In Plenty (1978), David Hare uses a strong-minded and unorthodox female protagonist, Susan Traherne, to explore what he sees as key aspects of Britain in the years 1943-62 – in particular, the disappointment of the hopes for transformative social and political change which had arisen around the end of World War Two. Susan is not only a troubled and driven individual character, but also seems intended to symbolize more widespread impulses, desires and aspirations which, in Hare's view, failed to find fulfilment in a postwar world in which peace and material plenty cohabited uneasily with existential and political poverty. Plenty, first staged at London's National Theatre, with Kate Nelligan as Susan, enjoyed increasing critical acclaim and transferred successfully to New York in Autumn 1982. A film version scripted by Hare, directed by Fred Schepisi, and...
2299 words
Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "Plenty". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 October 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2760, accessed 09 June 2026.]
