The American Dream

E115015
absurdist play one-act play satirical play

The American Dream is a one-act absurdist play by Edward Albee that satirically critiques the emptiness and materialism underlying mid-20th-century American family life and values.

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All labels observed (4)

Label Occurrences
The American Dream canonical 4
the American Dream 2
American Dream 1

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf absurdist play ⓘ
one-act play ⓘ
satirical play ⓘ
author Edward Albee ⓘ
centralTheme alienation ⓘ
breakdown of family values ⓘ
commodification of human relationships ⓘ
critique of the American Dream ideology ⓘ
emotional sterility ⓘ
character Daddy ⓘ
Grandma ⓘ
Mommy ⓘ
Mrs. Barker ⓘ
The Young Man ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
critiques conformity in American middle-class life ⓘ
emotional and moral vacuity ⓘ
superficial success ideals ⓘ
dramaticDevice exaggeration to expose social hypocrisy ⓘ
metatheatrical elements ⓘ
symbolic characters ⓘ
dramaticStructure one-act continuous action ⓘ
form stage play ⓘ
genre absurdist theatre ⓘ
black comedy ⓘ
satire ⓘ
literarySignificance important early work in Albee’s career ⓘ
key example of American absurdist drama ⓘ
notableCharacterRole Grandma as a voice of subversive wisdom ⓘ
numberOfActs 1 ⓘ
originalLanguage English ⓘ
periodOfWork mid-20th century ⓘ
relatedWorkByAuthor The Sandbox ⓘ
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ⓘ
surface form: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
setting an American living room ⓘ
style absurdist situations ⓘ
non-naturalistic dialogue ⓘ
subjectMatter American family life ⓘ
consumer culture ⓘ
emptiness of modern values ⓘ
materialism ⓘ
mid-20th-century American society ⓘ
theatricalMovement Theatre of the Absurd ⓘ
tone darkly comic ⓘ
satirical ⓘ
workByAuthor Edward Albee play ⓘ

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Edward Albee → notableWork → The American Dream ⓘ
Act One (influential theatre memoir) → hasTheme → The American Dream ⓘ
subject surface form: Act One
this entity surface form: American Dream
Claude-Michel Schönberg → notableSong → The American Dream ⓘ
Chris Keller → themeAssociation → The American Dream ⓘ
this entity surface form: the American Dream
The American Dream series → hasPart → The American Dream ⓘ
this entity surface form: The American Dream I
Curse of the Starving Class → mainTheme → The American Dream ⓘ
this entity surface form: the American Dream
Mike Jones → notableWork → The American Dream ⓘ
A. Powell Davies → notableWork → The American Dream ⓘ