Abuse and Theater: The Dynamics of Power in Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane

Abstract

Occasional tension in families springs from power conflicts between individuals of different ages. Psychology has studied the particular tension between mothers and daughters and compiled several observations on it in a theory termed “the mother-daughter bond.” Martin McDonagh’s play The Beauty Queen of Leenane manifests the struggle between a mother and her daughter to claim power and, in so doing, they actively oppress one another until the annhilation of one of them becomes the final consequence of an ongoing circle of abuse. Such dysfunctional relationship manifests the degeneration of the mother-daughter bond and provides an explanation for the brutality of the two central characters in McDonagh’s play.