Suggestions

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
  • Shakespeare dark gray
    • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
    • Shakespeare Study Guides
    • Shakespeare Life & Times
    • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
  • Literature dark gray
    • No Fear Literature Translations
    • Literature Study Guides
    • Glossary of Literary Terms
    • How to Write Literary Analysis
  • Other Subjects dark gray
    • Biography
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Computer Science
    • Drama
    • Economics
    • Film
    • Health
    • History
    • Math
    • Philosophy
    • Physics
    • Poetry
    • Psychology
    • Short Stories
    • Sociology
    • US Government and Politics
  • Test Prep PLUS dark gray
    • Test Prep Lessons
    • AP® English Literature
    • AP® English Language
  • Teacher dark gray
    • SparkTeach
    • Teacher's Handbook
  • Blog
My PLUS Dashboard
  • My PLUS Activity dark gray
    • Notes
    • Bookmarks
    • Test Prep PLUS
    • No Fear Translations & Audio
    • Mastery Quizzes
    • Flashcards
    • Infographics
    • No Fear Graphic Novels
  • Account Details
  • Subscription & Billing

Please wait while we process your payment

Reset Password

  • Please wait while we process your payment

    Log in Sign up

    Sparknotes

  • By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.

    Don’t have an account? Subscribe now

    Create Your Account

    Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial

    • Ad-free experience
    • Study notes
    • Flashcards
      & Quizzes
    • AP® English Test Prep
    • Plus much more

  • Already have an account? Log in

    Your Email

    Choose Your Plan

    BEST VALUE

    Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!

    Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?

    Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!

  • Price

    $24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax

    Subtotal $37.48 + tax

    Save 25% on 2-49 accounts

    Save 30% on 50-99 accounts

    Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.

    Your Plan

    Payment Details

  • We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country.

  • Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    SparkNotes Plus

    You'll be billed after your free trial ends.

    7-Day Free Trial

    Not Applicable

    Renews February 11, 2023 February 4, 2023

    Discounts (applied to next billing)

    DUE NOW

    US $0.00

    SNPLUSROCKS20  |  20% Discount

    This is not a valid promo code.

    Discount Code (one code per order)

    SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.

    Choose Your Plan

    Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    Suggestions

    Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
    • My Account Icon My Account white
      • My PLUS Activity
        • Notes
        • Bookmarks
        • Test Prep PLUS
        • No Fear Translations
        • Mastery Quizzes
        • Flashcards
        • Infographics
        • No Fear Graphic Novels
      • Account Details
      • Subscription & Billing
      My PLUS Dashboard
    • Shakespeare white
      • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
      • Shakespeare Study Guides
      • Shakespeare Life & Times
      • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
    • Literature white
      • No Fear Literature Translations
      • Literature Study Guides
      • Glossary of Literary Terms
      • How to Write Literary Analysis
    • Other Subjects white
      • Biography
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Computer Science
      • Drama
      • Economics
      • Film
      • Health
      • History
      • Math
      • Philosophy
      • Physics
      • Poetry
      • Psychology
      • Short Stories
      • Sociology
      • US Government and Politics
    • Test Prep PLUS white
      • Test Prep Lessons
      • AP® English Literature
      • AP® English Language
    • Teacher white
      • SparkTeach
      • Teacher's Handbook
    • Blog
    • Help

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    Your PLUS subscription has expired

    • We’d love to have you back! Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools.
    Renew your subscription

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    snpromo-logo
    • Get 20% off of AD-FREE study tools!
      Use Code: SparkPLUS20

    American Dream

    Edward Albee

    Study Guide
    • Study Guide
    • Summary
      • Summary & Analysis
      • Part one
      • Part two
      • Part three
      • Part four
      • Part five
      • Part six
      • Part seven
      • Full Book
      • Full Book Summary
      • Key Facts
    • Characters
      • Character List
      • Grandma
      • Mommy
      • Daddy
      • The Young Man
    • Literary Devices
      • Themes
    • Quotes
      • Important Quotes Explained
    • Quick Quizzes
      • Book
      • Full Book Quiz
      • Essays
        • Mini Essays
        • Suggested Essay Topics
      • Further Study
        • Suggestions for Further Reading
        • Edward Albee and American Dream Background

      Please wait while we process your payment

      snplus-logo

      Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

      Unlock your FREE Trial!

      Sign up and get instant access to bookmarks.
      • Ad-Free experience
      • Easy-to-access study notes
      • Flashcards & Quizzes
      • AP® English test prep
      • Plus much more
      Already have an account? Log in
      Characters

      Character List

      Characters Character List
      • Grandma

        The ironic commentator of the play, Grandma stands in for the figure of the "absurdist" dramaturge: indeed she even ultimately exits the frame of the action to become its director. Her crossing between the spaces of the action and theater is prefigured by her marginal position in what Albee describes as the "American Scene". In her many sardonic epigrams, she will position herself—as an "old person"—at the margins of social intercourse. Grandma's marginality sets her apart from the spectacle before her. Notably, she is the only character to underline the fact that she is staging a masquerade, what she describes as her "act". Grandma also defends herself against the violence of social intercourse include through "absurdist" devices—for example: her apparent deafness, senility, memory lapses, epigrammatic wit, and general obscenity. This decidedly anti-social obscenity (L. ob-scaenus, off- scene) prefigures her departure from the household, Grandma literally becoming a commentator on the action from the outside who pointedly delivers the party up to the audience's judgment.

        Read an in-depth analysis of Grandma .

      • Mommy

        An archetypal "bad mother", Mommy is the household's sadistic disciplinarian, dismissing Grandma and infantilizing Daddy. She recalls a number of other of Albee's female characters, most notably Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Like Martha, Mommy's speech distinguishes itself as the most violent in the household in its strident tone, its exaggerated sarcasm, its shrillness, its scorn and derision. Her sadism runs almost entirely unchecked—certainly one of the most disturbing aspects of Albee's theater is its characters' violently infantile behavior. Thus she emasculates Daddy at every turn and of course also mutilates the couple's first child—the so- called "bumble of joy"—in the course of disciplining him.

        Read an in-depth analysis of Mommy .

      • Daddy

        Under Mommy's reign of terror, Daddy is a negative entity—indeed, early in the play Mommy reduces his speech to the echo of hers. Bent to Mommy's will, he relies on her entirely for the confirmation of his masculinity. Like Mommy, Daddy also displays a disturbing propensity for infantile behavior. Whereas Mommy becomes the tyrannical sadist in her regression, however, Daddy characteristically becomes the child needing punishment.

        Read an in-depth analysis of Daddy .

      • The Young Man

        A blond, Midwestern beauty, the Young Man describes himself as a "type"; upon their introduction, Grandma dubs him the "American Dream". He is the product of the murder of his lost identical twin who stands against him in his physical deformity—as Grandma notes, the party knows him as the "bumble". As he tells Grandma, he has suffered the progressive loss of all feeling and desire, losses that, unbeknownst to him, correspond to the mutilations Mommy inflicted on his brother to punish his bodily excesses. These losses have left him a shell, physically perfect but a void within. Ironically, he ultimately becomes the child that Mommy believes will provide her with satisfaction, replacing the murdered bumble.

        Read an in-depth analysis of The Young Man .

      • Mrs. Barker

        A caricature of the socially responsible American housewife, Mrs. Barker is the flighty and ingenuous volunteer from the Bye-Bye Adoption Service who delivered the "bumble" to Mommy and Daddy twenty years ago and has returned, upon their request, to provide them with the "satisfaction" they deserve. Of course, she remains steadfastly ignorant of the purpose of her visit even as she remains fully aware of her shared history with the household, thereby underscoring that history's traumatic nature. In many respects she plays a role similar to Honey's in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf—that of an outsider who cannot easily always follow the household's conversational games. Indeed, she almost faints as a result.

      Next section Grandma
      Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? x

      Please wait while we process your payment

      snplus-logo

      Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

      Unlock your FREE Trial!

      Sign up and get instant access to creating and saving your own notes as you read.
      • Ad-Free experience
      • Easy-to-access study notes
      • Flashcards & Quizzes
      • AP® English test prep
      • Plus much more
      Already have an account? Log in

      Popular pages: American Dream

      • Grandma: Character Analysis CHARACTERS

      • Important Quotations Explained QUOTES

      • Themes LITERARY DEVICES

      • Review Quiz FURTHER STUDY

      Take a Study Break

      • QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

      • The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

      • The 6 Best and Worst TV Show Adaptations of Books

      • QUIZ: Which Greek God Are You?

      Sign up for our latest news and updates!
      By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. You can view our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe from our emails at any time.

      SparkNotes—the stress-free way to a better GPA

      • Quick Links
      • No Fear Shakespeare
      • Literature Guides
      • Other Subjects
      • Blog
      • Teacher’s Handbook
      • Premium Study Tools
      • SparkNotes PLUS
      • Sign Up
      • Log In
      • PLUS Help
      • More
      • Help
      • How to Cite SparkNotes
      • How to Write Literary Analysis
      • About
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise

      Copyright © SparkNotes LLC

      • Terms of Use
      • |
      • Privacy
      • |
      • Cookie Policy
      • |
      • Do Not Sell My Personal Information