Edward Albee's The American Dream presents viewer with an absurd, twisted and cynical view of what the American Dream. The American Dream not only presents a reimagined American Dream (Mommy), but also contrasts it with the old American Dream (Grandma). Albee even goes as far as to say that this new American Dream, fueled by greed and consumerism, will ultimately kill you.
The American Dream starts out in a living room with the married couple Mommy and Daddy, along with Mommy's mother Grandma. Mommy tells Daddy about her trip to the store to get a hat, a beige hat to be exact. Mommy then flips out when the president of her women's club tells her that she bought a wheat hat. This causes Mommy to storm back into the store and demand a new hat. Grandma enters with loads of boxes. With the boxes to spark her memory, Mommy reminisces about how Grandma would pack her lunches in neatly wrapped boxes. The neatly wrapped boxes looked too nice to unwrap, so she didn't. Mommy was content in receiving food from children who felt bad for her. Viewers then find out that Mommy only married Daddy for his money. The doorbell soon rings and Grandma shouts about how the van people have finally come to take her away. Mrs. Barker comes in instead of the van people. Mommy asks her if she would like to remove her dress. Daddy then says, "I just blushed and giggled and got sticky wet" (Albee 79). This is due to Daddy being forced into a sex change by Mommy. Then, Mommy threatens to have Grandma taken away. She tells Daddy to go smash Grandma's TV. Mrs. Barker then asks Grandma about the nature of her visit. Grandma tells Mrs. Barker a hint about her visit. She tells her that a man, very much like Daddy, and a woman, very much like Mommy, contacted Bye-Bye Adoption Services about getting a "bumble". They adopt the bumble, but the bumble only had eyes for Daddy, so Mommy proceeded to mutilate it. The bumble was killed and the family called the Bye-Bye Adoption Service to get their money back. Mrs. Barker goes to get her water from Mommy when then the doorbell rings again. It's the Young Man. Grandma talks to him and comments on his physical appearance. She then christens him the American Dream. The Young Man says that he came for work and that he'll do anything for money. Grandma takes him up on that offer. Mrs. Barker come back and see the Young Man. Grandma says that he is the van man. She and the Young Man leave with the boxes. Mommy and Daddy enter and find out that the van man took Grandma. Mommy becomes distraught saying that the van man was fake. Grandma breaks the fourth wall while watching the family adopt the Young Man as one of their own. She says that she'll leave now while everyone is happy.
Mommy and Grandma are foils. Mommy represents the new American dream, while Grandma represents the old American dream. The new American dream is fueled by greed and consumerism while the old American dream is more of the old "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps". For instance, Mommy complaining about her beige hat to the store clerk shows that she only cares about what others think of her. If the president of her woman's club hadn't come along, then she would have been perfectly content without the president's input. Mommy and Grandma's separate views of the boxes also plays a role in the separate American dreams. Mommy only cared about the outside of the boxes so she wouldn't eat the lunches. Grandma would eat the food. Grandma cared about what was on the inside.
The Young Man is what the new American Dream created by Mommy and Daddy's generation. The Young Man is the brother of the bumble. Grandma naming him the American Dream is important. He was raised in a society that only cares about the superficial aspects of life. This is why Mommy and Daddy killed the bumble. The Young Man now will do anything for money. Grandma is paying him to kill Mommy and Daddy so it comes full circle.
Power is also important to the play. One of the main characters, Daddy, loses his masculinity due to Mommy's desire for power. Mommy also wants to be the center of attention. She constantly makes sure that Daddy is paying attention to her. This also happens with her run-in with the president of her woman's club. She appeases people of a higher status. She is trying to climb the social ladder to quench her thirst for control and power.
The American Dream starts out in a living room with the married couple Mommy and Daddy, along with Mommy's mother Grandma. Mommy tells Daddy about her trip to the store to get a hat, a beige hat to be exact. Mommy then flips out when the president of her women's club tells her that she bought a wheat hat. This causes Mommy to storm back into the store and demand a new hat. Grandma enters with loads of boxes. With the boxes to spark her memory, Mommy reminisces about how Grandma would pack her lunches in neatly wrapped boxes. The neatly wrapped boxes looked too nice to unwrap, so she didn't. Mommy was content in receiving food from children who felt bad for her. Viewers then find out that Mommy only married Daddy for his money. The doorbell soon rings and Grandma shouts about how the van people have finally come to take her away. Mrs. Barker comes in instead of the van people. Mommy asks her if she would like to remove her dress. Daddy then says, "I just blushed and giggled and got sticky wet" (Albee 79). This is due to Daddy being forced into a sex change by Mommy. Then, Mommy threatens to have Grandma taken away. She tells Daddy to go smash Grandma's TV. Mrs. Barker then asks Grandma about the nature of her visit. Grandma tells Mrs. Barker a hint about her visit. She tells her that a man, very much like Daddy, and a woman, very much like Mommy, contacted Bye-Bye Adoption Services about getting a "bumble". They adopt the bumble, but the bumble only had eyes for Daddy, so Mommy proceeded to mutilate it. The bumble was killed and the family called the Bye-Bye Adoption Service to get their money back. Mrs. Barker goes to get her water from Mommy when then the doorbell rings again. It's the Young Man. Grandma talks to him and comments on his physical appearance. She then christens him the American Dream. The Young Man says that he came for work and that he'll do anything for money. Grandma takes him up on that offer. Mrs. Barker come back and see the Young Man. Grandma says that he is the van man. She and the Young Man leave with the boxes. Mommy and Daddy enter and find out that the van man took Grandma. Mommy becomes distraught saying that the van man was fake. Grandma breaks the fourth wall while watching the family adopt the Young Man as one of their own. She says that she'll leave now while everyone is happy.
Mommy and Grandma are foils. Mommy represents the new American dream, while Grandma represents the old American dream. The new American dream is fueled by greed and consumerism while the old American dream is more of the old "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps". For instance, Mommy complaining about her beige hat to the store clerk shows that she only cares about what others think of her. If the president of her woman's club hadn't come along, then she would have been perfectly content without the president's input. Mommy and Grandma's separate views of the boxes also plays a role in the separate American dreams. Mommy only cared about the outside of the boxes so she wouldn't eat the lunches. Grandma would eat the food. Grandma cared about what was on the inside.
The Young Man is what the new American Dream created by Mommy and Daddy's generation. The Young Man is the brother of the bumble. Grandma naming him the American Dream is important. He was raised in a society that only cares about the superficial aspects of life. This is why Mommy and Daddy killed the bumble. The Young Man now will do anything for money. Grandma is paying him to kill Mommy and Daddy so it comes full circle.
Power is also important to the play. One of the main characters, Daddy, loses his masculinity due to Mommy's desire for power. Mommy also wants to be the center of attention. She constantly makes sure that Daddy is paying attention to her. This also happens with her run-in with the president of her woman's club. She appeases people of a higher status. She is trying to climb the social ladder to quench her thirst for control and power.
Great post! I liked how you used the term 'foils' to describe Mommy and Grandma. You had a different take than what I've seen on the boxes. I agree with you, when you said that Mommy cared about what was on the outside, while Grandma cared more about what was on the inside. What did you think about Daddy and his role in the play? Great job on your summary as well. You went into way more depth than I did. One thing that I would suggest adding in a paragraph below is a discussion of what motifs were presented. You sort of do that while discussing Mommy and Grandma, but I think you could add even more! What theme did your class come up with and why?
ReplyDeleteOverall, you did a very thorough, elaborate job of summarizing the play, but your analysis was limited to one tiny paragraph at the end. You didn't really explain or analyze your quotes, at all- and that's one of the key parts to writing a good AP essay; you should be able to take memorable information or quotes and analyze them, but I feel like if I had written this post, I might consider it fine now and forget these quotes on the exam :( Great job incorporating foils/comparing Mommy and Grandma, but what about Daddy and Mrs. Barker and the Young Man as characters? Did you feel Mommy was the only one who was New American dream, the only one who cared enough about it to mutilate the bumble? or was Daddy involved in the new Dream? You mentioned your theme in the introduction (which was great), but you didn't elaborate on it in your post or talk about any other themes. What about gender roles or sexuality, or other themes? The play wasn't just about greed, consumerism, and the new and old american dreams. I think you could definitely add more in terms of symbolism, point of view, DIDLS, and explaining what you thought of the play in general/your analysis. The post is well organized though- intro, summary, and analysis is a good format, but could maybe be broken up more within the summary and analysis paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteGutentag Nick:
ReplyDeleteI loved your summary of the play. Although it wasn't in a bulleted list, it felt like one because you were short sweet and to the point. Your connection of Grandma and Mommy as foils is a new one, because I have never heard of that before. But it really does make a lot of sense. I loved your incorporation of the quotes into your summary, and the fact that they weren't quote bombs. To make this post even greater than it already is, it would be nice if you added a greater analysis using ideas that we've talked about in class. I loved how you talked about how Grandma was the old dream and Mommy is the new dream. You could add a little bit more analysis of all of the characters so that we can see any connections you make with them. Because they commented before me, I still have mostly the same things to say that Sarah and Purva do.
Great job with your post so far, if you add more, it'll be even greater! :)