Reading Theodora Carlisle's article concerns itself with the act of reading: how it's a central thematic element and how it responds to Sophocles’ original. She posits that in Dove's adaptation, reading is equated with power as a way to resist the notion of slaves being intellectually inferior to their white masters. For instance, Amalia questions Augustus’ ability by thrusting a book of Greek plays at Augustus for him to read, incorrectly assuming he would not know it or that it would be too difficult. He refutes this, going so far as to lament the predictability of the Greek masters. This is a way for Augustus to meet her on equal ground, at least intellectually. Carlisle acknowledges that
Darker Face of the Earth is an artistic rendering of Sophocles’ original, but maintains that it can stand on its own due to the undercurrents of difference within the play that speak to the black experience. She cites the character of Scylla as a prime example of Dove's ability to take the broad details of the original play and reinterpret them to suit her own thematic concerns.
Fate In an interview playwright Rita Dove discussed her decision to rewrite the Oedipus story on a southern plantation, saying she had a wonderful epiphany. She saw slavery as a great base to intertwine with the powerful Greek Oedipus tragedy. Augustus’ fate was naturally not in his control both as a slave and as a human being, just as Oedipus' fate was not in his hands. Dove says, “I want the audience to actually root for Amalia, Augustus’ mother and lover-to see her, and the others, as human beings trying to be individuals in a system that won't let them. I want there to be no chance for escape, to show a system that seems sturdily in place, as irrevocable and inevitable, as the Greek Gods seemed to the Greeks.” She didn't want for there to be any room for Augustus' and Amalia's relationship to grow.
Miscegenation Malin Pereira argues that Rita Dove's inclusion of
miscegenation in
Darker Face of the Earth produces the “mulatto” which Pereira identifies as Augustus Newcastle, the child of slave master Amelia Jennings and her slave Hector. The mulatto offspring of the White slave master and the Black slave is also the product of two cultural identities mixing during the
Antebellum South. Pereira also explores the motive of miscegenation between the characters in
Darker Face of the Earth by distinguishing the reason for each characters participation that ranges from a simple love to a more complex attraction.
Slavery Malin Pereira's article "When the Pear Blossoms/ Cast Their Pale Faces on/ the Darker Face of the Earth” discusses the various themes that appear in Rita Dove's
Darker Face of the Earth such as miscegenation and incest. With the theme of slavery in the play, this article states that Augustus because of his upbringing by a white captain, he feels more familiar with white people rather than blacks on the plantation. This is pointed out as Augustus doesn't pursue a relationship with Phebe because he's involved with Amalia. Augustus also doesn't believe in Scylla's prophecies and doesn't complete the mission given to him by the conspirators to kill Amalia because of his relationship with her.
Gender Danny Sexton talks about the changes due to Rita's revision of her first publication. She gives the characters of Amalia, Hector and Augustus's parents more importance compared to the first publication. Rita looks into W.E.B DuBois' idea of double consciousness and adapts it into her second revision to expand on the characters of Amalia and Augustus that possesses “two souls, two thoughts, two reconciled; [and] two warring ideals inside one dark body.” According to DuBois double consciousness is seeing yourself based on the perception of different people and a person's own opinion of themselves. Her creation of Amalia goes against DuBois' idea on double consciousness “Amalia belongs to that group of women who dominate so much of Western literature, women who are at once strong and fiercely independent yet at the same time enslaved by the rules of their society which has forced a feminine script upon them.”
Prophecy and Knowledge Theodora Carlisle approaches the “Africanist Vision” with the themes of prophecy and knowledge, which are two of the major themes in the play. Carlisle suggests that Scylla is the character that personalizes the themes of prophecy and knowledge: “In a like manner, Scylla is aligned with feminine forces. Augustus’s birth has brought a curse “over the land.” Scylla, able to feel the living baby's kick in her womb, is one of those stricken directly.” Carlisle also explores the African customs of the slave community by highlighting the context of the African words being used in the play. ==References==