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Thomas Feng

19 April 2013

THEATER 106 History of American Theater and rama

!rof" #ardner

The False $deal of The American Dream

Ed%ard Al&ee's cynical allegory( The American Dream,lea)es a &itter aftertaste" $t is a

more el*si)e %or+( &*t %ith a rather straightfor%ard aim, to e-press disill*sionment %ith and

e)en contempt for the ideal that had &ecome the .American ream"/ !remiered in 1961( the

play came at the c*sp of an age of radical social change( follo%ing the tri*mph and horror of

orld ar $$ and the apparent complacency and shallo%ness of the prospero*s 40s" Altho*gh

not an o)ertly political play( The American Dreamshares the same spirit of its politically and

socially disaffected contemporaries( re5ecting the )apid and )ac*o*s lifestyle that as Al&ee says

Americans had lied themsel)es into &eing satisfied %ith( %hile highlighting the gna%ing

disappointment &eneath the e)eryman's fragile satisfaction"

ertainly( the play f*lfills its aims 7*ite effecti)ely" The o)erarching sense of a&s*rdity(

reminiscent of %or+s li+e Waiting for Godot( is fittingly employed in ma+ing American life seem

e)er more fri)olo*s" *rio*sly eno*gh( in its o*tright ridic*lo*sness the .tr*th/ that Al&ee

re)eals is e)er more pointed" Al&ee's cle)er repeated *sage of .distancing/ e"g" .this is like

that(/ in cases %here .this was once that/ lends a sardonically %istf*l effect" The naming of the

characters as generic and *ncomforta&ly innoc*o*s epithets li+e .8ommy(/ .addy(/ and

.#randma/ is parado-ically &oth alienating and familiariing: at once( the characters are dra%n

to the scope of the .e)eryman/ and .e)ery%oman/ of .e)eryfamily(/ and yet the lac+ a s*rname

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is chillingly depersonaliing similar( in my mind( is the name .;ig ;rother/ from #eorge