Author: "The American Dream" by Edward Albee was written in 1960, and is considered to make use of some absurdist techniques.
Setting: The play takes place in Mommy and Daddy's living room. Other rooms in the apartment are accessed through arches and act as exits for the characters, but the scene never shifts to a different room.
Plot: The story begins with Mommy and Daddy waiting for the arrival of Mrs. Barker. Mommy impatiently tells Daddy a pointless story of her hat tragedy. She remains control over the entire conversation as she must remind Daddy to pay attention, and she asks him to repeat her words to prove himself. This is one main way Mommy asserts control over Daddy throughout the play; with her power of speech. Mommy's story is interrupted by the entrance of Grandma, and her overload of beautiful boxes. The boxes are questioned, but the focus changes too quickly for the mystery of the boxes to be revealed! Mrs. Barker arrives unsure of the purpose of her own arrival. They discuss unimportant things weaving around Mrs. Barker's reasoning for being there until a bumble is mentioned. The Young Man arrives in search for a job and talks to Grandma. Grandma ends up giving Mommy and Daddy the perfect satisfaction without them even knowing it. The Young Man replaces Grandma and the play ends with everyone happy (at the moment).
Significant Characters:
Grandma
-old American Dream vs. new American Dream
-speaks the truth
-symbolizes the American Dream
-violent language
Mommy
-emasculates Daddy in every way possible
-example of consumerism, obsessed with money
-control freak
-self-centered
-mutilated her son
Daddy
-no backbone
-a woman
-whipped
Young Man
-new American Dream
-represents the purchase of satisfaction
Author's Style:
Albee's use of repetition throughout his play highlights the oblivious repetition in society. This technique is seen a lot and contributes to the plain tone. Emotions are rarely expressed in this work, they are simply spoken with no regard. There is no point of view in this play or use of symbols. Albee used irony to express the acts of Mommy and Daddy.
Quotes:
"Grandma: I didn't really like wrapping them; it hurt my fingers and it frightened me. But it had to be done(Albee 71)." Grandma is referring to the boxes in this quote. This represents a person's disparity for approval and the price one will pay for an exterior value. The pain of wrapping was well worth the beautiful boxes.
"Young Man: Oh, almost anything... almost anything that pays. I'll do almost anything for money(Albee 109)." The picture perfect, young man is intrigued by Grandma's potential job offer. This quote represents the willingness of a person to do anything for money. Money seems to be the foundation of the new American dream (Young Man).
Theme: The label of satisfaction is valued more than satisfaction itself.
In the American Dream, Albee conveys the theme that the label of satisfaction is valued more than satisfaction itself. This theme is introduced in Mommy's story with her hat. Mommy happily purchases a beige hat, because beige is elegant and classy, like Mommy of course! Mommy is satisfied with her beige hat until the chair woman, Mrs. Barker calls it a wheat-colored hat. Not even a wheat hat; wheat-colored. Therefore Mrs. Barker making a statement towards the middle-class. Mommy refuses this wheat-colored hat and demands a beige hat. She blames this misunderstanding on the artificial lighting, clearly it wasn't her fault. She left wearing a beige hat, and she was satisfied for the label of satisfaction, rather than truly satisfied knowing she got the same hat. To conclude the theme, Mommy and Daddy were satisfied with the Young Man. This is extremely ironic because his twin wasn't good enough the first time. Therefore, since they have the label of a perfect family; Mommy, Daddy and the Young Man, they are satisfied.
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ReplyDeleteThis is insightful and reasonably thorough--there are just a few sections that still need a little work. I'd add Mrs. Barker to the "characters" section and add some more discussion of symbolism. Finally, you "theme" section needs to have something more explicit in it about how Albee is criticizing modern America's consumerism and materialism.
ReplyDeleteI like a lot of things about this blog post! First of all, I found it very helpful that you put bullet points under the characters. It was a lot more pleasing to the eye to read it that was rather than just a sentence. I also like how you explained the fact that emotions were only talked about in this play rather than really felt. This was a good observation that I didn't necessarily catch when I was writing my summary and analysis. Lastly, I liked your quote involving Grandma and the packages. It is true that we all pay a major price just for people to think of us and see us in a certain way.
ReplyDeleteNicci,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job with this summary and analysis! You covered the important aspects of this play. I agree with Erica that you organization was really helpful. I also liked your detailed description of the theme and I think it was great that you incorporated examples from the play to back up what you said!
I think you could add a little more to the summary. In particular, the conversation between Mrs. Barker and the family about the bumble is important, as is the conversation between Grandma and the Young Man. You have good character analysis for the ones you have included, but, as with the summary, I think you could include a little bit more. Mrs. Barker is a key character in the work and could be analyzed as well.
ReplyDeleteYou have a fair commentary on style, although I think it over-generalizes a little. There are definitely symbols in the play (such as Grandma and the Young Man representing the American Dream), and you describe all of the dialogue based solely on how Mommy and Daddy speak, though we know that Grandma, for instance, speaks very differently.