Abstract:

Sam Shepard’s family plays can be studied in terms of various relationships in a family: between spouses, father and son, mother and daughter, mother and son, and between siblings. However, of these, father-son conflict is the most troublesome and his works from the earlier to the later ones explore father-son relationships repeatedly. The existence of a familial inheritance, handed down from the past generations, is so powerful that everyone in a family seems to be cursed. However far away one lives from his/her roots, or good education he/she acquires, it is still in vain. Guilt or immorality is in the depth of hereditary traits; in fact every family member inherits the predicament in a way. Therefore, Shepard’s characters are full of anger and vengeance, and besides there is no good side in his plays.In his real life the playwright reveals that he feels sympathy for his mother but hatred for the father. This article seeks to reveal how severe the familial inheritance and father-son conflict is in Shepard’s own life as well as in his plays

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