Fears of Remembrance: Recovered Versus False Memory in Arnold Wesker’s Denial.

Abstract

This paper examines Arnold Wesker’s one-act play Denial as a dramatic representation of the psychological debate between recovered and false memory of childhood sexual abuse. Situating the play within late twentieth-century controversies surrounding memory, repression, and therapeutic practice, the study argues that Wesker adopts a critical stance toward recovered memory therapy and exposes its potentially destructive consequences. Through the character of Jenny, who claims to have recovered memories of abuse during therapy, the play stages the conflict between subjective belief and empirical evidence, focusing on the emotional trauma experienced not only by the alleged victim but also by the accused family.

The paper analyses Wesker’s dramaturgical techniques—fragmented structure, non-sequential time, and multidimensional spatial design—to demonstrate how form reflects psychological confusion and epistemological uncertainty. Particular attention is given to the symbolic function of space, scenography, and authorial stage directions, which subtly shape audience perception and privilege scepticism toward repressed memory claims. By integrating psychological discourse into dramatic form, Denial fulfils Wesker’s long-standing artistic aim of connecting art with lived reality while engaging ethical questions surrounding memory, responsibility, and belief. The play ultimately emerges as both a critique of therapeutic pseudoscience and a defence of rational inquiry in emotionally charged contexts.