We all have an analysis of The American Dream somewhere. So please excuse the comparatively short post- I feel like everyone's probably Dream-ed out by now. Or maybe it's just me.
This play, on the surface, is a bunch of nonsensical phrases strung together in a low budget setting with blank characters and... well, no plot at all. However, by the time we finished discussing, we'd decided that a possible theme was how American society and structure have been corrupted by consumerism. How? Well, here's the summary.
Mommy and Daddy are chilling and talking about nothing in particular when Grandma enters, laden with boxes. Then the three of them chill for a while and talk a little more about nothing. Noteworthy quotes up to this point include:
(Mommy on the boxes) "Whatever are they for?"
(Grandma) "That's nobody's damn business."
Continuing, after another god bit of nonsense, Mrs. Barker enters. The only one the entire play who seems to know why Mrs. Barker appears is Grandma.
As the four converse, a few interesting remarks are made. First off, Daddy is a woman now. Mommy is a controlling freak who has certain... preferences. Mommy has total control of the household, pointing to a motif- emasculation. The men in this play (what few there are) have no power over the women.
I think this a good place to talk about tone. Referring back to my first sentence/second paragraph, there is no tone. I take that back. There is such a complete lack of tone that a tone is almost present- abstractness. The narrator is entirely detached and seemingly uncaring, yet seems so much so that they are attempting to make a point. this goes in line with the author's other works. Theater of the Absurd and whatnot. Albee's background, which we all know now, is deeply rooted in the play.
OK. After a good while, Young Man enters. He seems to be the new American Dream as much as Grandma represents the old. Young Man is clueless and self-absorbed- proud of his handsome looks, but unfeeling and hardly present. This is explained by Grandma to Mrs Barker, when Grandma reveals Barker's reason for being there.
The play's dramatic ending comes with another good quote by Grandma:
"I've got to go into my act now".
Grandma is the only really present character the entire play. The 'conclusion' also show the audience that Grandma is the only character of substance.
That's not it. But it's all I have. Thanks for doing the assignment and reading it.
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteI can definitely tell that you are Dream-ed out. Your post had a sort of tired feeling toward it, which, in turn, did not make me feel like reading it. When I did read it, it didn't seem very thoughtful. Saying things like "That's not it. But that's all I have." makes it seem like you were just throwing down words to get the assignment done and over with. Please avoid doing that in the future.
Your summary of "the American Dream" was sufficient as far was summaries go, although it was sort of mixed in with your analysis. I liked how you explained a little bit about why the quotes you picked to use were relevant and how you tied what we know about Albee's history with your analysis.
I would've liked to know what you thought about other elements of "The American Dream", though. For example, what did you think the tone of the play was? What as the narrative voice?
I think you could have also analysed the characters a bit more. You mentioned Grandma being the old American Dream. If someone hadn't read the article that we did about that, how would you explain this? What details from the play would you use to support your ideas?
-Andi
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to be a little easier on you than Andi here- I too am feeling over with the play, but I do have some questions. For one thing, you say that there is a distinct lack of tone-- is that a tone in and out of itself? I think that you do a pretty good job explaining why you think what you think, and if what you need to know for the AP exam does end up fitting into the couple of categories you address, you will be just fine. I think the concern comes for when or if you need to remember the details of the analysis of the entire text, as opposed to just specific sections. You might want to work on fleshing out at least the summary to help yourself in the long run.
~Erik
Hey Jason,
ReplyDeleteI can certainly sympathize with the monotony of doing a post like this. But despite this you should probably put some more effort into analyzing and doing things like this. Although I'm not going to be all salty about your post like some people (because this is obviously a case of just get it done ASAP) it's pretty clear this leaves something to be desired. You should just think about the details of analysis and how that all really comes together in a post like this, and also I really suggest you revise it by Friday.
-Andrew