As you well know, literature is the flesh on the bones of history. But writers are inspired, of course, by the occurrences of their own lives.
I want you to go to the links listed at the end of the post and discuss how Albee's family life may be reflected in the play. What aspects of Albee's life are similar to the play? How might the character's traits reflect his feelings on his family members (include the baby and the Young Man but not Mrs. Barker)?
Responses should be at least 200 words. You may also look at other websites by searching on your own. Try the library resources. Just make sure you include the link of resources outside the ones provided to you.
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/albee.html
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/alb1bio-1
http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3687&source_type=A
http://americanaejournal.hu/vol2no2/cristian-essay
http://www.swisseduc.ch/english/readinglist/albee_edward/answers.html
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/alb1bio-1
http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3687&source_type=A
http://americanaejournal.hu/vol2no2/cristian-essay
http://www.swisseduc.ch/english/readinglist/albee_edward/answers.html
Edward Albee's life is similar to some aspects of the play he created, The American Dream. To start off, just like the Young Man in the play, Albee's biological parents gave him up for adoption two weeks after he was born. Also, just like in the play, Albee's adoptive father almost seems like a scared child under his mother. The two are described as deferential towards each other. Just like there is a grandma living with the family in the play, Albee's Grandma Cotta lived with him and his adoptive parents. His family loved living life in a wealthy, thriving lifestyle. They enjoyed theatre, and went to go see many plays in New York City. Albee's adoptive mother is much like Mommy in The American Dream. Albee's adoptive mother strived for him to be perfect, and never seemed to be happy with his behavior, so she kept sending him to boarding and preparatory schools. Mommy in The American Dream wanted the baby to be just the way she wanted it, so she kept taking off parts of the baby's body until i fit her needs, which was when it was dead. Just like the baby, Albee wasn't really ever seen as "perfect" in his mother's eyes. Also, just like the baby, he felt like she kept tearing him apart with sending him to different schools where he didn't succeed.
ReplyDeleteAlbee’s life is reflected to the American Dream in a few ways; one is that Albee was given up for adoption when he was only two weeks old. Just like how the baby was split from his twin brother when he was very young and both given away. They are also very similar because in the book the grandmother is looked out at being the nicest and the most caring, whereas in real life Albee was always very close with his grandmother and would always show her a lot of respect. Also Albee never really knew his biological parents but the relationship he had with his foster parents was never all that strong. Whereas in the book the baby never even really got to know the Mommy and Daddy, but we do know that they were obviously never to fond of the baby. I feel that Albee and the Young Man are similar because Albee became successful after writing the books but before that he never really went anywhere. In the play the Young Man had the potential to have a very wonderful and successful life but never really got to that point, which is just like Albee except he did end up successful because of these books. So I believe that a lot of what happens in the book relate to the life of Albee.
ReplyDeleteAlbee’s family life affected the play “The American dream” in many ways. One big way is how Mommy and Daddy act in the play. Albee’s foster parents made a big influence on this. Mommy probably comes off as the more controlling and the decision maker in the family because in real life Albee’s foster mom, Frances, was almost a foot taller than his father. This can also explain why Daddy is more of a weak character that does not make his own decisions. You can relate Albee’s child hood to the bumble in a few ways as well. In one way they are alike because when Albee was a child he was very disruptive and problem causing. He did these things so well that when he was 11 years old his Foster parents sent him to Lawrenceville, a boarding school. They were praying that at the school he would learn to act more like a rich wealthy person instead of a low class person. This is shown in the play through the bumble by Mommy killing the bumble because it was annoying and it bothered her. Albee’s success can be shown through the young man because both of them were successful and they both did it on their own without outside help. They can also be related by how they were both adopted. Lastly the grandmother was a strong and independent character because Albee’s grandmother was the only family member he really got a long with. This is how Albee’s family life affected the choice of how he chose the characters in the play and how they act.
ReplyDelete“The American Dream” and Albee’s life are quite similar and different in many ways. In Albee’s life he was very close with his grandmother and have a strong relationship with her. In the play it seems he tried to make grandmother the kind one, but no one really wanted grandmother around. Also the play and his life are similar because just when Albee was two weeks old he was put up for adoption but his relationship with his foster parents wasn’t the best. In the play Mommy and Daddy adopt a new born baby to, but kind of like Albee’s family they don’t like the baby and they treat it very badly. The baby in the play and the young man are like Albee in the long run. The young man and Albee are alike in a way that Albee wasn’t very successful at first just like the young man when he comes to Mommy and Daddy’s house. The young man is looking for work. I think that the young man became successful just like Albee did when he wrote his plays. I believe Albee was trying to send that message in the play. Lastly when Albee became of age he left his foster family and at the end of the play grandmother walked out of the house. She left without notice just like Albee.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was born in the year 1928. This is the late part of "the roaring twenties." Albee's biological parents gave him up for adoption at two weeks old. He took up his adopted parent’s last name, Albee. The Albee's had a fortune from the famous Keith-Albee Theater Circuit. Edward was a problem child to the Albee's. Although he was a problem, he had a very good relationship with the Grandmother of his adopted parents. He was expelled from two different private schools before finally graduating. After that he went to Trinity College in Hartfort. Edward dropped out of this school very quickly. When he was twenty he moved away from his family and never saw any of them again. The only person he saw again was his mother, seventeen years later. Albee lived off a small inheritance from his grandmother and did work for odd jobs. He found out that his calling was to be a writer for the theater. Albee's first major write was "The Zoo Story." The play opened up in Berlin, Germany. Edward Albee brought absurdism to America with his one-act plays. There are parts of the play that are similar to Albee’s life. The whole connection with the grandma in the story and his connection with his grandma links together. The young man coming to talk to the family at the door would be linked to, when Albee goes away for seventeen years then finally sees someone from his family again. The baby would be like how Albee was in school, meaning he didn’t really fit in. Edward Albee’s life really made him the play writer he became.
ReplyDeleteThe first similarity between Edwards Albee’s life and The American Dream is that adoption is involved in both, and the baby and Albee were both adopted into a wealthy home. The baby resembles how Albee saw his childhood; the baby was not well treated and was seen as a problem child to mommy and daddy. Albee was not at all close with either parents, and knows that he in fact was a problem child. Just like in the book Albee’s mother was more of the controlling parent and his father, even though he is the older parent, still lets her put him down. In both the book and his life the grandmother plays a big part Edward Albee was very close with his grandmother, in the book it shows how only the grandma really saw a problem with hurting the baby and didn’t think they should have been given the baby. The young man resembled Albee as more of and adult and how he sees himself, he shows that he feels emotionally numb even if he looks strong on the outside. All the traits of the main characters show more of the way he saw everything, then probably what happened. When growing up he saw his mother of the controlling parent and his father as more of the push over parent, but his grandmother he was very close to which is probably why she was able to be sneaky and independent, because that’s the way he saw her.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was a troublesome boy and didn’t get along with his parent very well. He grew up in a very wealthy adoptave family and knew all along they weren’t his real parents. Edward never did try to find his birthparents. He is a very weird person and he had an obsession with the theatre. When he dropped out of college durin his ophomore year, he left his New York home to live on his own. He supported himself from the trust fund of his dead grandmom. His crazy and weird playwrits came from his irrational behavior. He wrone about pointless senerios and hoped people would understand his writing. His first play was presented in Berlin, Germany which was a big hit with the germans. In Europe,
ReplyDeleteIm not done.
Edward Albee uses his plays to relay some information about his life and write them in his novels. Some of the characters in “The American Dream’” have connection to his family and his life. The first example is Albee’s childhood. Reed and Frances Albee adopted Albee when he was a baby. In “The American Dream”, Mommy and Daddy adopted their baby, who is eventually killed, and then Mrs. Barker comes to their house from the adoption agency to help them get a new child. A second example is Albee’s close relationship with his grandmother. Albee shows his relationship with his grandmother in the novel and uses her character to put a personal touch in the book.
ReplyDeleteAlbee also uses characters to show people in his life. The first character that I will discus is the baby. In the novel, the baby is always causing problems. Albee is this baby because he was the problem child and made it hard for his parents. His father, Reed, represents Daddy in the novel. Reed is very wealthy, just like Daddy in the novel and is fighting for his masculinity. Mommy is his mother, Frances. Frances wears the pants in his family, just like Mommy does in the book. Grandma is represented in the novel by Albee’s grandmother, whom Albee had a close relationship. Producers that would not produce Albee’s plays represent the Young Man looking for work. Albee felt empty inside and felt like the Young Man in the book.
The Story of the American dream may have started way before the play debuted in 1961. In fact, it could have started way back to weeks after his birth. His biological parents put him up for adoption after 2 weeks. According to csustan.edu, it is unknown what happened to his parents. With this in mind, this can relate him to the baby and the Young Man. The baby and the Young Man were separated at birth and there’s no question that there’s always a chance that Edward Albee could have had a twin, who could had been separated at the same time. Also like the baby, Ed Albee was put up for adoption at an early age. A way to relate Albee to the Grandma was that he admits he was a problem child growing up. Grandma is seen as a problem in the play and that possibly could be a connection between Albee and Grandma. Academically Albee wasn’t very good at all. He was very rebellious against his adopted parents’ wishes and sent him to a boarding school. I am not saying that Mommy was sent to a boarding school, but she was also a rebellious figure in the play and could possibly be related to Ed in that form. Finally, later in life Albee became a very successful man and is strongly related to Daddy in that sense as a rich, and successful man.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee seemed to be a troubled person through most of his life. He was a problem child and he admits it. Being this problem child, he was expelled from a few schools and put in new schools. This play seems to somewhat mirror the play known as “The Zoo Story”. He thought that he wasn’t very close to his parents being “Mommy” and “Daddy” in the play. But he was very close to his grandma, relating his grandma to “Grandma” in the play. In real life since he was closer to his grandma, he wanted to make the grandma in the play more innocent and make Mommy and Daddy seem as the villains of the play. It seems to me that he is relating himself to the baby in the play. Mommy and Daddy killed the baby because they were frustrated. He felt the same in real life, even though they didn’t kill him, they were pushing him away. I also think that he is relating himself to the Young Man as well. Because they were killed the baby because they were unsatisfied, but now they are willing to take his twin. I say this because Albee’s parents sent him away to barding school, but after boarding school he became a very successful play Wright.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Edward Albee was adopted makes a big contribution to the play. Edward Albee was born somewhere in Virginia and his biological parent gave him up to Reed and Frances Albee. This is very similar to mommy and daddy adopting a bumble for themselves. Since Edward’s adoptive parents were very rich he decided to make mommy and daddy in the play wealthy also. Edward was very fortunate to grow up with such wealth. In the play the bumble was adopted by a rich couple, in real life a rich family also adopted Edward. I think one of the main reasons his biological parents gave him up for adoption was because they couldn’t afford to raise a child in those times. So in the play he made mommy come from a less fortunate family. He made Grandma give mommy her food so she could live. I think this symbolizes that he knew that his real parents gave him up so that he could live a better life that what they could have given him. The young man was also a representation of parts of Edward’s life in the play. The young man was perfect in every way; he was described as young, handsome, and strong. This symbolizes what Albee turned out as, a fine young man, because he was given up for adoption and was adopted by a sophisticated family. Rather his less fortunate parents keeping him and turning out like the bumble who was mutilated and killed.
ReplyDeleteIn the play the American many things were the same between Edward Albee and the character in the play. Some of the things were that Edward was adopted as a child and so were the baby and the young man. Like the baby in the story Edward had problems as a child they send him away to have them worked out. But unlike that in the play mommy just kills the baby for not being perfect. Albee is trying to tell us that just because he wasn’t a perfect his family sent him away to try to make him the perfect child or the American dream. In the play mommy wants to have the perfect bay and she doesn’t get that with her first baby and so she keeps trying to make him perfect till she ends up killing him. In the end of the play a young man comes along and we find out that he has an identical brother that is the baby mommy and daddy adopted before and killed. But in the play the young man is described as the American dream. He is described as this because he has a nice body he is handsome and he doesn’t do any of the bad things that the baby did. The irony of that is that mommy and daddy don’t know that they are twins and that every thing they did to the baby made the young man empty inside and that the outside of him is just fake he really is the same as the baby.
ReplyDeleteThe Albees family is similar to The American Dream by.. Just like the Baby Edward Albee was adopted, he was aware he was adopted from an early age. The Abees’s family enjoyed wealth, Daddy was wealthy that is why Mommy married him. Edward Albee lived off his Grandmother’s wealth when he was 20 just like Mommy did with Grandma. The Albees owned a chain of theaters. These theaters played an important role in America since the 19th century. Edward Albee was around theater at an early age. Later he was very interested in arts, but his adoptive parents wanted him to pursue in business or a professional career. This resembles Baby, Mommy and Daddy did not like the way he acted or did not like the things he did. Mommy wanted Baby to be the way she wanted him to be, which is why she killed him, Baby did not please Mommy. The view Mommy stated about Baby was that he was bad, even thought the baby was not bad. This Resembles how Albee was expelled from two schools private and dropped out of Trinity College is Hartford. I think in The American Dream, Edward Albee is baby.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of Albee's life he was adopted after two weeks by Reed and Frances Albee. This relates to "The American Dream" because in the novel Mommy and Daddy got a baby which they called a bumble because it is a "bad" baby. Mommy treats this baby with disrespect and eventually kills it. There are sources that say that Albee was known as a problem child. In his novel he uses the baby as a conflict. Mommy hates the baby or known as a bumble so much because it causes problems.
ReplyDeleteAnother event in Albee's life that he looks upon in the novel is that sources say that Albee was a taciturn and deferential to his wife. This means he was respectful but silent. In the novel this reflects the relationship between Mommy and Daddy. Mommy's character is silent but bossy and does not have a good attitude toward things. Daddy's character however reflects the relationship between Albee and his wife. He is silent and respectful. He communicates in a non verbal way to Mommy. This represents Daddy because he was respectful toward Mommy even though she was not always nice to him. Also he was quiet bout his problems toward Mommy but supported Grandma.
Edward Albee is a play writer who wrote the American Dream. This play reflects his life and lives of others during the time period in which it was written. Some of the characters in the book reflect the family members of Edward Albee. These characters are mommy, grandma, and the baby. there are other things that relate to Albee's life. First, mommy was poor in a way when she was younger. She was spoiled, too, because her mom didn't eat dinner and she gave it to her daughter as lunch. Mommy didn't eat her lunch though because she wanted what everyone else was having. The baby represents Albee himself. The baby was adopted just like Albee was. The baby was also a "bad" child just like Albee was. Albee was sent to a boarding school because his performance in school was poor. Albee was close to his Grandmother when he was younger. In the book, Daddy supports Grandma. Albee"s adoptive parents were very rich just like Grandma was so they were in the upper class.
ReplyDeleteThe American dream is a very interesting play. The play uses many symbols to represent society. Even characters themselves seem to represent things in the world today. While studying the author of The American Dream, Edward Albee, I began to see how he used parallels in his own life in writing this play.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, the Mommy character in this play is very controlling and self-centered,
definitely not what you picture a mother to be. In the author’s life I came to learn that he had a strained relationship with his parents, He could have made this Mommy character an image of what his own mother was to him.
Another similarity this play has to the author’s life is that, like the Baby in the story, Albee was adopted as well. In the play, the baby is killed by Mommy. She realized that what she has isn’t really what she wanted. She then deprives the baby of his life because of her unsatisfaction. Again, this could be a reference to Albee’s own relationship with his adopted mother. She liked the idea of having a child, but it wasn’t what she wanted and she is not satisfied with him.
Albee created one character in the play who did reflect a motherly personality. This was Grandma. While reading about Albee, it seemed that he had a very close relationship with his own grandmother. In fact, he used her trust fund while starting off in New York when his parents seemed to have abandoned him.
This brings me to another point. The Young Man in this play came to a new place empty and with nothing, much like Edward Albee when he first moved to New York City. His parents did not support that decision, leaving their relationship strained forever and he barely had any money to support himself. The only money he really had was from his grandmother who he, again, showed in The American Dream as being loving and motherly.
-Lauren Carroll
Blog.
ReplyDeleteWhen Albee was just two weeks old Mr. and Mrs. Reed adopted him. Albee’s adoption is similar to the play because Mommy and Daddy “bought” the Baby. Albee’s adopted father was a wealthy man just like Daddy was in the American Dream. Mommy and Daddy expected the Baby to be perfect and when the Baby did certain things Mommy would get frustrated and she would take the parts of the Baby away. The adoptive parents of Albee expected him to pursue a more professional business and since Albee was exposed to theatre at an early age, he fell in love with the arts. Since Albee fell in love with the arts he came at odds with his family over their expectations for him. He later then got expelled from two private schools before graduation from Choate and later dropped out of Trinity College. At the age of 20, he broke with his family and moved to Greenwich Village. Albee never spoke to his father again and would not see his mother for 17 years. At the age of 30, Albee completed his first major work, The Zoo Story. Later on Albee brought absurdism to the American stage with his one-act plays The Sandbox and The American Dream.
Edward Albee was born as Edward Harvey, in Washington D.C. Reed and Frances Albee later adopted him, the Albees were very rich. They lived in a large house in Larchmont, NY, he was exposed to the rich lifestyles of servants, horses, pets, toys, and a chauffeured limo. Edward albee did not have a good relatinship with his parents. They wanted him to pursue a more business like career and didn’t encourage the artistic stuff he enjoyed. Albee cut classes, refused to do homework and sports and had such a bad behavior he got expelled, Albee eventually got kicked out of his other school. But the one person Albee did have a good relationship with was his grandmother Cotta. This shows in his book, mommy and daddy resemble his parents. Mommy and Daddy are so worried about there social status wealth and evertything materialistic. The young man talking about how he had another twin, is about how he was adopted and never saw his real parents and never found then. The baby can be resemble a few different things in his life. The baby being mistreated and annoying could resemble the bad relationship he had with his parents, and how his mom didn’t want him to do writing and stuff. Also the baby not listening like playing with itself or calling mommy a bad name could resemble Albees defiance as a kid. Lastly, grandma was seen as the protagonist in this and Albee and his grandma had good relationship.
ReplyDeleteSomething that is similar between Albee’s life and the book, The American Dream, is that Albee was given up for adoption two weeks after he was born which is similar to what happened to the young man. Another thing is that when Albee was younger he was a bad kid and was not very nice to people which is like Mommy and how she treats people. Another way is the bumble. When Albee was young he did not have a strong relationship with his parents and openly admits that he was a problem child. This is like the bumble and how it was a problem to Mommy, which is why she did all those awful things to it. When Albee was growing up he lived in a wealthy family like Daddy and Mommy. However Albee did have a strong relationship with his grandma, whose name is Cotta. The Grandma in the book is a nice, innocent, old woman who does not do anything to hurt anyone is probably how his Grandma was in real life. The young man and Grandma are nice to each other in the book and it’s similar to how he treated his grandma. The Bumble misbehaved just like Albee misbehaved in his life.
ReplyDeleteM Dross- Purple
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee experienced a rough child hood. He was adopted at a young age by the Albee’s where he was surrounded by wealth and was exposed to the arts by his father. Edward was expelled from two private schools due to bad behavior and bad grades. Albee did not have a good relationship with his parents and admits that he was a problem child. Just like in his works, Albee was seeing the changing of American society. People were replacing their core values with fake values. He shows this in The American Dream and other plays. Just like he was an adopted child, so was the baby in The American Dream. The baby was neglected by the Mommy and Daddy and was not treated well. Although Albee was not treated like the baby in the book, he did feel he was neglected some by his parents. I believe that Albee portrays himself in The American Dream as the Grandma also because she is not afraid to speak her mind and say what she believes and neither is Albee as he shows this in his many plays. He uses the Young Man in the story to portray the “American Dream.” The young man is a good-looking western boy. Everything looks as if it is great on the outside but on the inside he has lost all feeling and emotions due to the death of his younger twin brother. This symbolizes how Albee felt about people during his time period. They looked as if they were the American Dream but on the inside they were filled with no emotions or feeling.
RSternberg Red:
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee wrote the popular play, The American Dream. He developed the characters Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma based on his adopted family. He portrayed the characters Mommy and Grandma that related them to his family members in several ways. The play is also similar to Albee’s life in different ways.
Even though Albee’s adopted parents were discord and fraught, he did form a close relationship with his Grandmother. This reflects the Young Man’s feelings for Grandma in the play. Grandma had liked the appearance of Young Man and started to complement on his muscles. From the way he attentively listened to Grandma and was kind to her suggests that he was beginning to have a relationship with her, just like Albee had with his Grandmother.
In The American Dream, Mommy wanted to feel very high in society. This is why she yelled at the store clerk in the hat shop on pages 60 and 61. In Edward’s childhood, he was high in society. His adopted parents were very wealthy and he was always exposed to servants, horses, tutors, and other riches.
Albee had a difficult after school. After college, he had trouble adapting to the American lifestyle. He began living off a small inheritance from his Grandmother and several odd jobs. But he also experimented with his fiction and poetry skills. He was unsuccessful in getting his work published. That’s when he started to write for the theater. He finally had several pieces of his work made into published and he began being recognized. This rough beginning that Albee experienced reflects how The American Dream examines the American scene, which is about succeeding in society through hard work and determination, just like what Albee went through to get his work recognized.
In the play, the baby made Mommy angry because it was annoying, it was not how she expected it to be, and it did rude like calling Mommy dirty names. This just about reflects on how Mrs. Albee felt about Edward. Mrs. Albee wanted Edward to be a success, a sportsman, and a member of the Larchmont, New York, social set. But instead, Albee pursued a career in arts and literature, which Mrs. Albee protested to.
Albee’s family life may have been reflected in the play The American Dream in many ways. In The American Dream the character Grandma is treated poorly by Mommy and Daddy and seems to not be accepted even through her many sacrifices for them. In the play Grandma seems to have characteristic traits that seem to resemble Albee’s in his childhood. Albee did not get along with the members of his family except for his grandmother. Albee and Grandma’s personality seem to relate to each other throughout the play. Grandma and Albee were both not favored for their decisions and behavior, even if it was not necessarily bad. Edward Albee also relates to the baby in the play. Albee’s mom wanted him to be high society and more elite than what he was. In the play Mommy was displeased by the baby because the baby did not do what she wanted it to do and it was not perfect to her. Just as Albee’s mother was displeased by what he wanted and his choices. Mommy in The American Dream resembles Albee’s mother because they are both dominating in the relationship between herself and her husband. Albee’s mother was much taller than his father and put her self above him for that and many other reasons just as Mommy does to Daddy. Albee’s father had little say and was forced to agree with his wife just like in the play.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was born March 12, 1928. Two weeks later his parents put him up for adoption because they were poor and could not care for him the proper way. He was adopted by a wealthy family the Albee’s. As a young child he was exposed to plays and actors and art because his adoptive father was heir to the famous Keith- Albee theatre circuit. He was raised to be proper and polite by his wealthy parents, but he was a trouble maker and didn’t do well in school. His adoptive mom tried to straighten him out so she put him in a bunch of different schools, including a boarding school and perhaps the most important the Choate school, where his teachers encouraged his writing and he experimented with many different literary genres. He was very close to his grandmother.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel the baby or bundle was adopted by a wealthy family. The mother was not wealthy until she married Daddy who was very wealthy. The mother was a mean character, in real life he probably disliked his adoptive mom because she would always tried to raise him as something he’s not and she sent him to a lot of different schools which probably frustrated him. In the novel Edward made the character the grandmother to be nice and caring because in real life he was very close to his grandma. Mike Stirparo, Purple
Edward Albee had many complications with his adopted parents. I think this was part of why he portrayed Mommy to be so overbearing and controlling because his mother and father were the same way. His adopted parents did not want him to go into theater and pursue his artistic interests. He had many differences with his parents and it eventually lead to the end of him and his fathers relationship. Although he attempted to reconcile with his mother and was fairly succsessful at doing so until her death in 1989. I think that Edward Albee had a good relationship with his Grandmother because he lived off a small fortune that he inherited from her for a period of his life. She most likely wouldnt have given him her fortune if they didnt have a positive relationship. So I think that the character of Grandma in The American Dream was based on her. I think that he portrayed the character of Grandma the way hed did because it was like his grandmother. He might have even taken things that she had actually said and incorporated it in The American Dream.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee is the author of The American Dream. Albee wrote about a family in this play based around what has happened to him in his lifetime. In this play the mother wants the baby that they adopted to satisfy her. Albee himself was adopted by a mom who wanted him to be a person she created. She wants the baby to do everything that she wants it to do. Albee was a problem child to his parents he didn’t want to do anything that his parents wanted him to do. They wanted Albee to be upper class and higher in society and he hung out with the “art” people in school. The baby to the mom in the play is a lot like Albee to his mom in real life. Next is the daddy. Daddy in real life is like play daddy because he is over ruled by the mom and is kind of shut up by her too. The Grandma in real life is the person who truly loved Albee for everything he was. The grandma helped him through life because when Albee moved out she gave him the support of the money he needed to live on. In the play the grandma speaks her mind but is the one that mommy truly ignores. Mommy in the play doesn’t even acknowledge the fact that grandma tries to talk at all. She wants to leave as much as the next person in the play. The grandma in real life is probably accepting of Albee’s wishes to leave and encourages all of the things that he wants to do. The Young man is probably most like Albee grown up. The Young man is the twin of the baby who mommy thought unsatisfied her. The man turned into the “American Dream” because of what mommy did to the baby. Albee is probably relating this to his own life because he turned into a big time author and screenwriter and became something that ended up being higher in society now. Everything that the mom did pushed him to do what he wanted more and more and made him the man he is today as a successful person in the world, just like the young man did. The characters in the play and their traits show that Albee took family seriously. He wanted to write about what happened and what he went through in the play. The traits of the characters are really like his real life family. This proves that an author reveals his life in his writings.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee's play "The American Dream" is very reflective of his life in many different aspects. His characters also reveal things about himself. Mommy an Daddy represent his parents. They are rich an are people of importance just like Albee's parents. Also Albee's puts himself as the baby as in the baby was adopted into a rich faily just like Albee. The baby had very many problems just like Edward did growing up, he was a problem child just like the baby is as portrayed in the play. The young man represents Albee growing up beacause the young man has what he needs in life to be sucessful in the movies (good looks and muscles). In Albee's life he knew what he wanted to be an that was a writer, but his family did not support him. Once he grew up nobody wanted to cast his play which is just like the young man they both knew what they wanted to do an tried it. Also the young man found his missing part at Mommy's house an Edward found the person to cast his play.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many similarities between events and people in Edward Albee’s life, and events and people in the story “The American Dream.” Some things are easy to notice at first, and others you must look for in the story line of the book and of story line of Albee’s real life.
ReplyDeleteOne example of this would be his father and mother in real life and Mommy and Daddy in the book. Albee’s mother in real life was taller than the father and was much more domineering and in control. His father however, tended to be very deferential and taciturn toward his wife. This relates to the story because of the facts that Mommy was always in control of Daddy, and had him doing and agreeing with anything she said and did.
Another similarity between family members in real life and characters in the book was the character Grandma and his real life Grandmother. In the book Grandma was a very kind personal character that was understanding and tried to keep a healthy relationship with all of the characters. In real life Albee had a strong and close relationship with his Grandmother. This relationship was so close that Albee dedicated a short play called “the Sandbox” to her.
In the American Dream, the author, Edward Albee, relates a lot of his events in the play to his real life experience. For example, Edward Albee was an only child just like the baby in the play. Albee was also adopted as a young child just like the baby. Albee was described as a problem child which would explain how his mother would cut things off of the baby when he misbehaved. In addition, Albee befriended his grandmother who is the good character in the novel. Albee also had two parents who adopted Albee when he was three weeks old. His father was the son of a rich vaudeville and his mother, which was his father’s third wife, was also from a wealthy family. Albee became accustomed to dramatic theater as he was around it while going to work with his father. This shows how he became interested in the theater and playwright. Albee’s mother is also said to be very unkind and temperamental just like in the play. The attitude of a character might infer that the author dislikes that character or likes the character. Albee relates his actual life a lot to the baby in the play as he has a lot of similar characteristics and actual family members. This makes him a great author because he brings his life into the story even if the story is odd.
ReplyDeleteI think the character's traits reflect his feelings on his family members by him being an adopted troubled baby. This is why the Albee’s finally at the age of eleven sent him to Lawrenceville and while there he refused to do his homework and participate in sports, and behaved so badly all around that he was expelled within a year and a half. This is a reflection of the bumble in the story. Being close with the grandma like the young man was which the twin to the bumble was includes him in his older life after he matured. He also resembles the Young Man by being a hard worker. “Albee’s life he lived at a number of different addresses and supplemented the income from his trust fund by working various jobs as an office boy, a salesman, and a messenger. Artistically he was frustrated. He continued to write, but produced nothing of real substance.”
ReplyDeleteThe aspects of Albee's life that are similar to the play by many ways. He was adopted just like the baby and was also evil then grew into the Young Man which was the bumble’s twin. He was close to his Grandma in real life and in the story so that’s why she was the protagonist. And he was a hard worker just as the Young Man was and liked making money.
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/albee.html
In a way American dream is reflected on Albee’s life. He was adopted after two weeks of being born. Albee was known as a problem child and he didn’t have the best relationship with his parents, but one family member he became close with was his grandma. His parents were unhappy with the way he behaved. They tried sending him to numerous boarding schools hoping that they would help him behave properly. He was always skipping class and getting bad grade which led him to get kicked out of most schools he attended. Eventually he found a school that encouraged his writing ability and led him to be a successful writer. The Albee’s were always concerned about the social position. The way Albee had acted made his family feel like they had failed. They tried to help him with his problems in school but nothing really worked for him. Eventually after dropping out of trinity-college in Hartford he hadn’t seen his mom for 17 years and never seen his father again. He then lived off a small inheritance from his grandmother. He never did anything that his parents were proud of, anything he did was not good enough for them.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was born on March 12, 1928 and was adopted by his parents, Reed and Francis Albee. This is portrayed in the book by Mommy and Daddy adopting the baby. Also the Young Man was adopted. Albee grew up in a rich home where he had chauffeured limos, servants, horses, toys, and everything a boy could dream of. In the play Albee uses his childhood life by putting them into the story and having Mommy and Daddy well off. Edward Albee’s Grandma lived with him when he was a child just like in “The American Dream”. Growing up Edwards’s parents wanted him to be a picture, perfect boy who succeeded in everything. Edward was the exact opposite of what his parents wanted him to be. He expresses this in the story by creating the character, the Young Man, who was perfect on the outside but empty on the inside. I believe Edward Albee created “The American Dream” as an example of American society. People in society want everyone and everything to resemble perfection. Albee uses the” American Dream” as a lesson that people who have perfection don’t always have happiness. Edward uses many different occasions and experiences from his life to write the play shown in the examples above.
ReplyDeleteSome aspects of Albee’s life are similar to the play. Mommy and Daddy in the play adopted a child because they couldn’t have one of their own. Albee himself was put up for adoption two weeks after he was born. In the play, Mommy is more outspoken and has more say in things. Daddy, on the the other hand, is insubordinate to Mommy. Albees’s father was also the one who tended to be more taciturn and less domineering in the family. Albee’s relationship with his adoptive parents was filled with conflict, he was a problem child. His mother sent him off to a boarding school, at which he still was rebellious and eventually got suspended. His mother sent him off away from them to improve his attitude at home. As in the play, the bumble, or the adopted child, was a problem for Mommy. Everything it did mad her mad, if it looked at Daddy she plucked its eyes out, if it cried she cut its tounge off. One family member Albee had a close relationsip was his grandma. In the play, grandma is the protagonist. She was the caring one, just as Albee’s grandma was probably towards him.
ReplyDeleteIn the story of, The American Dream, there are a few similarities to the story and the author, Edward Albee, life. For example, there is a baby that was adopted in the story, as was Edward when he was only two weeks old. He too had a bad relationship with his parents, as did the baby in the play. Edward admits to being a problem child in the play. The baby in the play was a problem because, it kept sticking its hands its pants. As did the baby in the story Edward also had bad adopted parents. As did the young would go around finding jobs so did Edward Albee. The young man would go around to various houses finding odd job to get anything he could for some cash. Edward and Mommy in the book, The American Dream, are both a like because they are rude to the people that love them the most. For example: Edward broke away from his family because he did not care anymore and Mommy his like the commander of the army. Mommy bosses everyone around and she is rude to her own mother because, she would not eat the lunch that Grandma sacrifices every night so Mommy could eat like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAt the young age of two weeks old Edward Albee was adopted into a family from New York. Just like the Baby was adopted in the American Dream. Just like in the American Dream how Mommy would get frustrated with the Baby because it did not do and act how she wanted it too, that was similar to Edward Albee and his family. Because Albee was exposed to theater through his family’s business he fell in love with the arts. But his adoptive parents did not want him to get involved with the arts, but to pursue a more professional career. Because of this Albee was always arguing with his family and was later expelled from two schools and then finally graduated. Later, when he attended college he dropped out at the age of 20 and moved to Greenwich Village in New York. When Albee moved off to Greenwich Village he cut off all connections with his family. He never saw his father again and he did not see his mother for seventeen years after he moved. His character traits reflect his feelings on his family because how he dropped out of school, it probably disappointed his family and they might have the feeling that they are just trying to do what they feel is the best for him and he is not accepting what they are doing for him.
ReplyDeleteThe American Dream is a reflection of Albee’s personal experiences and his family. He was adopted by a wealthy family when he was 2 weeks old. Since he was adopted he showed this in the play as the baby being a purchase. He is comparing himself to the baby. Mommy and Daddy represent his adoptive parents. Albee was kicked out of more then one school and was a “problem child” like the baby adopted by Mommy and Daddy who were unsatisfied with their baby. He is showing that he felt that his parents were unsatisfied with him because he was always in trouble and he was interested in the arts and theatre. He moved out at 20 years old and lived in numerous places looking for work, just like the young man. Albee had a very close relationship with his grandmother. He shows similarities between his grandmother and the grandmother in the American Dream. He portrays the grandmother as a protagonist in the story, showing she wasn’t treated with the respect that she deserved. Albee shows the members of his family in his work by using qualities that he thought best represented his point for the theme of his writings.
ReplyDeleteThere are many aspects in Albee’s life that are represented in the play. Albee was adopted and in his childhood he was a child that was very difficult. He never tried in school, was disrespectful, always rebelled, and did not care about other people’s opinions about his actions. In Albee’s upbringing his family was very wealthy and he parents expected him to act appropriately, but he was the total opposite. In the play when Mommy and Daddy have the baby they are never satisfied with him. They always think the baby is doing something wrong. The way that Albee may of thought in his childhood is reflected in the play in the character of the baby in the play. Also Albee had a better relationship with his grandmother than his parents. In the play the parents are crude to the grandmother and they treat her disrespectfully. This might represent that Albee’s parents did not listen to the grandmother and what she wanted to say, or did not treat her with respect. Also Albee’s father didn’t communicate well with his mother, and in the play Mommy and Daddy do not communicate well either. This is a creative way how Albee shows his feelings of his childhood and his life through the characters and their personalities in the play.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee’s life affected the characters and plot of his writings because many parts of his life are incorporated into his characters and how they are treated. In his play “the American Dream” he has the baby adopted. Albee himself was adopted when he was two weeks old. Albee never made a good positive connection with his mother and father and that could have played a big factor in why he portrays the Mommy in the play “The American Dream” as being mean to the baby. He may have felt that his mother was mean to him as a child even if it is not completely true. Although Albee didn’t ever form a connection with his mom and dad he did happen to form one with his grandmother. In his play “the American Dream” he has the grandmother as an innocent person who is treated disrespectfully and unfairly by the characters Mommy and Daddy. The grandmother is portrayed as being treated unfairly in the play probably because as a child who liked his grandmother more than his own mother then he probably thought that his grandmother wasn’t treated equally or with the respect he believed she deserved from his mother and father.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was born March 12, 1928 in Washington DC he was adopted by a wealthy family two weeks after he was born he was an adopted baby just like the bumble in the story he clashed with his strong-minded mother in the American dream mommy tortured her baby so in the play albee showing resentment towards his mother when he forms the character of mommy as for the young man you have to realize he is 20 years old the same age Albee was when he left home the young man also had wishes of being in movies and theater same as Albee even though his mother did not approve of his interest in the arts. Albee got along better with his dad then his mother asking be seen when he portrays daddy as a nicer person compared to overpowering mommy. As for grandma her character in the play shows his close ties and fondness towards his grandmother who left him a sizable inheritance and because of that inheritance he was able to get is successful career started as an accomplished play righter in the 50s and on Edward Albee used many characteristics from people in his family to help write his play the American dream
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee’s play “The American Dream” was a play inspired by all the aspects of his life. He uses the characters and events in the story to represent how he feels about his life. Since he was adopted and never met or even looked to find his real parents, he was a troublemaker in school. He didn’t do his homework and would cut his classes. I feel that not having his real parents through his childhood caused him to make these mistakes. His family life is reflected in the play “The American Dream” more ways than one. In the play to me, he is represented by both the baby and the young man. When he is a baby his real parents gave him away to an adoption home. Then he was adopted by a “mommy and daddy” that as you can tell by reading the story he doesn’t like very much. From the websites I learned that his grandmother from his adopted family was a very important person to him, which is a similarity that the grandmother and the young man share. Albee used the names mommy and daddy in his play to represent that he never had his real parents. He never knew his parents names so he really doesn’t know what his real identity is.
ReplyDeleteIn the play "The American Dream", written by Edward Albee, there are similarities between the characters, himself, and many events that have happened in his life. I'll start off with the character Mommy. Mommy is a cruel and demanding person. This is in relation to his adoption parents. Albee wanted to pursue the arts but they expected for him do be part of a more conventional business and wished he would do something else with his life. The character Daddy had more of a relation to Edward Albee. In the play Daddy was always protecting Grandma and was being emasculated by Mommy. Albee, in a way, was emasculated by his adoption parents by what their expectations were. The baby also is also similar to Edward Albee. The baby was adopted by Mommy and Daddy and they punished the baby on what they saw as his flaws. Albee was also an adopted baby. He was adopted when he was at the age of two weeks. The Young Man also shows some similarities to Edward Albee. The Young Man was what Albee strived to have. The Young Man is known as the American Dream in the play and Albee wanted to have his own American Dream to come true.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was born Edward Harvey in Washington D.C. He was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Reed Albee of New York. Albee knew he was adopted but never tried to locate his biological parents. Albee’s adopted family enjoyed their wealth and social status. The Albee family had played a key role in American Theatre since the 19th century. Growing up, Albee developed a love for the arts, but his adopted family wanted him to pursue a professional career. He separated from his adopted family over their expectations and his artistic desires. He never saw his father again and didn’t see his mother for 17 years. For a decade, Albee lived off of a small inheritance from his grandmother and worked numerous odd jobs to make a living.
ReplyDeleteSeveral aspects of Albee’s life are reflected in his play, “The American Dream.” Like the baby in the play, Albee was adopted soon after birth. In the play, Mommy wanted to belong to the high society. She wanted the baby and her husband to help her succeed. Mommy destroyed the baby (a little at a time) because he did not conform to her desires. Albee rebelled and separated from his adoptive family because they wanted him to conform. The Young Man in the play was separated from his brother, just as Albee separated from his adopted family. The Young Man was empty. He missed his other self (his twin, the baby). The Young Man was willing to do any job to achieve his dreams; he wanted to be an actor. The Young Man’s character was symbolic of Albee’s plight. Albee wanted to express his emptiness. He may have miss his family (perhaps both his biological and adopted families) but he needed to find his own way. Edward Albee’s adopted parents wanted him to be a professional. He felt they were only concerned with their wealth and social position. In the play, Daddy was rich and complacent. Daddy was older than Mommy (similar to Albee’s adoptive parents). Daddy tried to please Mommy and keep the peace. Daddy did not protect the baby from Mommy’s abuse. Albee had a good relationship with his grandmother who left him a small inheritance. In the play, Grandma recognized the Young Man right away. She wanted to help him. She knew baby had been wronged and wanted to help the Young Man achieve his dream. Albee wanted his parents to see his success, but his father died before he succeeded and he never really had a good relationship with his mother.
The albee family and the book are similar with the baby, lifestyle and traits. Aspects that are the same in the Albee family and the family in the story is the baby being adoped. The Albee family adopted there son two weeks old and brought him into a rich family. In the story the baby was adopted at no certain age but was still brought in to a wealthy family. The family are also the same by the family having good work ethic to get were they are in life. They are wealthy and can support themselves. The babys in both the play and the Albee family are “problem children”. The baby in the play was not really a problem but to mommy he was. He was just a normal child that did things that all children do he did not do anything out of the normal. The baby/child in the Albee family was a problem child. He did things to get in trouble and did bad in school and got kicked out. He also dropped out of collage and ended up becoming a play writer and not an actor like his parents wanted him to be.
ReplyDeleteARenninger Red
ReplyDeleteIn the play, "The American Dream" the author Edward Albee incorporated a lot of his life into this play. There are many examples of when he is doing so. Such as the baby being adopted by Mommy and Daddy. Well, when Albee was just about two weeks old, he was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Reed. Another similarity with Albee's life and the play, is how to grandma is a very good listener and she begins to get close with the young man and has a nice talk with Mrs. Barker. Albee, like the young man, had a very good relationship with his grandmother, because his parents were only worried about the good he had to do. The baby in the story was not a good baby in mommy's eyes because he didn't do what she wanted. When Albee was younger, he was very much a trouble maker and did the exact opposite of what people told him to do. In the play the baby was mutilated by mommy for touching itself weirdly and always crying. She did this because she did not have what she wanted in a child and she was very disappointed. When Albee was in his teen years, he came out about his homosexual ways. His parents weren't happy with him just like mommy wasn't happy with the baby. This play concentrates on the absurdism and how the american values are not very good values.
Edward Albee's life was very complicated and expressed it through his play writings. He was adopted at two weeks old and grew up in a rich family. His relationship with his parents was not that close; however, he and his Grandma were socially involved. As Albee grew up he he got in a lot of trouble in school by not participating and skipping class. He was expelled within a year and his parents were very unhappy with him they sent him to boarding school.
ReplyDeleteIn the "American Dream" I think Albee represents the baby whom Mommy killed because of the way its behavior was. I think Albee was imagining what could have became of him if his parents were similar to Mommy and Daddy. Albee was adopted like the baby and he could have easily been mistreated however he exagerated to make his play similar to horror.
When Albee finished his education he was moving around and had many jobs and was trying to get by. I think this part of his life is similar to the young man in the "American Dream" because he came to the house looking fo work. Albee was explaining how much change he kept going through and how he was trying to reach his dream. The young man wanted to be a movie star and looked like one but needed money. He was showing all his hardships through hiw writings and characters in the play.
Albee's relationship with his parents was expressed through Grandma because she and Mommy argued all the time and were not close or get along with each other.
Edward Albee’s plays represent about his life as a child, and how he grew up as a child. Albee’s family life reflected his work because he was an adopted child himself. The Albee’s grandmother also lived with them just like the grandma did in the American Dream. Albee formed a close relationship with Grandma Cotta. His adoptive parents were just like the ones in the American Dream because they expected Edward to be something that he wasn’t. They wanted him to have a conventional business or professional career, but he wanted to be in theater and write plays. The baby represents Albee’s baby stages of life. His parents put him up for adoption at two weeks old because he probably wasn’t what they wanted. The young man is somewhat like Edward Albee because he can’t love anybody. He has adoptive parents and never met his real parents, and he was very angry at his parents. At the age of about 20 he left his family home and moved to New York's Greenwich Village. Another way he represents the baby is when he was 11 years old. His parents sent him away to Lawrenceville, a boarding school, in hopes that he would straighten up.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee compares himself to his play “The American Dream” by multiple things. First his grandma is a main part that he uses compared to his life. He was very close to his grandma and in this story “Daddy” likes grandma and favors her in many ways. For example Mommy is really trying to put grandma in the nursing home to get rid of her but daddy wishes this not to happen. Also grandma is treated very well in this play. Another way Edward albee compares himself is by the baby. I believe the baby is somewhat like him because it represents him getting adopted when he was a baby. I also think the baby is killed because he wasn’t doing things mommy wanted him to do. I see this as when he was younger his parents would force him to do things he didn’t want to do and he gets torn apart/hurt from that. In the play I see the resemblance to that because the baby would get torn apart for not obeying the elder.
ReplyDeleteAlbee's family life is similar to the play in alot of ways. This is probably why they are in the play to begin with. In the play mommy and daddy adopt a baby two weeks after it was born. Albee connects this to the play because he was adopted two weeks after he was born. One important character int the play is grandma. As Albee grew up he developed a strong relationship with his grandma Cotta. It appears that he has tied in a lot of what happens to him growing up into "The American Dream." In this play the character mommy is never happy or satisfied with people or there financial state. I think this is significant in the play because at a time he himself was not happy with his life. He didn't like his schools or jobs. He was ttrying to show his unhappiness through the play. Also it took him a long time to eventually pick a career he liked which became writing. But this may relate to how mommy and daddy were never happy or pleased with the baby they adopted. eventually the Young Man (his twin) came and is what they have been wanting in a son the whole time.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee portrays himself in the characters of his book “The American Dream”. He bases the book about domestic problems and problems at home. As a child he wasn’t cooperative and often failed or got kicked out of his classes for his behavior. One of the characters he bases himself off of is the baby. As a baby he was adopted and raised in a rich family. Like the baby, he felt he was being punished for everything he did. He had a close relationship with his grandmother, so in the book he makes her the protagonist and an all around good person. He also makes grandma seem innocent of everything she does; he makes her wise, and cunning. Like Daddy, he was raised rich and attended good schools. Judging from the book I’m guessing he hated his mother more, because she is the worse parent to the baby and to grandma. As for the “van man”, he is like Albee because he had bad things happen to him that were his adopted brothers parents fault; he can no longer taste, see, love, or touch anything because of what mommy did to him.
ReplyDeleteThere are a ton of similar aspects to Edward Albee's reality that reflects off of his play, "The American Dream." He wasn't very close with his parents, and was extremely rebellious. In the play, he seems to resemble Grandma highly. Grandma is extremely rebellious, and she does what ever she desires to do, as Albee does in real life. Grandma didn't get a long with anyone in the play, with the exception of the Young Man. Ablee was close and got a long with Grandma Cotta very well; which most likely resembles the fast, down to earth conversation and relationship Grandma and the Young Man had. The baby whom was killed resembles how Albee was abandoned after being only two weeks old. His parents set him up for adoption. Albee was trying to prove his point in the story that your family can be cruel to you. It seems as if Grandma Cotta meant so much to Albee, which is why he made up the character, Grandma in his play. Further on, Albee's work and determination resembles the title, "The American Dream." Because in reality, he did not quit until he got it right. He wanted to achieve the greatest. He rebelled against others to achieve and have the chance to get what he wanted. He is independent and relies only on himself as Grandma does in the play. Albee's message was to get out that anyone can grasp and view their American Dream if you're determined to. Don't let anyone get in your way.
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was born on March 12, 1928 in Virginia, but no one knows the town. His birth parents gave him up for adoption when he was only a baby. This part of his life relates to the “baby” being adopted by Mommy and Daddy as a baby. A rich theatre circuit and his wife adopted Albee. He lived a privileged life based around acting and plays because of his family. Edward’s parents were very opposite, his dad was older and his mom was around twenty-three years younger and a foot taller than Mr. Albee. They were obviously rich and I would compare Edward’s mom to Mommy because she married Daddy for money and it seems the same with Mrs. Abele being way younger that her intentions were wealth and social status. Albee acted out in school and was punished by his parents for this and I think that the baby being killed and tortured is based of his behavior as a child. His parents did not do what Mommy and Daddy did because this play is classified as absurdism, but they sent him to boarding school and he would be punished a lot. Because of his distant relationship with his adopted parents, he was very close to his Grandma Cotta. He put Grandma as a big part in “The American Dream” because he loved his grandma so much, and he put the same characteristics he loved in his Grandma in the Grandma in the play.
ReplyDeleteAlbee’s family in reality was a wealthy family and in the play Mommy and Daddy were wealthy people. Mommy in the play some what resembles Albee’s mother Frances Albee. In the play Mommy is very rude and only thinks of herself even when it comes to her husband. Mommy was always putting Daddy down and in one of Albee’s biographies it said, “Albee’s mother, Frances, was twenty-three years younger and almost a foot taller than his father, who tended to be taciturn and deferential toward his wife”. Also in the play the Baby was said to be a problem child and Albee admitted to being a problem child. The character trait of the Baby and the Young Man might reflect his feelings about his family because the Baby might resemble him. Albee’s parents always wanted him to do what was best for the family like where to go to school and what job to have, so in way it is kind of like how in the play Mommy hated how the Baby was not acting the way she thought was good. The Young Man could also resemble Albee because in the play the Young Man moved to follow his dreams and become an actor. Albee’s parents wanted him to go into the business field but instead he moved away to follow his dreams to write plays. The only person Albee truly cared about was his Grandma Cotta and in the play she was some what the good guy. Also grandma was nice to the Young Man which resembled Albee in a way.
ReplyDeleteI think he relfects grandma alot in this story as to his real life grand mom because they where really close. I also think he relfects the young man as the american dream wanted by people in his time. The young man was handsome and good looking and thats what mose americans wanted back in the day. I think mommy and daddy are a little related to his parents because of they way they are in the play.
ReplyDeleteCSoltow Purple
ReplyDeleteAlbee's family life definitely reflected on the book "The American Dream". To begin with, he was adopted and in the book the family adopted a baby. He probably got the idea from his own life and wanted to add some things from his life to his book. Also, in his younger life he was always a rebel and not a good kid. In the story this may compare to the Mommy, because she wasn't a good Mommy or a good person, she was selfish and only cared about herself. Albee was an extremely diverse person and was very unique, this may relate to the story also. The story The American Dream, is not a normal, pleasant book. In The American Dream he used a lot of surrealism. Another way Albee's life compares to the book is that when Albee was growing up he knew he was adopted but never decided to try and find his real parents, In the story, the young man was adopted but he never trys to find his real, true parents. He was pretty much an orphan his whole life. Albee used a lot of ideas in the story from his own life.
This is not just a play about family life. They also frequently focused on family dysfunctions and the underlying motives of family structure. Albee never felt comfortable with his adoptive parents and he thought that they never took the responsibility of being his parents seriously. He was also once thrown out by his parents because his parents wanted him to become a corporate thug, and didn't approve of his aspirations to become a writer. Albee’s adoptive mother tried to raise him to fit into their social circles including all of the artificial values needed. Similarly in the play, Mommy and Daddy have become accustomed to ignoring the old ways and looking for a new set of values. They are trying to find an artificial set of values. This new set of standards revolves around the artificial qualities of looks, money, and power. Albee’s life was similar in the way that a portrayal of how artificial values have replaced real values in the American society. The difference between the play and Albee’s life is that in the play grandma is being ignored and the weakening of men’s power in society as the Dad always loses in the arguments with mom. Albee teaches that the past holds the truth to our future, while in Albee’s real life it was not like that.
ReplyDeleteBhowell blue
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was born in Washington, D.C. on March 12, 1928. Two weeks later, he was adopted by Reed and Frances Albee and taken to live in the family home in Westchester, New York. “Albee's 25 plays form a body of work that is recognized as unique, uncompromising, controversial, elliptical, and provocative.” says the Kennedy Center. His book called The American Dream came from the inspiration in his family. His favorite character was Grandma. He liked her best because when he was younger his Grandma was always by his side and she was always there for him. She was a main person in his life cause his parents weren’t around to talk to him. He felt close to his Grandma. This is why in the book he describes the Grandma the way he does. She is funny and sticks up for her self. His childhood was that he was an unhappy kid, his parents were too busy so all he had was his Grandma. In the book, The American Dream, he describes the Mommy and Daddy as rude and disrespectful. I think he does this because of what he knows of his childhood and how his parents treated him.
Ckeyton blue
ReplyDeleteIn the American dream there are several ways that Albee’s life is the same as the family’s life in the play. Albee compares himself to the adopted baby because just like him he was also adopted. Also he compares himself to the baby because when Albee was younger he was known as “a problem child” just like the baby in the play. He shows the grandma in the play as an important character just as she was important to him in real life. Grandma was a smart and cunning person and Albee might have thought about her this way in real life. In his life Albee’s father did not communicate with his mother and this is like the play because the mom and dad did not communicate well either. The young man is another example. The young man is trying to find a job and succeed just like Albee did when he wrote his plays. Lastly, Albee is like grandma in the story. In Albee’s real life he left his house when he became of age without notice, grandma also left without notice at the end of the play. All of these examples explains how Albee’s life influenced his play and the characters he wrote about.
Edward Albee’s life relates to the “American Dream” in many ways. One way is that he related his parents to Mommy and Daddy because his parents were rude and they didn’t accept him, just like in the book how Mommy and Daddy didn’t accept the baby. Edward relates himself to the baby because he felt rejected. In the book they rejected the baby by adopting it and then abusing it and killing it. But that’s not what happened to Edward, his parents just didn’t care for him. Also, they sent him to boarding school and multiple different high schools. He made Grandma seem innocent because in real life he was closer with his Grandma than his parents. In the book Grandmas character is funny and very kind to the young man. Edward also relates to the young man because later in his life he became more successful and his parents loved him more.
ReplyDeleteedwards life is similar to the aspects of the play in many ways for one he was adopted and so was the baby in the play. also his father was always looked at as a push over and couldn't stand up to his mother just like mommy and daddy.Also albee was always close with his grandmother and in the play the grandmother is loving and caring and nice. his family was pretty wealthy as the family in the book were. albee misbehaved a lot and never seemed to be doing the right thing. his mother did not like that, she was a lot like mommy in the play, she always wanted things her way and she got upset when they weren't.also when albee acted up his mom would just send him away to boarding school and when they baby would do something wrong mommy would just manipulate the baby until finally there was nothing left. i believe that the play has a lot to do with his own life.
ReplyDeleteA Salter Blue
ReplyDeleteEdward Albee was adopted two weeks after his birth. Albee was born in Washington, D.C. on March 12, 1928. As a child Albee was known as a trouble maker and a bad kid. Albees plays represent his childhood life and how he grew up. Albees parents wanted Albee to be something he wasnt, therefor his relationship with them was not good. Albee became very close with Grandma Gotta. His parents wanted him have a professional career but he wanted to be in theater and write. The young man is an example of Albee because neither of them could love anyone. He left his home at the age of 20 to move to New Yorks Greenwich Village. When Albee was 11 years old his parents sent him away to a boarding school in Lawrenceville to straighten him up, an example of the baby.