October 30th Open Blog: 1983 prompt

In Edward Albee's, "The American Dream", Mommy is a villain.  She's manipulative and controlling over her husband, and attempts to control her own mother (Grandma).  She's also materialistic and unflatteringly seeks attention from those designated to be more powerful then her (Mrs. Barker).  Albee presents us with Mommy simply as a type, with no personality or redeeming qualities she's more of a robot programmed to operate in a certain way, symbolizing what a person would look like if they were wholly materialistic.  Her "type" contrasts with others around her to simply support what Albee said in a later interview about the characters, "don't be like them".  Albee paints Mommy as a buyer, as  a person being only a buyer of things and the personality that would come with being completely material oriented.

Mommy constantly seeks approval from those in power, she changes her opinions, and eventually Mrs. Barker (the symbol of power), always gets what she wants from Mommy.  this shows that Mommy powerless to authority, acting simply as a willing tool for Mrs. Barker.  When Mommy bought a cream colored hat, and Mrs. Barker told her that it was beige, Mommy believed Mrs. Barker and she went back to the store demanding a Cream colored hat.  In a way, Mommy blindly follows what's on the market, no matter how useful or not it is.

Mommy also exerts complete control over her husband Daddy.  Daddy's type is that of complete emasculation. The play even hints that he's had a sex change.  Throughout the play, Daddy quickly agrees with everything that Mommy says.  The one time he has a differing opinion is with Grandma and Mommy chews Daddy's head off for it.  This oppression confirms Mommy's "type" as a villain and also makes us hate Daddy for not sticking up for himself.  We (hopefully) shouldn't be like any of these characters.

Mommy and Grandma have an interesting relationship.  Grandma plays the part of the subversive.  She is the only one of the cast who isn't quick to believing something.  She is able to confuse Mommy, and (literally) steal the rooms of the apartment out from under her nose.  Mommy attempts to have the same control over Daddy with Grandma but utterly fails, so her reaction is to want to send Grandma away.  She doesn't want anything to do with Grandma, since Grandma is not an authority figure, but also cannot be controlled by authority.

Another way to assert Mommy as the ultimate materialist is with her dislike of sex.  She views sex with Daddy as a chore and instead gets satisfaction out of shopping.  This is a depressing way of viewing a marriage and I am sure that Albee does not want us to get sexual satisfaction from buying things.

Every character in Albees play is a type.  None of them have any real personality (except parts of Grandma), and they all are stereotypes of certain facets of American society.  Mommy plays the closest thing to a villain, a person who finds sexual satisfaction from shopping and not from her husband, and a person who has completely emasculated her husband.  Albee, by showing us Mommy's exaggerated consumerism, presents a warning to us, showing us the downside to finding, "satisfaction" from a hat.