Albee's The American Dream As an Absurd Play

Edward Albee is one of the most influential dramatists of the twentieth

century. He wrote a number of plays that are considered landmarks in the history
of the American drama; such as, The Zoo Story, The American Dream, Tiny Alice,
and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In his works, Albee portrays many of the
concepts of the absurdism movement that came into being in Europe after the
Second orld ar. Albee is labeled by the critic !artin Esslin as an absurdist
playwright. According to Esslin, Albee is the primary American playwright of the
"heatre of the Absurd. Esslin sees that Albee #comes into the category of the
Absurd precisely because his work attacks the very foundations of American
$ptimism# %&'(', p. )*+,. "he American -ream helped establish Albee.s
reputation as an absurdist.
Albee.s The American Dream tells the story of an American family
that constitute of !ommy, -addy, and the old /randma. !ommy is a
manipulative dominating wife, -addy is a weak emasculated character, and
/randma is the wise member in the house, but she is the victim of !ommy.s
mockery and assault. !ommy is constantly threatening to put /randma away.
0ecause of their cruelty and mistreatment, !ommy and -addy killed their
adoptive son, #bumble of 1oy#, long years ago. At the end of the play, they get
his twin, the 2oung !an, as a son. "hus, they can achieve #satisfaction .#
The American Dream is a comedy about the absurdity of contemporary
America. It is a criticism against the social values in America. "he play is seen
as the beginning of American absurdist drama. Esslin considers The American
Dream as one of the #promising and brilliant first e3amples of an American
contribution to the "heatre of the Absurd# %&'(', p. +(4,. He adds that The
American Dream is Albee.s first drama that #clearly takes up the style and
sub1ect5matter of the "heatre of the Absurd and translates it into a genuine
American idiom# %&'(', p.+(6,. 7icolas 8r. 9anaday, also, labeled the play as
America.s #best e3ample of what has come to be known as .the "heatre of the
Absurd# %&'((, p. +4,. Albee announced in the preface of the play that it is #an
e3amination of the American Scene,# and an attack on the wrong artificial
values in the American society %See Albee, &'(), p. :)5;,. A subtle dramatic
investigation of The American Dream will e3plore that the play is a kind of
condemnation of the modern empty life in a materialistic world .
In The American Dream, Albee critici<es the bourgeois American lifestyle and
standards. "o Albee, /randma is the representative of old truthful values and
morals; she always tells the truth. 0ut !ommy and -addy are ignorant of
/randma.s real value; they want to send her away to a nursing home. "hey replace
her with the 2oung !an, who is 1ust a #type#, void of any values or feelings. "he
&
2oung !an says to /randma, #I have no talents at all.# "his action e3plores that
!ommy and -addy get tired of the old values and search for new set of values.
"hese new standards revolve around the artificial =ualities of looks, money, and
power. "he title carries the reference to the new set of ideas and feelings associated
with the American -ream.
Albee sees that the lack of communication, the state of isolation, and the
absence of emotions constitute the frame of the American society. "hus, he deals
with these issues in The American Dream. 9oncerned with the absurdity of the
human condition, Albee shows how life is purposeless and empty. "hroughout the
play, life seems meaningless because of the failure of both persons and society.
"he meaninglessness of life is reflected in the play as characters sometimes forget
what was 1ust said, or fail to remember what they should be doing. hen !ommy
walks through the bo3es, /randma warns her against stepping on them, crying
#"he bo3es>the bo3es#. -addy asks if /randma means !rs. 0arker has come
over the bo3es, /randma does not know, though that is not what she thought she
meant. /randma e3plains that what she intends to say might not record with what
she means. Another e3ample e3ists during the visit of !rs. 0arker when -addy
after some time finds himself unable to remember the name of !rs. 0arker, saying
#what.s5her name#.
In The American Dream, Albee also deals with the theme of the lack of
effective communication between the characters. "he enormous difficulty that
human beings find in communicating with each other is a prominent trait of the
"heatre of the Absurd. In the play, we see all the characters are unable to have a
conceivable conversation. "hey fail to deal with each others. "he absence of
mutual speeches results of the breakdown of family unit. hen partners
consistently fail to communicate well, they slowly become strangers.
As for style, it is obvious that, like most of the absurdist plays, The
American Dream revels in an unconventional way of writing. It lacks any
conventional notions of character, plot, action or setting. "he play takes place in a
sitting room that can be found in any house. Its plot is unusual? it does not consist
of a beginning, middle, and an end .In addition, it has no conflict to be solved at
the end. "he action of the play is absurd, reflecting the absurdity of man.s situation.
"he absurdity of action is clear in The American Dream in many situations; the
first situation is the story of !ommy. new hat; it is a kind of satire against the
character of !ommy. "he second is that the characters. ignorance of !rs. 0arker.s
work or the reason of her visit seems absurd; /randma fails to recogni<e her, and
both !ommy and -addy are ignorant of what she does. @urthermore, the
absurdism of the action is greatly embodied when -addy looks for /randma.s
television, blind Aekinese, and her room, and fails to find them because /randma
has hidden everything.
+
@or characteri<ation, the characters are static; they have no development. As
an absurd play, The American Dream has characters that do not have names, or
background. "he ma1or characters are /randma, !ommy, -addy, and the 2oung
!an. "hey do not have specific names as they serve as types of the American
family; they have functional roles. "he characters are symbols and representative
figures. !ommy is the dominant figure in the house. She is a manipulative
character. She emasculates daddy all the time, mocking his aims, and repeating his
words in a patroni<ing fashion. She also treats /randma violently. She interrupts
/randma when the latter tries to speak to !rs. 0arker, or to give her opinion.
-uring the visit of !rs. 0arker, !ommy silences /randma many times; declaring
that the old people have nothing to say, and if they speak, nobody listens to them.
-addy is emasculated naive character. He lost his identity because of
!ommy.s power and domination over him. His weakness is clear in the play when
he obeyed !ommy.s orders and went to open the door for !rs. 0arker. His rule is
reduced to be 1ust a repeating speech or an echo of !ommy.s words. /randma is
the wise character in the play. She is the only character that tells the truth. She
symboli<es the real old values that began to disappear after the calamities of the
Second orld ar. Albee creates the character of /randma in order to be his
mouthpiece. "he family is the embodiment of the American system. "he cruelty of
!ommy and -addy against the first adopted son refers to the inhumanity of the
American people.
"he 2oung !an is 1ust a personification of the American -ream. He is
described as #a clean5cut, !idwestern farm boy#. He is a #type#. 0ut he has lost all
feeling and desire after the murder of his twin from which he was separated as a
child. He announces that he is ready to do anything for money. "his announcement
makes it clear that he will be ready to be a member of the family. Albee uses the
character of the 2oung !an in order to discuss the idea of the American -ream.
$n the language level, the language of The American Dream is full of
clichBs, repetitions, and slogans. It suits Esslin.s conception of #the devaluation of
language# which is a characteristic of the "heatre of the Absurd. @or e3ample,
hen !rs. 0arker makes her arrival at the house of !ommy and -addy, they at
first seem to try and make !rs. 0arker comfortable, but as time goes, the
conversation becomes more and more unusual.
!ommy? >Are you sure you.re comfortableC on.t you take off
your dressC
!rs. 0arker? I -on.t mind if I do. %She removes her dress,
!ommy? "here. 2ou must feel a great deal more comfortable.
!rs. 0arker? ell, I certainly look a great deal more comfortable.
)
-addy? I am going to blush and giggle.
!ommy? -addy.s going to blush and giggle. %&'(*, p.6',
!oreover, the characters often borrow some words from television or book of
the mouth club selections. Albee makes language as a method to reflect the
violence of society. The American Dream shows a world where characters
communicate horribly with each other. !ommy, in particular, all the time talks to
/randma and -addy in a violent manner. @or /randma, social intercourse is
violently fatal? old people die as a result of the way people talk to them. She says
that the scornful way of speech with the old makes them want to die or prefer
deafness. !oreover, characters tell stories and lies against each other in the course
of their conversational battles? /randma admits that !ommy is a deceitful
character as she married -addy only for his money; she plans all her life to be
married to a rich man. /randma also warns !rs. 0arker not to trust anyone in the
house.
In conclusion, Edward Albee.s The American Dream is an absurd play in which
the author tackles the issues of contemporary world? the lack of communication,
isolation, and the emptiness of feelings, the issues that prove the meaningless of
man.s life in modern world. @urthermore, it is evident that the play is dispensed
with traditional plot, characters, action or setting. It has a straightforward plot,
static symbolic characters, and action full of absurdity. "he language of the play is
full of repeated words and phrases.
Works Cited
Albee, Edward. "he American -ream and "he Doo Story. Signet, &'(*
555 "he American -ream and "he Doo Story. 7ew 2ork, &'().
9anaday, 7icolas, 8r. Albee.s "he American -ream and the E3istrential Eacuum#
South 9entral 0ulletin, &'((.
Esslin, !artin. "he "heatre of the Absurd.)
rd
ed. 7ew 2ork? Aenguin 0ooks,
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