself is a healer and a sadistic torturer (Saunders 2002). Carl and Rod are also a mirror of each other in that they love each other to the extent that one is ready to die for the other. This aspect of mirroring characters comes to life through the use black-masked puppeteers who are both seen and not seen, noticeable and unnoticeable. Tinker is the only character without an ally. He stands out alone as a sadistic doctor set on reducing vagueness and illuminating the things for what they are. Tinker hears Carl promise eternal love for Rod and puts it to test. Apart from that, he subjects Grace to electro-shock therapy to see the psychological effect it has on his brother, Graham (Delgado-Garcia 230-250). Tinker seems to be in a quest of finding a moment of clarity, whereby things are what they are.

This last section of the essay discusses the play titled Blasted, also by Sarah Kane. This is the first play that Kane wrote. Like the other two, this piece incorporates scenes involving physical violence and mental torture. In this piece, Kane displays a brilliant portrayal of poetic truth than most playwrights of her generation. The protagonists are Ian, a middle-aged tabloid journalist, and Cate, a young mentally disturbed woman. The former is sickly and on the verge of dying. The two characters meet at an expensive hotel room in Leeds where they engage in all sorts of horrific acts including cannibalism, masturbation, rape, and violence among others (Urban 36-46). Other elements of horror prevalent in the play include the passion for sickness, sparse dialogue and war. The latter is imminent considering that the play is set during the period of a Civil War. In that sense, the only new character introduced in Scene Two is a soldier from the battlefield. He bursts into the room where the two psychopaths are residing. The scene he meets startle him more than the spectacles of the war he has encountered.

Conclusion

Through critical analysis, it is evident that Kane customs soreness to discover the strength of what it means to be a human being. She gives us the viewpoint from the perspective of the casualty and the offender. Consequently, the characters interchange their roles to fit within the dimensions of the central theme. The characters whom we expect to succumb to death stay alive, with the hope of being free from their misery (Ravenhill 2006). For example, Ian, Cate and the soldiers both switch positions of power in the play. In that line, Kane uses the characters to describe the harsh reality of the world we live in while she denounces the existence of God (Kane 2001). In the last act, Cate and Ian engage in a conversation. Cate pleads with Ian not to take his life as the action is sin in the presence of God. Ian replies that "Don't be fucking stupid, doesn't make sense anyway. No reason for there to be a God just because it would better if there were" (Kane 34-64). From the illustration, we can conclude that Blasted could be a metaphor for Kane's own life, 28 years before hanging herself on a toilet.

Works Cited

Delgado-Garcia, Cristina. "Subversion, Refusal, and Contingency: The Transgression of Liberal-Humanist Subjectivity and Characterization in Sarah Kane's Cleansed, Crave, and 4.48 Psychosis." Modern Drama 55.2 (2012): 230-250.

Kane, Sarah, and Royal Court Theatre. 4.48 Psychosis. London: Methuen, 2000.

Kane, Sarah. Cleansed. London: Methuen, 1998.

Kane, Sarah. "Blasted." Theater 27.1 (1996): 35-64.

Kane, Sarah. Sarah Kane: Complete Plays: Blasted; Phaedra's Love; Cleansed; Crave; 4.48 Psychosis; Skin. A&C Black, 2001.

Ravenhill, Mark. "The beauty of brutality." The Guardian, London,. http://www. guardian. co. uk/stage/2006/oct/28/theatre. stage/print (2006).

Saunders, Graham. 'Love me or kill me': Sarah Kane and the theatre of extremes. Manchester University Press, 2002.

Sanchez-Palencia Carazo, Carolina. "4.48 Psychosis: Sarah Kane's" bewildered fragments"." BELLS: Barcelona English language and literature studies, 15, 9 p. (2006).

Tycer, Alicia. "" Victim. Perpetrator. Bystander": Melancholic Witnessing of Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis." Theatre Journal 60.1 (2008): 23-36.

Urban, Ken. "An Ethics of Catastrophe: The Theatre of Sarah Kane." PAJ: A journal of Performance and Art 23.3 (2001): 36-46.