American Dream Summary/Analysis

Setting:

• Mommy and Daddy's apartment. There setting is very plain and bare.

Plot:

• The play starts off with Mommy telling Daddy a story of how she bought her beige hat. Mommy makes sure that Daddy is paying attention, and to show that he is paying attention, Daddy repeats what she says. Grandma enters with neatly wrapped boxes and mommy tells her to put them at Daddy's feet, basically covering him. Later we learn that the boxes contain many things like the water that was in the apartment her sunday teeth etc. Mommy tells Daddy about how Grandma used to wrap her lunchbox everyday and she would never open it and kids would giver he food. When she got home, Grandma would eat what was in the lunchbox. Mrs. Barker enters the apartment, but no one knows why she is there. Grandma is constantly cut off and eventually says that the boxes have nothing to do with Mrs. Barker being there. Grandma says she knows why Mrs. Barker is there, but Mommy calls her a liar and tells Daddy to break her television. Mrs. Barker and Grandma are alone, Grandma strongly hints that Mrs. Barker is here because of an adoption, by telling a story. Mrs. Barker doesn't see how this relates and leaves to get her water. The Young Man rings the doorbell and enters. Grandma thinks he is the van man, but he assures her he is not. He says he'll do anything for money. He looks physically perfect, but lacks any emotion or skills. Grandma hatches a plan for Mommy and Daddy to adopt him. Grandma leaves the stage. When Mommy finds out that Grandma is gone, she is very upset, but it quickly forgotten with the Young Man there.

Characters:

• Grandma: Embodies the old values (old American dream). She is the only person who communicates with other people normally
• Mommy: A control freak, and the "man" of the house. She is part of the new American dream, which can be seen when she accepts the Young man so easily.
• Daddy: He has been emasculated and had a surgery that replaced his man parts with lady parts. He is also very wealthy.
• Mrs. Barker: Head of Mommy's woman group and a volunteer for Bye-Bye adoption center. She has many power struggles with Mommy throughout the play.
• Young Man: Perfect looking, but with no emotion and skills. He is a representation of the new American dream.

Narrative Voice:

• This is a play, so there is no narrator. The setting is very bare indicating that there is little substance in the characters, except of course for Grandma. Imagery is used to show absurdity of consumerism. When Mommy buys the beige hat, Mrs. Barker says that the hat is wheat colored. Mommy then goes back to the shop to buy the exact same hat. The grotesque disfigurement of the bumble is used to show how the new American dream is. The character's dialogue is repeated constantly and they all usually have a lack of understanding except for Grandma, which is part of theater of the absurd. A way that it is not theater of the absurd, is that the play does advance. Albee has Grandma represent his opinions, with her representing the old American dream. The young man is used as an allegory to the new American dream, to show that is devoid of any substance.

Quotes: 

• Mommy - "WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?" This is an example of how Mommy has Daddy's masculinity and teases him with it. This also shows how Mommy is the dominant person of the apartment. 
• Grandma - Then it turned out it only had eyes for Daddy. Mrs. Barker -For its Daddy! WHy, any self-respecting woman would have gouged those eyes right out of its head. Grandma - Well, she did. That's exactly what she did. This quote shows how the bumble was disembodied by Mommy. Its representative of the repression of children by adults and destroying of familial bonds. 

Theme: 

The new American Dream is substance less and American society is plagued by consumerism. 

• The Young Man is a very good example of how the new American Dream is substanceless. He looks very pretty, but lacks any skills and has no emotion. People can take satisfaction from him, but he can't get any himself  The setting is also very bare, like I said earlier shows that the apartment lacks substance. dialogue between the characters also lacks any substance and is repeated often, which makes it lose meaning. The part when Mommy goes to buy the beige hat, but goes back to buy the same hat after Mrs. Barker says it's a wheat color hat, is a good example of consumerism. Mommy makes up the excuse of the lighting that changed the color of it, when really it's just perspective. The tone of play is generally indifferent which adds to meaning of substanceless, except with Grandma. Imagery is used when Grandma tells the story of how Mommy disfigured the bumble, which took away the substance from the American Dream.