The stages/spaces of apocalypse: The representations of "the end" in the contemporary American drama

Apocalypse is both an ancient belief that is still prominent and widespread in the contemporary societies and a multidisciplinary issue examined both in the natural and social sciences. In the field of religion, apocalypse has been elucidated mostly in terms of its eschatological dimension which is accompanied by a later interest in its cosmological dimension. This study, as a progression of this late interest in the cosmological dimension, examines the spatial schema of apocalypse in the Judeo-Christian tradition. After a scrutiny on the canonical apocalyptic books such as Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah and Revelation, this study proposes a five-fold structure for the spatial dimension of apocalypse which respectively includes the three-tiered conceptualization of a universe (heaven-earth-underworld), the boundary crossings between these tiers, cosmic conflict between good and evil, cosmic destruction and finally cosmic renewal. This study compares and contrasts this five-fold spatial pattern of apocalypse in the biblical tradition to its representations in the American drama.As the representatives of the apocalyptic visions in the contemporary American drama, seven plays are chosen. The selected plays are Gertrude Stein?s Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, Thornton Wilder?s The Skin of Our Teeth, Sam Shepard?s Back Bog Beast Bait, Tennessee Williams? The Chalky White Substance, Tony Kushner?s Angels in America, José Rivera?s Marisol and Deborah Zoe Laufer?s End Days. As a result of such a comparison between the traditional apocalypse in the Holy Scriptures and its reinterpretations in the contemporary American drama, the similarities between the two forms evince the enduring influence of the Judeo-Christian tradition in the literary imagination while the differences connote the secularization of the apocalypse.