Summary/Analysis of The American Dream

     The American Dream by Edward Albee

Characters:

• Mommy:  Controlling and masculine figure of the household.  Is part of the "new generation" and is looking to get rid of Grandma.
• Daddy:  Feminine (literally has lady parts) and complacent figure of household.  Also part of the new generation but sides with Grandma during certain times.  Is very wealthy.
• Grandma:  Only character in play that has sense, remembers anything, and communicates like a normal person.  Represents the "old American ideals" of industriousness and resourcefulness.
• Mrs. Barker:  Struggles for control with Mommy, represents corporate America?  Holds positions of power outside the house, is part of the Bye-Bye Adoption Agency.
• Young Man:  Also known as "the American Dream", he physically represents the new American ideals  of consumerism and commodification that were beginning to take hold in the 1960's when the play was written.  He has no skills, cannot feel emotion, and will do anything for money yet is physically perfect. 

Setting:

• Mommy and Daddy's apartment with no extraordinary features.

Plot Summary:

• The play opens with Mommy talking to Daddy (more commanding him to listen) about buying a hat and then eventually repurchasing it.  Grandma comes onto the stage with a lot of wrapped boxes but neither Daddy nor Mommy inquire about what is in them but rather praise their appearance.  Grandma and Mommy argue but the doorbell soon rings and Mrs. Barker is at the door.  Mrs. Barker enters but Daddy and Mommy don't know why she is here and neither does she.  She casually removes her dress when invited to by Mommy.  Grandma is constantly silenced but eventually has her say when she announces the boxes have nothing to do with Mrs. Barker's visit after many questions from the clueless other characters.  Grandma hides all of her things inside the boxes, including intangible things like running water.  While Grandma and Mrs. Barker are alone, she drops a hint to Mrs. Barker that strongly suggests that she is here to talk about the baby that Mommy and Daddy adopted and were unsatisfied with.  Daddy and Mommy murder the baby by dismemberment after dissatisfaction for ridiculous reasons like the baby crying.  A young man shows up at the door who Grandma thinks is the van man to take her away (a made up entity that is meant to "take away" old people often mentioned by Mommy.)  The young man is physically perfect and it is discovered that he is the twin of the baby that Mommy and Daddy murdered.  He cannot feel any emotion and has no skills, and is only looking for ways to make money.  Grandma comes up with the solution of him becoming a new son for Mommy and Daddy while she leaves the stage.  Mommy is initially upset with Grandma's disappearance after being told the van man took her away (because there is no van man) but quickly forgets about that when she meets the young man.  The play ends with everyone satisfied even though Grandma has left.

Narrative Tone/Style (also symbolism, point of view, imagery):

      The piece is a play thus has no narrator.  However, Albee primarily keeps the action moving through Grandma and communicates his voice through her as well.  Albee uses the characters as symbols of American society in the 1960's.  The entire play itself represents the replacement of old American ideals, like industriousness and resourcefulness, for new artificial ones such as consumerism and commodification of everything.  Albee believed this was a problem so he addressed it through the symbolic characters.  Grandma makes biting and witty remarks all throughout the play so one can infer that Albee's voice is intended to be the same.  Overall, however, Albee's tone is intentionally indifferent to make the play seem like it is meaningless and absurd.

       Albee's primarily style of communication in the play is akin to Theatre of the Absurd.  The characters repeat dialog again and again to create a sense of communication disconnect as well as have a lack of understanding of anything to make it seem like there is no meaning.  Of course after analysis one can see that the play is not true Theatre of the Absurd as there is conflict resolution as well as the mentioned symbolism which would go against the absurdist notion of a meaningless world. There are certain parts during the play in which imagery plays a role in heightening the sense of absurdity, for example, when Grandma describes the murder of the baby.  Point of view also plays a role in the play because the play only advances when Grandma is talking.  Her point of view is the most logical and clear one throughout the entire play.  As the old American Dream, this was done intentionally to highlight the fact the old American ideals are more logical.

Quotes:

• "So, let's leave things as they are right now...while everybody's happy...while everybody's got what he wants...or everybody's got what he thinks he wants." - Grandma ~~ This quote explains how the American people are satisfied with their current state of living (with old ideals disappearing) no matter how bad it may seem.
• "WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?" - Mommy ~~ This quote is an example of how Mommy is the masculine figure in the family and teases Daddy with his masculinity.  

Theme:

The United States is being taken over by commodification, consumerism, and superficiality while the old values of the "American Dream" are quickly disappearing to nobody's concern. 

• The title of the play is a direct reference to this theme.  Although there seems to be an absence of a lot of plot development, the absence is what contributes to the work.  Because there doesn't seem to be a meaning, Albee veils his allegory with elements of the Theatre of the Absurd.  Contrary to the appearance, the plot of Mommy and Daddy physically purchasing a baby and validating a murder through commodification further supports the theme.  Albee's voice (concerning the new American Dream) is communicated through the character of Grandma.  Furthermore, all of the characters are symbolic with each representing new/old ideals.  The shallowness of all the characters' dialog except for Grandma parallels the superficiality of a new generation raised on shallow ideals.  The tone of the play seems to be indifferent to make it seem absurd, however it is actually critical because of how it attacks the new American Dream.  Finally, the imagery within the play is primarily found in the stories told by Grandma (specifically the murder of the baby) which is used to highlight the commodification of elements of everyday life.