1975. Although literary critics have tended to praise the unique in literary characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped character successfully. Select one work of acknowledged literary merit and in a well-written essay, show how the conventional or stereotyped character or characters function to achieve the author's purpose.
Ironically, one-dimensional characters sometimes allow readers to glimpse multiple dimensions of an author’s meaning. Due to this, plays like Edward Albee’s The American Dream, rely on stock characters in order to better illustrate the playwright’s meaning. In The American Dream, Albee crafts the stock character of Mommy in order to amuse audiences while simultaneously demonstrating the fallacies in the American society.
One of the most humorous yet horrifying characters, Mommy best exemplifies a typical stock character. Her childish and controlling personality remains immutable throughout the play. In the opening scene, Mommy forcefully directs Daddy to listen to a story of dissatisfaction. She continuously repeats phrases like “What did I just say?” to keep Daddy’s focus directed on her and giggles when Daddy responds saying that he’s “all ears”. While Mommy’s phrase repetition itself might serve to characterize her as child-like, her inability to comprehend Daddy’s idiom further emphasizes her immaturity. Her name itself even exaggerates her child-like qualities as her personality stands in sharp contrast with her ironic name, Mommy. In a darker segment of the play, Mommy’s literal interpretations have disastrous effects. When Mommy brings home her adopted son, her discontent with him “having eyes only for his Daddy” and other subsequent complaints compel her to slowly disfigure her own son. This mutilation can be attributed to the the fact that Mommy cannot stand Daddy having more power than her in any sphere of influence- including their child. She therefore sees it fit to mutilate the child in order to bring the power back to her.
On the surface, Mommy’s actions might lead to comedic effects, however as the play unfolds and the major themes start to emerge, it’s clear that Mommy’s character provides other uses as well. Mommy’s characterization allows the audience to both laugh and shudder at her, yet it becomes apparent that Mommy represents something much deeper than a character in a play. Mommy signifies the American people who Albee believes have since become simultaneous childish and power-hungry. Never satisfied, they mutilate things before they even have a chance to grow. The stock character of Mommy allows audiences to shift from being entertained to enlightened about Albee’s thought on the weaknesses of the American society.
Therefore, Mommy serves as a stock character in order for Albee to draw out the flaws within the American society. As a stock character Mommy is amusing and unassuming. However, only as the rest of the play unfolds does the audience begin to understand that Mommy resembles the antithesis of what America should be.
Ironically, one-dimensional characters sometimes allow readers to glimpse multiple dimensions of an author’s meaning. Due to this, plays like Edward Albee’s The American Dream, rely on stock characters in order to better illustrate the playwright’s meaning. In The American Dream, Albee crafts the stock character of Mommy in order to amuse audiences while simultaneously demonstrating the fallacies in the American society.
One of the most humorous yet horrifying characters, Mommy best exemplifies a typical stock character. Her childish and controlling personality remains immutable throughout the play. In the opening scene, Mommy forcefully directs Daddy to listen to a story of dissatisfaction. She continuously repeats phrases like “What did I just say?” to keep Daddy’s focus directed on her and giggles when Daddy responds saying that he’s “all ears”. While Mommy’s phrase repetition itself might serve to characterize her as child-like, her inability to comprehend Daddy’s idiom further emphasizes her immaturity. Her name itself even exaggerates her child-like qualities as her personality stands in sharp contrast with her ironic name, Mommy. In a darker segment of the play, Mommy’s literal interpretations have disastrous effects. When Mommy brings home her adopted son, her discontent with him “having eyes only for his Daddy” and other subsequent complaints compel her to slowly disfigure her own son. This mutilation can be attributed to the the fact that Mommy cannot stand Daddy having more power than her in any sphere of influence- including their child. She therefore sees it fit to mutilate the child in order to bring the power back to her.
On the surface, Mommy’s actions might lead to comedic effects, however as the play unfolds and the major themes start to emerge, it’s clear that Mommy’s character provides other uses as well. Mommy’s characterization allows the audience to both laugh and shudder at her, yet it becomes apparent that Mommy represents something much deeper than a character in a play. Mommy signifies the American people who Albee believes have since become simultaneous childish and power-hungry. Never satisfied, they mutilate things before they even have a chance to grow. The stock character of Mommy allows audiences to shift from being entertained to enlightened about Albee’s thought on the weaknesses of the American society.
Therefore, Mommy serves as a stock character in order for Albee to draw out the flaws within the American society. As a stock character Mommy is amusing and unassuming. However, only as the rest of the play unfolds does the audience begin to understand that Mommy resembles the antithesis of what America should be.
You did a nice job of separating your analysis of Mommy individually and in relation to Albee's purpose with regards to his novel and American society in general. I would recommend expanding on the relationship between Mommy's stereotypical character and Albee's motive in writing this American masterpiece. I feel that doing so would greatly enhance your essay and add to the clarity and thoroughness of your writing. You may even want to expand on the last paragraph where you start to connect Mommy's character's actual purpose in the novel as doing so may aid in linking society with individuals and their roles. Overall, I thought your essay was greatly written with few to none proofreading errors.
ReplyDeleteI did this same prompt I think. I like how you connect Mommy's literalization of everything to the physical disfigurement of the bumble. You could have talked about how using stock characters lets Albee make a broader statement than he could have if he had been more specific. Other than that, I think it is a solidly written open prompt.
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