Abstract
The relationship between art and the society is an established relationship. Creation of an artistic work has a direct relation with the social and cultural atmosphere in which the work is to be created. Even if the work of art does not directly deal with the issues of the society around it, it is inevitably affected by them. The relations and the problems of the "couples", is a theme which has drawn the attention of the Iranian playwrights. Given the fact that most of such plays with the theme of the couples' relations take place in the cultural, economical, political, psychological and traditional venues of the society, this study hopes to shed some light on an almost dark corner of the social criteria of the Iranian people during the current century. Naturally, the issues which pave the way, or extend, the relations among a husband and a wife, cover a much larger field of approaches, which contain the fields of biology, psychology, and anthropology. But it seems that among all these approaches, a sociological approach provides us with the most comprehensive results. This research uses the "reflection" theory as its basis, because it provides a vast panorama of the social structures of today's life through the artistic works. In this work, the most important aspect of "couples" is briefly studied, which is the social status of this institution. Afterwards, based on the different data concerning the different relational aspects of the couples, we have concentrated on those Iranian dramatic works who reflect these relations. We believe that the extraction of the social facts from these works and explaining them within a sociological framework is important and necessary. Therefore, with taking a social and psychological approach, the selected plays have been analyzed. The clearest result of the analysis is the picture provided from a society, which faces the aspects of modern life within a traditional framework. Couples are one of the institutions which are greatly affected by this struggle. On one hand, people are forced to observe the norms and respect the traditional values, and on the other hand, their idealistic spirits call them towards the new horizons in life. The result of this challenge in the relationships of the couples, is the suppression of the idealistic wishes, and the personal aspects of each members of the couple within their family relations. Iranian dramatic literature, regardless the quality or quantity of its success, has always been a committed literature, and has always been affected by the social situations of its time. As opposed to the early assumptions, the number of the plays which have clearly dealt with couples issues are so little. The couples' issues may be placed in two categories, by the use of a delicate boundary: 1-The couple and their internal and family problems (such as familial brutality, physiological problems, and…). 2- The couple facing the social attacks (such as poverty, class struggle, and historical crises).
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