Lives Gone Astray:

The Impact of Dysfunctional Families on Literary Characters

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the depiction of the negative effects of unfavorable family situations on literary characters. The vastness of the topic compels me to concentrate on the portrayal of some characters from American plays written in the first half of the 20’h century. The discussion will, therefore, focus on three American dramatists who have very skillfully drawn the lives of some of their characters who are thrown off balance because of the disturbances in their families. These dramatists are Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee. Each of them has presented characters suffering from different psychological problems, the causes of which were rooted in almost the same types of problems, that is, their dysfunctional families.