Key Facts
full title ·
The American Dream
author · Edward Albee
type of work · Drama
genre · Comedy; the Theater of the Absurd
language · English
time and place written · Written in New York, 1959–1960
date of first publication · 1960; first production, January twenty-four, 1961, at the York Playhouse, New York City
publisher · The New American Library, Inc.
narrator · None, though Grandma steps out of the action at the close of the play
climax · The American Dream does not adhere to the Aristotelian model of plot and thus does not involve a structure of rising and falling action, climax, and catharsis.
protagonists · Grandma (though in a loose sense)
antagonist · Mommy
setting (time) · Unspecified—the present?
setting (place) · The living room of Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma's apartment
point of view · Point of view is not located as there is no narrator figure
falling action · Again, The American Dream does not adhere to the Aristotelian model of plot.
tense · The play unfolds in the time of the present
foreshadowing · Indications of Grandma's imminent departure in particular occur throughout the play
tone · Comic
themes · The American Dream, language and violence, emasculation
motifs · Old people and Grandma's epigrams, the boxes, defense, disfiguration and deformity
symbols · The American Dream does not particularly make use of symbols
