Summary of the American Dream

Author:

Edward Albee was born in Virginia in 1928 and was soon later adopted by wealthy family in New York. He is known for helping to gain popularity of the Theatre of the Absurd. He is most known for his two plays, The American Dream and The Zoo Story, both being extremely controversial works of satire.

Setting:

This setting is an extremely ambiguous apartment building that is never really described but just said to be a building that looked like it had work, as said by the young man. Ambiguous setting is a main component of absurdism so this is probably why the setting was never developed.

Main Characters:

Grandma: Often labeled as the “old American” dream, Grandma is known for being a resourceful woman that does not fit in with the “new generation”. Near the end of the play she is able to join the audience and act as a commentator for the rest of the act, this also shows that she is not part of the “new” and meaningless generation. Grandma is also known for her wit and intelligence.

Mommy: Having an extremely dominating nature, Mommy tends to control everyone that is around her especially Daddy. In addition she is known as being the typical “bad mother” of the generation and this is exaggerated through Albee’s use of the Theatre of the Absurd when talking of how she cut up pieces of her “bumble”. Mommy also states that satisfaction is impossible to find these days, so she uses consumerism to buy her needs.

Daddy: Known for being extremely child-like and unsure of what to do, Daddy is easily ruled over by Mommy and is known for being emasculated by her. This emasculation shows his lost of individuality, referring back to how the “new” American dream also causes people to lose a sense of them.

Mrs. Barker: Known for being chair of the Woman’s Club and volunteering at the Bye-Bye Adoption Agency, Mrs. Barker is an exaggeration of the typical “perfect” house-wife. Even though she was called over by Mommy and Daddy to get satisfaction, she acts as if she does not know why she is at their apartment. Lastly, she often refers to herself as “us” or  “ours”, causing the reader to believe that she is actually part of a group of people but is the only one speaking.

Young Man: Known as the “type”, the Young Man represents the “new” American dream. He is an identical twin with the child that was previously lived in Mommy and Daddy’s household. As his twin was physically abused he was internally abused, leaving him to be physically perfect but mentally instable. He is also said to have no skills and therefore will do anything for money.

Narrative Voice: N/A because a play

Plot:

-         The play opens of Mommy and Daddy sitting in the living room and complaining how their visitors are late. Mommy is upset and says that these days it is impossible to get satisfaction. Mommy begins to tell Daddy her purchase of a hat the day before: The chairwoman of the woman’s club told her that her that her hat was wheat but it was actually beige so Mommy goes and exchanges it for a new beige one. During this story Mommy get mad at Daddy because he is not listening, and after Daddy says that it was probably the same color hat (Mommy agrees). While waiting for the visitors Daddy goes on to say that he has been trying to get the toilet fixed mostly for Grandma. After this Grandma walks in while a load of boxes and dumps them in the living room. Grandma agrees that they toilet needs to be fixed and Daddy goes on to say that he can hear her whimpering in the bathroom (both Mommy and Grandma scold him for saying this). Grandma then changes topics and say that as you become old people begin feeling sorry for you and this gives her a sense of dignity. Mommy and Daddy scold grandma for reading Mommy’s book club selection and grandma goes on to say that the old have to do something.

When Grandma leaves Mommy recalls how Grandma has always wrapped boxes very neatly, since Mommy was a little girl. Mommy say that Grandma used to do this for her lunches and Daddy says that it was because it had no food in it. Mommy quickly says that it did, but she instead ate everyone else’s lunches. Daddy scolds Mommy for being such a deceitful person but she says that she did it because they were poor.

The topic then shifts to money. Grandma feels rich because she can live with Mommy and Daddy but she doesn’t know that Daddy actually wants her in a nursing home (he claims that this is not true). Mommy says that she has a right to his money because he allowed him to have sex with her.

Grandma reenters and Daddy compliments her on her box wrapping but she scolds him for saying that she whimpers in the bathroom. She goes on to say that all old people whimper. Grandma also says that Mommy schemed to marry a rich man and asks Daddy why he would ever want to marry a woman like Mommy. Mommy complains that Grandma is her mom and should not be taking Daddy’s side.

Grandma says that they only reason that she was kept in this household was to protect Mommy when Daddy got “fresh”. Mommy says that Daddy has been sick and that he does not want anyone.

The bell rings and Daddy has doubts opening the door. Mommy must reassure Daddy that it is a good idea to open the door for the people. Mrs. Barker enters and Mommy says that she has been here once before. Grandma says that she cannot see Mrs. Barker. Mommy and Daddy offer Mrs. Barker to sit down and have a drink or cigarrete. Mrs. Barker nicely comments on their unattractive apartment and says that she known of their maintenance problems.

Mommy and Daddy ask what she does and she says that she is chair of the woman’s club. Mommy remembers her and recognizes that Mrs. Barker is wearing the same hat as Mommy bought yesterday.  Mommy then tells her to remove her dress and Mrs. Barker does so. Daddy gets aroused and excited. Mrs. Barkers says that she will have a smoke if that will help the situation but Mommy says no. Mommy asks Mrs. Barker why she ahs come which seems to be very confusing because no one knows why she is here.

Grandma warns Mommy to not step over the boxes and Daddy thinks that, that is why Mrs. Barker is here. Grandma is not sure if that is what she thought she meant.

Daddy thinks that it would help to tell about his operation where the doctors removed the tracts and now has tubes.

Grandma tries to speak but Mommy silences her insisting that old people have nothing to say. Grandma says that Mommy is middle aged and they think that they can do anything but they cant.

Finally Grandma says that the boxes have nothing to do with the visit but no one wants to listen to what they are for.  Daddy can’t remember Mrs. Barkers name when asking what her purpose of being here is.

Mommy says that she also wants Grandma taken away. Mommy says that Grandma watches too much television and tells Daddy to shake Grandma’s television tubes loose. Eventually Mommy tells Daddy to break Grandma’s t.v.

Mrs. Barker says that she is a busy woman with many committees and Mommy and Daddy mock her by saying that they haven to invite her to offer her help.

Mrs. Barker says that she is feeling faint so Mommy goes and gets her some water. When Mrs. Barker and Grandma are alone, Mrs. Barker asks what her purpose of being here is. Grandma tells the story of how people “very much like” Daddy, Mommy, and Grandma adopted a young “bumble” form Mrs. Barker. Eventually they mutilated this bumble until it died. Wanting satisfaction, Mommy and Daddy called the adoption agency for a refund and this is why Mrs. Barker is here.

Daddy can’t find the television and Mommy can’t find the water: Grandma has hidden everything. Grandma does not care. Mrs. Barker can’t understand what Grandma has just said.

The Young Man enters. He is handsome and young. Grandma thinks that he is the van man; he isn’t. Grandma calls him the “American Dream”. The young man says that he will do anything for money. Grandma thinks that this household could give him some work. She says that he looks familiar but does not know where he is from, and then asks why he is so desperate for money. He says that he has good looks but something about him is incomplete so he most compensate. He says that when he has a twin and that his counterpart suffered a lot of mutilations and he suffered from this too.  Grandma comes up with a plan to help him.

Mrs. Barker comes back into the living room. Grandma introduces the young mas as the van man. Grandma commands the young man to go put away her bags and when he leaves she whispers the solution to Mommy and Daddy’s problem. Mrs. Barker leaves and Grandma says goodbye. She tells the young man to stay. Mommy, Daddy, and Mrs. Barker arrive back into the scene. They are all happy with the resolution and deicide to celebrate.

Grandma ends up on the outside of the play as the narrator and end saying, “It’s better to end it here while “everybody’s got what he wants...or everybody’s got what he thinks he wants.”

Important Quotes:

Grandma: “You don’t have any feelings, that’s what’s wrong with you (68).”

Here grandma draws an excellent contrast between the “old” generation and the “new” generation. The old generation have a more sympathetic personality and do not mind talking to people when they are need whereas the new generation is quick to judge and seems to very apathetic.

Daddy: “I think we should talk about it some more. Maybe we’ve been hasty…a little hast, perhaps (73).”

This quote is an excellent indicator of how Daddy has been emasculated. He cannot make decisions for his own so Mommy has to help him make them.

Mommy: “…I could have a husband who was poor, or argumentative, or a husband who sat in a wheel chair all day…OOOOHHHH! What have I said? What have I said”?

On the surface this quote may seem like Mommy actually feels bad about insulting Mrs. Barker’s husband but in reality Mommy has said this on purpose. Mommy does not like when people are better than her and always wants to be in control. By saying this Mommy is demeaning Mrs. Barker and also putting her in her place.

Theme:

The main theme of this play is that the American scene has been misplaced. Mommy and Daddy’s household shows what is left of the American Dream. The young man who is a perfect Midwest man with blonde hair and blue eyes represents the “new” American Dream. Even though he looks perfect from the outside he is incomplete on the outside due to what happened to his twin brother. Mommy and Daddy wanted satisfaction from the young man’s twin but did not get this so tortured him until he died. Mommy and Daddy relate to the young man because he is perfect on the outside but in reality has no purpose and will sell themselves as a commodity.

Close Reading #2: Women and the Men Who Yell

“Women and the Men Who Yell” describes how the 2012 presidential cabinets addressed the issue of women’s equality in the workplace and reproductive rights during the town hall presidential debate. Even in her title, Collins subtly groups both Romney and Obama under the name of “Men Who Yell” and critiques them for treating women as a means to an end (the end being winning the presidency) through her excellent use of syntax, imagery, figurative language, and diction.

When Collins’ says “of course” and “in the end” in the opening paragraphs of this editorial, she uses syntax to make the article appear almost like a casual conversation with the reader.  This sets up the reader to be more open to her personal views than they would be with a more formally written article. She attempts to surprise the reader syntactically when she ends one paragraph with “Still, it was admirable that Romney followed through,” and begins the next paragraph with “At least for the first few years of his administration.”  The separation of these two thoughts by both a period and a paragraph is dramatic, but in my opinion unsuccessful. It undermines its own purpose, because breaking up that thought so drastically creates confusion for the reader rather than emphasizing the significance of this change.

Collins uses the image of “Women in Binders,” Romney’s own phrase, to demonstrate how the two presidential candidates objectify and categorize women instead of viewing them as human beings with minds and abilities of their own. This is a clever way to introduce a topic because then readers are informed of what the article is going to talk about in a humorous way, which will convince them to keep reading.  Collins describes Romney’s political persona as amorphous, using the words “that guy began to evaporate” to emphasize how insubstantial Romney’s public character really is.

When using the phrase, “Worst Boyfriend”, Collins uses figurative language to evoke the typical crazy boyfriend in movies that will do anything to protect his “girl,” but actually understanding her actual needs. Through this the author is forcing her views on the reader because she is not just presenting them in an old fashioned way where she says “ These are my ideas so if you like them agree with me and if not then don’t”, she is tactfully using figurative language to make the reader feel as if it must be true. By referencing Harry Truman’s famous motto, “the buck stops here,” she efficiently encapsulates Obama’s acceptance of responsibility regarding the attacks in Benghazi with a phrase that is familiar to the American public, rather than fully explaining it.

Collins effectively uses diction evoking competition with the words “scoring points” to make clear that Romney and Obama, and perhaps all male politicians, are not so much concerned with women’s rights so much as winning the election with the help of the female vote. In this editorial, the Romney campaign is referred to as the “Romney Camp,” once again emphasizing that this is not a campaign for women’s rights, but rather a war fought between the two candidates.

Collins uses a wide variety of literary tools, to hit home that while Romney and Obama may represent two political parties, they ultimately place women in subordinate positions to men, be it in binders or corners. 

Link to Article: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/opinion/collins-women-and-the-men-who-yell.html?_r=0

Open Prompt #2

2002. Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio demonstrates great moral ambiguity in the contrast between his words and actions. From the beginning, Mercutio appears somewhat harsh as he vocalizes a great cynicism regarding Romeo’s passion for Juliet, but ultimately his sacrifice of his own life out of love for Romeo reveals him to be far more complex than a mere cynic.

Mercutio witnesses the birth of Romeo’s love for Juliet and immediately cautions Romeo from pursuing it any further if he wants to avoid inciting great conflict between their two already feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Mercutio’s efforts to convince Romeo to give up on this romantic venture seem harsh and cynical, causing readers to perceive him as somewhat unfeeling, but other readers may believe that Mercutio is doing Romeo a favor by telling him the harsh truth that this marriage would never work out.

For example, when Romeo says that he had a dream in Act 1, Scene 4, Mercutio interrupts him with the Queen Mab speech. He appeals to Romeo’s romantic nature by telling him that dreams are planted in the brains of people by a fairy called Queen Mab and are not to be trusted. Romeo stops Mercutio in the middle of this speech so he cannot further discourage him. On the surface, Mercutio appears to be a selfish friend to Romeo by imposing his own cynical views of love upon Romeo against his will. Some members of the audience may even believe his cautionary tales may be motivated by a selfish desire to prevent his friend from pursing a happy marriage to Juliet, but with further dissection readers may come to see that Mercutio is more likely acting out of concern for Romeo’s emotional and physical well-being by  warning him against pursuing a hopeless cause.  

By the final act, Mercutio has the audience well-convinced that he is fully set against impassioned behavior, but to everyone’s surprise, it is Mercutio who takes Romeo’s place when challenged to a duel by Tybalt. Despite all his speeches against the danger of giving in to one’s passions, Mercutio allows his own feelings to drive him to violence, ultimately ending with his death. This pivotal scene can be interpreted many ways, depending on if one views his decision to duel Tybalt as an impulsive action made out of anger at Romeo’s cowardice or out of sacrificial love for his friend. Either way, it reveals the truth of Mercutio’s words that disaster is born of passion, making Mercutio a multi-layered character whose actions contradict his own words.