Questioning the Traditional Family Ideal...

Paula Vogel’s “The Mineola Twins” stood out to me as being the far more interesting play out of the two in the book, The Mammary Plays, for a few reasons. First and foremost, the play examines personal relationships within a social context by introducing elements of the era in which they take place. The situations in America during the Eisenhower, Nixon, and Bush administrations develop a social context and each of the characters is infused with some sort of societal norm that amplifies their unique personality. Myra, for example, is the archetypical, liberal type. Her little “rap session” over a joint with Kenny projects this anti-authoritarian nature. Myrna on the other hand represents the super-conservative, pro-life spokeswoman. Other than bombing abortion clinics owned by her sister, she also enjoys bashing on lesbianism and isolating herself from her son. These two extremes are what make this story enjoyable. The fact that Myra and Myrna come from the same simple background as twin sisters, yet have developed into completely different people, plays against the traditional idea of human relationships. One would expect the two twins to grow up as similarly minded people, yet Vogel squashes this misconception with humorous dialogue and crazy situations. By looking at this relationship through the context of the eras in which the play takes place, we gain a greater understanding of the complexity of human interactions.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Mineola Twins" and was pleased to find parallels between this play and “How I Learned to Drive”. In both plays, Vogel questions the traditional family ideal, attacking the central idea of familial tension from an original point of view. I was left contemplating the various relationships that I have with my family members.

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