Summary & Analysis of The American Dream

The American Dream, by Edward Albee, starts with a seemingly typical conversation between a couple named Mommy and Daddy. They had an issue with their plumbing and had called someone to come fix it, but "they" were late. After a short discussion on how "people think they can get away with anything," Mommy suddenly changes topics to a new hat she bought, immediately losing Daddy's interest, though she constantly makes sure he is listening. She ends her story about her shopping when Daddy says, "That's just the way things are today; you just can't get satisfaction; you just try."
This statement by Daddy is quite characteristic of modern materialistic values. He seems to believe that "satisfaction" is an object he can obtain from what the world has to offer, though in reality, satisfaction is a state of mind where one feels that he no longer needs more. Albee satirizes this ludicrous behavior through Daddy's statement because, as we learn from both Mommy and Grandma, Daddy is quite a rich person, to the point where he was even looking to become the governor, yet satisfaction is beyond his reach. As a result, he adopts a tone of dejected frustration, and even submission to the fact that he can no longer get what he wants. Interestingly, Mommy follows his statement by saying she "got satisfaction," though her actions later prove her wrong.
Then, Grandma is introduced as a grouchy old lady and seems to be the only character with any sense of reason. Undoubtedly, then, she acts as Albee's spokesperson throughout the play, telling us what Albee wants us to think.
The conversation continues in a circular pattern, adding very little and coming back to the same topics repeatedly. Mrs. Barker, chaiman of the woman's club, arrives and nobody can remember why she was called, so the circular pattern of conversation continues.
All this circular, repetitive conversation is what makes this play classifiable as Theater of the Absurd. The characters can get almost nowhere with their talk and at times, make no sense. However, Albee breaks this pattern once he gives Grandma a chance to speak, bringing sense to the story and tying things together.
Eventually, once Grandma can get some time alone with Mrs. Barker, she explains that she was here because Mommy and Daddy, after a past experience with an adoption, wanted another child because they had killed the first one. Mrs. Barker leaves to find a glass of water and a young man, whom Grandma describes as "the American Dream," arrives looking for work. Grandma convinces him to help her move out of the house, and essentially out of the play, while setting him up for adoption into Mommy and Daddy's family through Mrs. Barker.
Finally, Albee has given us something serious to ponder aside from the petty absurdity of the lives of the modern family. The young man, the American Dream, is good looking on the outside, but has no talent or emotions on the inside. Albee uses his lack of usefulness to criticize the focus on outward appearance in society that ignores the inner being. In contrast, Grandma looks almost gender neutral because of her age, nothing pleasant to look at, yet she has much character and wit to share. She symbolizes the old American Dream, coming from a time when outward appearance wasn't everything.
Grandma ends the play with a short speech to the audience, saying, "let's leave things as they are right now...while everybody's happy...while everybody's got what he wants...or everybody's got what he thinks he wants. Good night, dears."
Grandma's final statement is almost a warning to the audience. By saying that, she implies that the new American Dream, the young man, can only give short-term satisfaction--the theme of the play.
One cannot gain satisfaction through selfish, materialistic means. Like Daddy said early in the play, these days, when everyone is driven by a strong sense of materialism, one simply cannot get satisfaction. Any feeling of content that comes from possessions is fleeting and meaningless.