Summary 1: The American Dream

Instead of developing a very complicated and intense plot, Edward Albee uses the weird quirks and features of his characters to convey his messages in The American Dream.

This absurdist play incorporates an extremely controlling Mommy who constantly asserts herself over a whipped Daddy. As they wait for a guest to arrive, mommy tells the story about her hat purchase. She buys a beige hat, but the chair of her woman's club convinced her it was wheat, so she had to go back to the store and get one that was actually beige. Grandma then enters with a bunch of nicely wrapped boxes, and talks about how Mommy has always wanted to marry a rich man like daddy. Mrs.Barker then finally arrives. When Mrs.Barker and Grandma are finally alone, Grandma explains to Mrs.Barker why she's there. She tells her about the first baby they adopted, and how mommy and daddy completely destroyed it. Some lines later, a young man enters their apartment. He is desperate for work and money. After he describes his emptiness inside, Grandma realizes that the young man is the twin of the mutilated baby. Grandma then hatches up a plan: she has the young man pretend to be the "van man" who takes her away and tells Mrs.Barker about having the young man be mommy and daddy's new adopted child. Though Grandma is out of the scene, she is still on the set and addresses the audience to quiet down. The people in the apartment celebrate the new arrangements, and then grandma bids the audience farewell.

The characters are rather interesting in this play: daddy is completely emasculated both figuratively and literally via a vasectomy. The plot develops along the anticipated visit of Mrs.Barker, who is a character that embodies many different roles: she is the president of the woman's club, yet mommy doesn't know who she is when she visits them as the lady from the adoption agency. And even though she's from the adoption agency, she doesn't really seem to know why she's there or who she's visiting.

Albee uses Mommy and Daddy's relationship critique of the American Dream: once two young lovers, they seek the American Dream through a marriage and an adoption and end up destroying both. Their marriage shows no signs of love and affection as Mommy constantly controls Daddy, and their first adopted baby dies from cruel mutilations.

Their later son, who is the twin of the mutilated baby, is dubbed the "American Dream": he's tall, beautiful, and physically everything Mommy and Daddy want. He serves as a great way for Albee to convey his theme of how empty the real American Dream is.  He is completely void and empty, but this doesn't seem to affect their decision in adopting him, showing that the "American Dream" is literally only a perfect outside with nothing below.

There are many symbols that Albee explores. Through the characters of Mommy and Grandma, we see a juxtaposition of generations. Grandma represents the older generation, the "pioneer stock" that had a different less superficial American Dream while Mommy represents the more consumeristic American Dream. Grandma is much more intelligent and aware of things, while Mommy seems to have no clue. This contrasts nicely and further contributes to Albee's critique of the American Dream.

Indeed, Albee's theme does ultimately prove to be that achieving the American Dream will not yield true happiness or "satisfaction", only artificial emotions. His portrayal of Mommy and Daddy's empty relationship, juxtaposed with Grammy's knowledge and enlightenment she has over them, show how the dream at the time really was not prosperous. The "American Dream" says many memorable things to support this, such as:

"I am incomplete.... I can feel nothing. I can feel nothing. And so...here I am...as you see me. I am...but this...what you see. And it will always be thus." This sad statement from the young man further contributes to Albee's illustration of an empty American Dream.

Additionally, the young man seems to have this focus on money:
"I'll do almost anything for money." and he also says  "Money talks." Literally, the "American Dream" will do whatever he can for money, showing how superficial the actual dream is.