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Sep 3, 2024 · While the idea of the American Dream may have originated well before 1776, the phrase itself was coined by American businessman and historian James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book The Epic of America. That work defines the past and future of the American Dream, which, according to Adams, is:
The American Dream, which evolved out of its author’s attempt to trace the history of American patriotism, is organized in rough chronological order—from the seventeenth century Puritans, whose...
- Introduction
- Author Biography
- Plot Summary
- Characters
- Themes
- Topics For Further Study
- Style
- Historical Context
- Compare & Contrast
- Critical Overview
First produced in late January 1961 at the York Playhouse in New York City, The American Dream was conceived by Edward Albee as a critique of the culture and social ideals of America in the aftermath of World War II. The world of the play is one of bourgeois (affluent middle class) sensibilities and a seemingly pointless veneer of small talk and du...
Edward Albee was born on March 12, 1928 in Washington, DC. He was adopted in infancy by the millionaire Reed Albee, the son of a famous vaudeville producer, who moved the family back to Larchmont, New York. Brought into a family of great affluence, Albee was never comfortable, clashing frequently with his stepmother, who attempted to keep him away ...
Act 1
The American Dreamis a play that is written and designed to be staged in one, uninterrupted scene. It opens with the characters of Mommy and Daddy sitting in their armchairs, which are facing each other across the stage and are arranged diagonally to the audience. Their first words are complaints about the lateness of some expected visitors. Who these visitors are and the exact nature of their visit remains unclear. Before mentioning that she headed out to buy a new hat that day, Mommy conclu...
Mrs. Barker
A simplified exaggeration of the typical American housewife, with her sense of social responsibility, Mrs. Barker is representative of a society that would place a child (known as the bumble) in a home where it could be mutilated and brutalized. Hiding behind her complicity in the decline of American culture (that is, the death of the Dream), Mrs. Barker remains willfully blinded to the game that unfolds around her despite the fact that, at times, she is transparent in marking her history wit...
Daddy
Daddy is a kind of negative presence in The American Dream. Once a rich man and a model of the masculine world, Daddy has been reduced both physically (through his operations), sexually (he no longer sleeps with Mommy), and even intellectually (he giggles like a child and cannot make a decision) during the course of his life. During the absurdist moment of social theater when Mrs. Barker is invited to undress, for instance, Daddy giggles childishly as a kind of sexualized infant or, conversel...
Grandma
Stepping outside the scene in the final moments of the play to function as the ironic commentator on the events unfolding, Grandma becomes the director of the play as it moves inexorably to its close. She is also the character in the play most obviously aware of the games that are unfolding and her role in them. She defines her role through a series of typically absurdist strategies, from her feigned deafness and memory lapses to her epigrammatic wordplay and occasional obscenity. These strat...
The American Dream
For the generation of characters that populate Albee's The American Dream, the decades following World War II were seen initially as a revitalization of the promise of the American dream. Coined in the early 1930s, the term marked a significant break with the imaginative, political, and economic models of the Old World (Europe). Fueled by the emergence of American big business, the completion of a transcontinental railway, and the promise that came with an energized natural resource industry,...
Playbills (posters advertising a theatrical performance) are unique works of art in themselves. Playbills are also designed to give the potential audience member a sense of the themes or focal poin...In her closing statement to the audience, Grandma observes that The American Dreamis a comedy. Research the history of comedy, and write an essay in which you argue in support of Grandma's statemen...One of the more interesting aspects of The American Dreamis the moment near the end of the play when Grandma steps out of the play to become the writer-director of the closing scene. In a thoughtfu...Research the shifting definitions of family and family life in American culture since the 1950s, both of which are important concepts in many of Albee's plays. Keep a journal in which you note your...Objects as Symbols
Although The American Dreamis not a play that relies heavily on symbols, the boxes that Grandma brings to the stage early in the play do acquire a symbolic presence as the scenes unfold. Enigmatic in that they serve no real function in the play, the colorfully wrapped boxes are complimented by Mommy and Daddy for their beauty without any concern for their content. Ironically, when Grandma gets close to revealing the contents of the boxes (and by extension, their meaning), she is silenced by M...
Satire
Satire is a technique that uses irony to undercut misguided behaviors or to censure social and political attitudes. From its origins in the writing and culture of the ancient Greeks, satire has remained a powerful tool of writers, like Albee, determined to engage their art as provocation and social critique. The tone of satiric literature ranges from a kind of detached commentary on proceedings (such as Grandma's comments at the end of the play) to fully expressed anger and vehement contempt...
Epigrams
An epigram is a statement, whether in verse or prose, that is concise, carrying an unmistakable message (often criticism), and witty. In The American Dream, Grandma often speaks in epigrams, particularly through her epigrammatic commentaries on the treatment of the elderly. The brevity of her powerful statements underscores neatly the power of language to shape the reality of those to whom it is applied. To Grandma, what defines age is not her biological condition or emotional state, but the...
Theater of the Absurd
Theater of the Absurd is a loose name given to a dramatic movement that originated in France during the 1940s and 1950s. Originally coined by the critic Martin Esslin in a book on European-theater from these decades, the term has been linked most often with the works of four major playwrights who rose to prominence during this period: Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Jean Genet (1910-1986), and Arthur Adamov (1908-1970). Albee is often cited as the playwright who brough...
1960s: Albee and other playwrights from this period are drawn to explorations of the dynamics of marriage, which are changing dramatically at this time. As divorce rates begin to increase and femin...1960s: Ageism, a term referring to stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age, is still a relatively new concept when Albee's play is first produced. The term its...1960s: Belief in the truthfulness of words and their meanings is still prevalent, carrying over from the modernist traditions of the earlier decades of the century.Today:Language as the foundation...From its opening performances in Berlin through its various stagings and restagings across North America, The American Dream has been simultaneously praised and criticized by reviewers. Writing in the New York Times in January of 1961, Howard Taubman is a representative case in point. "It is agreed that Edward Albee has talent," he begins. "The Zoo...
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call his most popular book The American Dream. While it’s not clear whether he actually coined the term or appropriated it from someone else, his publisher’s reluctance to use it suggests “American Dream” was not in widespread use elsewhere. In any event, Adams invoked it over
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Full Title: The American Dream; When Written: Early 1960s Where Written: New York, NY Literary Period: Postwar/Theatre of the Absurd Genre: Drama Setting: America Climax: Grandma tells Mrs. Barker a horrifying story which reveals that Mommy and Daddy mutilated their adopted child until it died.
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May 22, 2024 · First mentioned in print in the book The Epic of America (1931) by the US historian and businessman James Truslow Adams, the American Dream has become synonymous with social mobility and...
