ABSTRACT
The Antiphon, Djuna Barnes' last major work and only three-act play, was written between 1937 and 1958: a period of intense international tension, spanning the Second World War and the development of the Cold War. This chapter examines the ways in which Barnes' final extended work responds to, and develops, the assessment of identity discussed in relation to the early and mature work. The Antiphon also draws on Shakespearean intertexts to deepen its analysis of power, most notably Titus Andronicus, The Tempest and King Lear. All three plays explore the expression of patriarchal power both within and beyond the family, focusing closely on the father/daughter bond: a relationship intensified in each case by the absence of mother figures. A number of critics have suggested that The Antiphon's characters do not communicate with each other, or even that the play would not work in performance, because of the complexity of the language and the apparent lack of interaction.
