FUSION OF ILLUSION AND REALITY IN SHEPARD’S FOOL FOR LOVE

Abstract

In this paper, Sam Shepard’s play Fool for Love is examined to trace how reality and illusion are fused in the
lives of his psychologically convoluted characters. Shepard places his characters in an apparently realistic
setting of a “low-rent motel room” (19), the presence of which on the edge of the Mojave Desert, heightens the
illusion of reality. The bond between Eddie and May, two main characters of the play, is also strengthened by
illusions, yet, ironically, it is torn apart by truths. These truths have been concealed in order to protect the
characters from the bitter reality of their incestuous relationship. Shepard presents the complicated realities of
American lives and emphasizes the multilayered realities, just as there are multidimensional illusions. Drawing
from Agata Bielik-Robson’s notions regarding delusion, fantasy, and reality, it is argued through textual
analysis that fantasy or illusion cannot be regarded as the opposite of reality which is per se a phenomenon
suffused with counteracting levels of perspectives. The paper, therefore, looks into the formation of varied
illusions and how they affect the reality of particular situations in the play.