The Darker Face Of Earth: A Verse Play

by Rita Dove

The Darker Face of the Earth, a play by the poet laureate of the United States, creates a human drama of classical proportions. Behind the facade of antebellum Southern plantation life unfolds a mysterious tale of interracial love and strife, guilt and suffering, as both slave and master struggle against a fate that threatens to eclipse them altogether.

Genres: Plays, Drama, School, Classics, Poetry, Fiction, High School

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Rita Dove, former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, and musician, lives in Charlottesville, where she is Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia.

Reviews

[Freddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reinterpretation of the Oedipus Rex story. The characters may feel a bit thin, but the story feels somewhat fresh.

[Roma]

i haven’t stopped thinking abt this play’s usage of “sometimes i feel like a motherless child” since i read it. wow

[Octavia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play could kill Aristotle

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scylla:
Your stories stir up trouble,
young man.

PHEBE moves as if to stop him; he motions her back.

Augustus:
Seems you're the only one
who's riled up, Scylla.

Scylla:
You're what we call an uppity nigger.
And uppity niggers always trip themselves up.

Augustus:
Are you going to put a curse on me, too,
Scylla? Cross your eyes
and wave a few roots in the air
until I fall on my knees?

Scylla:
No need to curse you;
you have been cursed already.

Rita Dove's The Darker Face of the Earth reimagines Sophocles's classic play Oedipus Rex set amongst slaves a decade or so prior to the Civil War. Dove deftly pulls from both the antique play as well as historical sources to create captivating characters which hold our attention from the opening to the closing of this drama.

Dove also writes the play in free verse. While there once existed a prose version, Dove, as related in the interview at the end of this edition, "took a long hard look at the play, said, 'What the hell,' and put it back into verse. Who cared if it never got published?" Dove's instincts were correct: This play benefits from the poetic lines, which provide a kind of lyrical strength in the way these characters talk to one another.

I highly recommend reading this in conjunction with Sophocles--if only to better understand how Dove "elevates the source material" and transforms the play into a more resonant vernacular.

Augustus:
I got better things to do
than argue with you, Scylla.

Scylla:
Oh yes, you're a busy man;
you got to watch for people waiting
to trip you up; you think
danger's on the outside.
But do you know what's inside
you, Augustus Newcastle?
The seeds of the future; they'll have their way.
You can't escape.
You are in your skin wherever you go.

[Roxanne Bedard-Saucier · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5*

[Joy Nesbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love an oedipus narrative done RIGHT!!! HELL YEAHHHHHH - so disturbing and stark so glad I read this

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

My, my, my. Such a rich adaptation of the story of Oedipus, set on a southern plantation. Rita Dove is a master, a Pulitzer prize winning poet, and also playwright. I've read a few of her works, now, and this was brilliant, even better if you've read Sophocles.

[Christa Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story cleverly uses the story of Oedipus, but beyond that, I wonder if the story is that believable. I have heard terrible stories of abuse to slaves, but not from the women of the house. Not that it couldn't have happened, but I find it unrealistic that Amalia's husband would leave Amalia to care for the plantation, apparently so upset at her infidelity. And he also goes crazy and looks at the stars and moon phases all the time. Which is weird. But overall I thought the fact it was in the form of a play was intriguing.

[David Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great plays stand the test of time and can be adapted to a range of more recent circumstances. With The Darker Face of the Earth, Rita Dove has taken the story of Oedipus and dropped it into antebellum South Carolina. The play was written in the 1990s, which means slavery wasn’t exactly a contemporary issue at the time, but America’s failure to acknowledge the past–by downplaying the horrors of slavery or forgetting the racial stereotypes spawned from racial subjugation that still exist today–makes it still feel pretty relevant.

Dove changes many details, but not so many you can’t recognize the source material. A baby is born and sent away only to return twenty years later and fall into the unfortunate trap that Oedipus always falls into. Overall, she finds a good balance between the Greek theatricality of the original and plantation life of nineteenth century America. Certain updated characters come close to mirroring their counterparts. The slave Scylla stands in for Tiresias, the prophet who knows the truth but sounds crazy to many, and the general slave population often serves a similar purpose to the Greek chorus.

But the changes are never exact. For instance, Hector (our Laius) is a somewhat deranged snake killer rather than a hot-headed king of Thebes, and Augustus (our Oedipus) attempts to help with a burgeoning slave revolt against authority rather than solve the Sphinx’s riddle and the current plague to take power for himself.

Less successful are the scenes between Augustus and Amalia (his mom/lover). They aim to be intimate and profound, and they do build some cringy tension, but their dialogue is limited and even the speech that cites the title of the play feels empty. Other little details–the lingering on slaves with Greek names, Augustus’ knowledge of Greek itself–are a bit too on the nose.

Dove is at her best when focusing on her condemnation of the slave system. In this play, it’s not fate or the gods who control people’s lives and put them in impossibly bad situations. It’s man-made institutions like slavery who condemn both slaves and their owners alike.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend suggested we go see a staged reading of this play, and that's how I first stumbled along this work. Rita Dove came to the showing, and I wanted to do my research before I met her. I read her collection, Thomas and Beulah, before the showing, and while it was an enjoyable read, I didn't love it. I went to the showing with an open mind, and I loved the play. It was so powerful, especially the second act when everything churns and comes together like a tornado. The writing itself was lyrical and beautiful. It was dark, twisted, hard-hitting and absolutely brilliant.
The characters were great. While I wasn't sympathetic towards Augustus and Amahlia, I really loved Phoebe (she was my favorite).

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an intriguing play, telling the story of a southern plantation in the 1840s. (Starting with a prologue in the 1820s.) It nicely plays with/suggests a classic Greek play which I won’t mention to prevent being a spoiler alert.

The play tells an interesting story, and I enjoyed the flights of verse. I wish, though, it had a bit more character development. To me, they ended up more as types than individuals. Things are hinted at, but never really mined or brought forward.

Overall though a very good play to see/read.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

so i fully forgot this was a oedipus rex retelling
sooooo let it be known I was thoroughly bamBOOZLED at the end
otherwise, I think I did not get certain symbolisms but the complex building and interweaving of the characters, their narrative styles and their common story was masterfully done and deeply poignant

[eris · Rating 5 out of 5]

read for class. this is an incredible INCREDIBLE reworking of oedipus rex that complicated the original story via intersectionality and its temporal/spatial setting. an absolute gem and i will be returning to it often.

[JTGlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

T asked me to read this so we could discuss it before he wrote his response for class.
It's a fast, heavy read that incorporates America's curse and Oedipus. There are no redeeming characters. We discussed a feminist reading centered on Amelia.

[Pemba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a completely fantastic retelling of Oedipus, set in the South on a plantation. Dove uses themes of Sophocles’ tragedy to explore the realities of disrupted and reformed kinship under conditions of slavery. SO GOOD! Really reccomend.

[The Black Geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play written by former U.S. Poet Laureate, Rita Dove, is superbly written and should be read by anyone interested in pursuing excellence in playwriting....

[Jude Brigley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb writing. It is the Oedipus story transposed to an American plantation. The idea is surprisingly effective. The language is poetic and lively. Really well done.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tragedy in the grandest way.

[Lyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Darker Face of the Earth was extremely well written, disturbing, and haunting!

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing recasting of the Oedipus myth in the antebellum South

[ava hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting and original take on Oedipus Rex. Absolutely adored it, I need to see it live now.

"If fear eats out the heart, what does love do?"

[Charis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant retelling of Ordipus set on a slave plantation.

[Audreyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

literally got chills……wow……4.5 stars

[Fee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reimagining of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex in the Antebellum south, using the myth as a tool to speak directly to the legacy of slavery and systemic oppression.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

"They couldn't break his spirit, so they broke his heart."

[Hanna Boven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful retelling of Oedipus. Loved the ingenuity and creativity of this postcolonial piece of literature. How fate and nature are less at work than other forces, like the very obvious power dynamics, that moves the characters through their lives.

[natalia !! · Rating 3 out of 5]

-2 Stars for being a play, but slightly tolerable.

[Arief · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this play only for several day (not to mention that I was forced by deadline to do so). Honestly, I never read Oedipus mythology. But this play kinda lead my way to make myself read that Oedipus thing later on.

If I had a chance to pick a role that defines myself, then it'll be Hector who lives in a swamp far from the plantation.

This play was about that forbidden love between different races from generation to generation, how colored people were being slave, and whites were being so mean as if the were the top of all human race.

I think Dove wrote this play beautifully.

"You can't hide forever.
There's a hole in heavens,
and you're throbbing right behind it."

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me begin by saying this particular review is for both the original version of The Darker Face of the Earth published in 1994 and the completely revised version that was published in 1996. These two stories are very different, but they’re both amazing reads. In fact, I think I got even more from the story by reading both versions—drastically alternate endings and all—than I originally had from just reading the 1996 version suggested by my professor. Read the full review here

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting retelling of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrranus, set in antebellum South Carolina. Worth reading just to see how malleable and interesting Greek tragedy can be when put into a more modern setting. I felt that many of the characters wound up lacking satisfying resolution, but the main thrust of the play was very engaging and worth a viewing or reading.