ABSTRACT
This chapter begins at the convergence of studies of the representations of madness, the gender performativity of bodies, and the literary uses of silence, in order to address the two plays whose plots are driven by dramatic refusals, notably the silence of the main character and unseen action. It examines Alan's Wife and A Question of Memory in context of their negative audience and critical reaction and to explain the intersecting discourses that produced that particular reception. The chapter suggests several alternate interpretations with implications for current critical theory. It explores what Alan's Wife and A Question of Memory reveal about their socio-historical moment, and how they can also be said to prefigure recent feminist and queer theorizing about performance, silence, and cultural politics. The chapter demonstrates how Alan's Wife and The Question of Memory contribute in various ways to a sliding of sex/gender categories that reinforce the subversive, performative potential of their silences and other refusals.
