Violence in Sarah Ruhl’s in the Next Room

Abstract

Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play investigates the causes of violence against women that constitutes any act of gender-based violence that results in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women. Ruhl uses historical facts to make a connection between the events that occurred in the past and the present. This study aims to examine the problem of violence and its effects on women. The study tries to analyze the types of violence based on Johan Galtung’s theory of Violence Triangle as a method of analysis. In his seminal article, Violence, Peace, and Peace Research (1969), Galtung presents his famous theory of the Violence Triangle, which is the best framework for comprehending the concept of violence. He made a distinction between three categories of violence: direct, structural, and cultural violence. This classification enables the examination of many types of violence. According to Galtung, "violence is present when human beings are being influenced so that their actual somatic and mental realizations are below their potential realizations" (Galtung 1969, p. 168). Galtung says that scholars should look at how violence is used to keep people from doing what they want in their daily lives, not just how it affects their bodies. The ultimate goal of this study is to show those causes of violence that result in various types of suffering for women and also to analyze the types of violence in the play under study.