The concept of dramatic realism operates within Summer of the Seventeenth Doll through aspects such as the use of slang, language, set, costume approximates real life, natural language rhythms, relevance to society of that era, etc. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is set in the 1950s, which was a crucial period in the development of the Australian identity. It was a time of post-war reconstruction and immigration, of materialism, a wool boom, of suburban comfort …showed first 75 words of 1198 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1198 total…youth; ultimately to their downfall. The dramatic realism of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is based around the 1950s era, and the relevance in which the characters have to that era, or even what relevance that the era has to the characters. It is how ordinary people hurt in themselves, and how they can hurt one another, and how people are reluctant to change - a human flaw that resides, to some extent, in everyone.