Post by ezram02 on Apr 6, 2008 21:24:45 GMT -5
Ezra Margolin
Period 2
Tradition vs. Reform: The Ideology of the 20th Century American Family
The plays Fences, Death of a Salesman, and The Glass Menagerie all focus on the structure and complexities of the 20th Century American family. The 20th Century was an era filled with widespread financial and ideological discontent resulting from two World Wars and the Great Depression. Such hard times caused people to question authority, so children were no longer happy to simply do what their parents and grandparents did; they wanted to be different, often causing conflict within the family. As art tends to reflect the issues of its time, 20th Century theater depicted the family tension that was present in American society. August Wilson’s Fences, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie accurately illustrate the nature of the 20th Century American family, exposing the tension that arose between parents, who wanted their children to be like them, and children, who wanted to be different.
In Fences, August Wilson emphasizes the complex relationship between Troy Maxson and his son, Cory. Troy, the son of a failed sharecropper, left his own family at the age of 14 because of conflict with his father and takes pride in his difficult path to manhood. He works hard as a garbage man to support his family, and he wants his son to grow up to be like him. Because of his own personal misfortune, he considers dreams useless and wasteful, so he refuses to allow Cory to pursue a football scholarship. Rather than give Cory a chance to succeed and break out of the cycle of poverty, Troy makes him work at the A&P, ruining any chance of a career in football. Since Cory is not content to have the type of steady, blue-collar work that Troy has, tension accumulates between him and his father. The conflict between Cory’s desire to dream and Troy’s emphasis on hard work ultimately builds up to a violent conflict after which Cory leaves to pursue a life of his own, free from his father’s repression.
In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller writes extensively about the tension between Willy Loman and his son Biff. A perpetual dreamer, Willy expects his son to become a businessman and achieve the same success that Willy believes he himself achieved in the past. Realistically, Willy was never successful in business, but rather than aspiring to have his son be like the real Willy Loman, Willy wants Biff to become the type of prosperous salesman he believes himself to be. Instead of spurring his son on to success, Willy’s quixotic dream just causes him to be disappointed in Biff’s failure. Not only does Biff fail in business, but he has no will to become a businessman at all. While Willy tries to set Biff up in business opportunities for which he is clearly unsuitable, Biff simply desires “to be outdoors with [his] shirt off” (Miller 22). As the father’s high hopes contrast with the son’s realistic assertion that he is “a dime a dozen,” their relationship strains (132). No matter how much Willy begs him to follow the dream of wealth, Biff realizes that, in the office, he is only “making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am” (132). Biff’s recognition of his own true nature is the cause of several fights with Willy but ultimately saves him from suffering the same pathetic fate as his father.
In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams illustrates the struggle between a mother and her son and daughter. Amanda Wingfield is an overbearing mother who clings to the memory of her days as a refined Southern lady. Constantly reminiscing about the joys of entertaining gentlemen callers in her past, Amanda raises her children, Tom and Laura, in the same genteel environment, which does not suit either child. Tom is an aspiring poet with a revolutionary spirit who does not belong in a proper home like the Wingfield apartment. Always “a lover, a hunter, a fighter,” Tom cannot stand Amanda’s constant nagging, so he escapes by means of poetry, movies, and alcohol until eventually leaving the house for good. Laura, too, is not the person Amanda wants her to be. Amanda has stressed the importance of gentlemen callers throughout Laura’s life, hoping to re-create her own youth through her daughter, but Laura has no intention to be the well-mannered belle that Amanda was. Perhaps Laura’s disobedience is due less to conscious defiance than to limited capabilities, but unlike her outgoing mother, Laura withdraws herself from the world, refusing to go to business college and dedicating all her time to her collection of glass animals. Because Tom and Laura challenge Amanda’s expectations rather than fulfilling her hopes of re-creating her past, the Wingfield apartment is engulfed in a metaphorical fire causing the family’s fragmentation.
Since art tends to mirror the society from which is originates, it is no coincidence that these three plays accurately embody the personality of the discontented American families of the 20th Century. The family tension seen is a matter of tradition against reform, and the 20th Century was a time when young people disregarded tradition in the areas of music, religion, politics, art, and countless other fields including family. The struggle of whether to live the lifestyle of one’s parents or to strive to be different was very relevant in this time when youth was questioning authority. The desire to be different from one’s parents continues into today’s world, but modern parents embraced their children’s efforts and dreams. As the world gets more and more liberal, parents of today do not want to raise children to be exactly like them; they want to raise individuals who can succeed in their own ways. Traditions are being disregarded, and new explorations are encouraged. By allowing children to pursue their own interests, parents raise a generation more likely to succeed in the constantly changing world of the 21st Century.
Period 2
Tradition vs. Reform: The Ideology of the 20th Century American Family
The plays Fences, Death of a Salesman, and The Glass Menagerie all focus on the structure and complexities of the 20th Century American family. The 20th Century was an era filled with widespread financial and ideological discontent resulting from two World Wars and the Great Depression. Such hard times caused people to question authority, so children were no longer happy to simply do what their parents and grandparents did; they wanted to be different, often causing conflict within the family. As art tends to reflect the issues of its time, 20th Century theater depicted the family tension that was present in American society. August Wilson’s Fences, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie accurately illustrate the nature of the 20th Century American family, exposing the tension that arose between parents, who wanted their children to be like them, and children, who wanted to be different.
In Fences, August Wilson emphasizes the complex relationship between Troy Maxson and his son, Cory. Troy, the son of a failed sharecropper, left his own family at the age of 14 because of conflict with his father and takes pride in his difficult path to manhood. He works hard as a garbage man to support his family, and he wants his son to grow up to be like him. Because of his own personal misfortune, he considers dreams useless and wasteful, so he refuses to allow Cory to pursue a football scholarship. Rather than give Cory a chance to succeed and break out of the cycle of poverty, Troy makes him work at the A&P, ruining any chance of a career in football. Since Cory is not content to have the type of steady, blue-collar work that Troy has, tension accumulates between him and his father. The conflict between Cory’s desire to dream and Troy’s emphasis on hard work ultimately builds up to a violent conflict after which Cory leaves to pursue a life of his own, free from his father’s repression.
In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller writes extensively about the tension between Willy Loman and his son Biff. A perpetual dreamer, Willy expects his son to become a businessman and achieve the same success that Willy believes he himself achieved in the past. Realistically, Willy was never successful in business, but rather than aspiring to have his son be like the real Willy Loman, Willy wants Biff to become the type of prosperous salesman he believes himself to be. Instead of spurring his son on to success, Willy’s quixotic dream just causes him to be disappointed in Biff’s failure. Not only does Biff fail in business, but he has no will to become a businessman at all. While Willy tries to set Biff up in business opportunities for which he is clearly unsuitable, Biff simply desires “to be outdoors with [his] shirt off” (Miller 22). As the father’s high hopes contrast with the son’s realistic assertion that he is “a dime a dozen,” their relationship strains (132). No matter how much Willy begs him to follow the dream of wealth, Biff realizes that, in the office, he is only “making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am” (132). Biff’s recognition of his own true nature is the cause of several fights with Willy but ultimately saves him from suffering the same pathetic fate as his father.
In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams illustrates the struggle between a mother and her son and daughter. Amanda Wingfield is an overbearing mother who clings to the memory of her days as a refined Southern lady. Constantly reminiscing about the joys of entertaining gentlemen callers in her past, Amanda raises her children, Tom and Laura, in the same genteel environment, which does not suit either child. Tom is an aspiring poet with a revolutionary spirit who does not belong in a proper home like the Wingfield apartment. Always “a lover, a hunter, a fighter,” Tom cannot stand Amanda’s constant nagging, so he escapes by means of poetry, movies, and alcohol until eventually leaving the house for good. Laura, too, is not the person Amanda wants her to be. Amanda has stressed the importance of gentlemen callers throughout Laura’s life, hoping to re-create her own youth through her daughter, but Laura has no intention to be the well-mannered belle that Amanda was. Perhaps Laura’s disobedience is due less to conscious defiance than to limited capabilities, but unlike her outgoing mother, Laura withdraws herself from the world, refusing to go to business college and dedicating all her time to her collection of glass animals. Because Tom and Laura challenge Amanda’s expectations rather than fulfilling her hopes of re-creating her past, the Wingfield apartment is engulfed in a metaphorical fire causing the family’s fragmentation.
Since art tends to mirror the society from which is originates, it is no coincidence that these three plays accurately embody the personality of the discontented American families of the 20th Century. The family tension seen is a matter of tradition against reform, and the 20th Century was a time when young people disregarded tradition in the areas of music, religion, politics, art, and countless other fields including family. The struggle of whether to live the lifestyle of one’s parents or to strive to be different was very relevant in this time when youth was questioning authority. The desire to be different from one’s parents continues into today’s world, but modern parents embraced their children’s efforts and dreams. As the world gets more and more liberal, parents of today do not want to raise children to be exactly like them; they want to raise individuals who can succeed in their own ways. Traditions are being disregarded, and new explorations are encouraged. By allowing children to pursue their own interests, parents raise a generation more likely to succeed in the constantly changing world of the 21st Century.