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Steven Bennett
American Drama
Rosalind Flynn
2/7/18

The American Dream In American Drama

George H.W. Bush once said, “The American Dream means giving it your all, trying

your hardest, accomplishing something. And then I’d add to that, giving something back. No

definition of a successful life can do anything but include serving others,” (Hernandez 15). In

plays written between 1934 and 1947, American playwrights draw on social expectations and

pressures to show the effect of characters’ actions and decisions in their efforts to achieve their

American Dream. The works of Lillian Hellman, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams show

the influences of the American Dream in dramatic works.

The Children’s Hour written by Lillian Hellman in the 1930’s, contains the element of

Karen and Martha’s pursuit to fulfill their own American Dream. They refurbish an old farm

house and start an all girl’s school. They work hard to establish themselves and work to care for

the children and teach them as well. For some time, they are successful in their efforts, but then

they are thwarted by lies, deceit, and fears.

Hellman depicts the responses of Karen and Martha during and after the loss of their

success, hopes, and dreams. Martha is overcome with emotion after her entire career— as well as

everything she and Karen built in life— is taken away by Mary Tilford and her grandmother,

causing Martha and Karen to be blacklisted throughout the country. She confronts Mrs. Tilford:

“We’re being pushed around by a crazy woman. That's an awful thing. And we're standing

here...we're standing here taking it. Didn't you know we'd come here? Were we supposed to lie
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down and smile while you took up a gun and looked around for people to kill?” (Hellman 583).

Martha believes that she is guaranteed to have no future work or business. Her decision to

commit suicide is a result of the definitive end of her pursuit of the American Dream.

In contrast, Karen responds differently to her similar fate. In the end, she is able to show

mercy and compassion, and she is determined to rebuild her life. That outlook, sends a message

of hope in humanity, “Karen has destroyed the vicious circle that has characterized human

relations; her compassion is the ultimate good in the world of the play,” (Armato 447). Karen’s

destruction of the vicious circle shows her power and desire to fulfill The American Dream. No

matter what obstacles, judgments, or pressures are thrown upon her, she will be successful.

Through The Children’s Hour, Hellman depicts two versions of what can happen after

the crushing of The American Dream from the overwhelming impacts of social expectation and

pressure. Martha cannot handle these pressures; Karen can. Hellman shows that persecuted

people in American society can either crumble and lose hope, or start over and rebuild.

Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons, written in 1947, is a depiction of life post-World War

Two and the guilt within a family as a result of a lie. Joe Keller is determined to achieve The

American Dream and give his family the ideal life. The Keller family is absolutely living The

American Dream. They appear to have a successful, thriving, happy and peaceful lifestyle from

the opening stage directions of the play:

The stage is hedged on right and left by tall, closely planted poplars which lend the yard

a secluded atmosphere. Upstage is filled with the back of the house and its open,

unroofed porch which extends into the yard some six feet. The house is two stories high

and has seven rooms. It would have cost perhaps fifteen thousand in the early twenties

when it was built. Now it is nicely painted, looks tight and comfortable, and the yard is
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green with sod, here and there plants whose season is gone. At the right, beside the

house, the entrance of the driveway can be seen, but the poplars cut off view of its

continuation downstage, (Miller 5).

After the admission that Joe Keller has been hiding a lie which resulted in the death of twenty-

one pilots, and that Ann has also been “lying” about Larry, the family cannot handle the sudden

rush of truths, and their American Dream is shattered.

Joe Keller had a moment of selfishness for the sake of personal gain, “that for

American’s business and personal gain, both in wartime and peacetime, seem to take priority

over humanitarian and political issues,” (Wertheim 232). Joe’s American Dream was for his

family to be supported and comfortable. He did not want to take away any opportunities for his

kids, “Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you. I’m sixty-one years old, when

would I have another chance to make something for you? Sixty-one years old you don’t get

another chance, do ya?” (Miller 59).

Keller worked for himself and his family, and that justified his actions. Consequently,

however, multiple people die due to his choices; including his own family’s lifestyle also dies.

This realization and the hatred he felt from his family led Joe to commit suicide. Miller’s

rendering of Joe’s response came in multiple ways. First, the social pressures (more specifically,

the pressures from his family) combined with the overwhelming guilt he experiences after the

explosion of his American Dream led him to commit suicide. Second, when the effort he put in

to building that dream turns out to be in vain, he commits suicide. The two rationalizations to

Joe’s response cause him to lose hope and end his life. He, like Martha, is unable to cope with

the crushing of his American Dream. Both The Children’s Hour and All My Sons, show how

“…the tradition of American Dream, the current soul of America’s society, can be one of the
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external factors of intensifying…” what happened because the pressures to succeed in The

American Dream can be too much (Hooti 14).

In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, each of the characters, Blanche,

Stanley, and Stella, are in pursuit of their American Dream. Blanche arrives, and explains that

she is just coming out of the loss her dream and is looking to rebuild. She says, “They told me to

take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and

get off at — Elysian Fields!” she also says, “ Mr. Graves is the high school superintendent—he

suggested I take a leave of absence,” and “I want you to look at my figure! You know I haven't

put on one ounce in ten years, Stella? I weigh what I weighed the summer you left Belle Reve.

The summer Dad died and you left us…” (Williams 15, 21, 22).

These quotes explain Blanche’s story. She is coming in the hopes of fulfilling her new

desires, but she will only fall far from her hopes at Cemeteries, and she will find her peace at

Elysian Fields. She is returning from her old home and has taken a leave of absence from her

school with no family other than Stella. She has no possessions to her name other than the

clothes in her trunk. She has been beaten down by society because of her mental illness and

drinking addiction. Blanche lost her American Dream, but she does still long to rebuild and find

a new American Dream when she agrees to go to an institution and start anew. She says,

“Whoever you are— I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” (Williams 142).

Later, Blanche meets Mitch, and he hopes that they can be together; “You need

somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be— you and me, Blanche?” (Williams 96).

Blanche hopes Mitch will get her away from Stanley. She does not succeed in trying to rebuild

because her sister and husband interfere in her plans. Ultimately, her issues handicap her from

tackling the societal pressures and achieving her hopes and American Dream.
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Blanche’s sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley, are the antithesis of Blanche’s

downward spiral. They are newlyweds with a baby on the way. The only thing in their way from

getting their American Dream is Stanley’s abusive and alcoholic nature, exemplified by

Williams with, “[He hurls a plate to the floor.] That’s how I’ll clear the table! [He seizes her

arm] Don’t ever talk that way to me!” (Williams 107).

Stella is willing to stay with Stanley despite his abuse. Stella feels this is acceptable for

the life she chose, and she will not let Blanche interfere: “No, it isn’t all right for anybody to

make such a terrible row, but— people do sometimes. Stanley’s always smashed things,”

(Williams 64). There is a great juxtaposition here with Blanche’s internal panic next to Stanley’s

exterior panic. Stanley becomes infuriated with his authority being challenged along with the

control of his household shifting. Stella does her best to keep both her sister and husband tame,

but she is frequently thrown into the middle, and she is forced to choose between two loves in

her life. When her sister tries to convince Stella that Stanley should not be treating the way she

does, Stella brushes it off. Additionally, when Stanley confronts Stella about Blanche

overstepping, Stella brushes it off. For example, Stella says, “I don’t believe all of those

stories and I think your supply-man was mean and rotten to tell them. It’s possible that

some of the things he said are partly true. There are things about my sister I don’t

approve of— things that caused sorrow at home. She was always— flighty!” (Williams

102).

Blanche, Stanley, and Stella all blow their own chances of reaching their goals. Through

their own struggles in their lives, they get in their own way. Blanche could not cope with the

traumas she’s experienced. Stanley’s abusive behavior gets in the way of having a peaceful home

life with his wife and sister-in-law. His stubbornness, too, keeps him from adjusting or changing,
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and that keeps him from getting his own American Dream, which is very simplistic, “ What do

you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said— ‘Every Man is a

King!’ And I am the king around here, so don’t you forget it!” (Williams 107). His lack of

change prevented this treatment. The pressures and expectations grew too much for Stanley, so

he just erupted all the time, and this kept him from the American Dream. Stella’s ambivalence

about what to do with Blanche and Stanley kept her from the American Dream. She was put in

the middle of two loves in her life and could not pick one until the end of the play. Once she

made the decision to take action with Blanche, she would be free to achieve her dream of having

a happy household (whatever that means to her). The evidence shows that after initiative is

taken, as follows President Bush’s philosophy, the American Dream can be achieved.

In a sense, the reason that none of these characters’ stories ended with their happy

American Dream is because they all— at one point— victimized themselves. In “Authorizing

History: Victimization in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’” Vlasopolos writes that, “every act of

victimization needs to be absolved if the crisis is to end in a particular sacrifice and not in

generalized bloodshed.” These characters in a state of crisis should not have continued to play

the victim and tell stories that add pathos, especially Blanche when she tells Mitch about her

past:

…the boy I had married broke away from me…A few moments later—a shot! I ran out-

all did!- all ran and gathered around the terrible thing at the edge of the lake!…Then

somebody caught my arm. ‘Don’t go any closer! Come back! You don’t want to see!’

See? See what! Then I heard voices say– Allan! Allan! The Grey boy! He’d stuck the

revolver into his mouth, and fired– so that the back of his head had been– blown away! It

was because–on the dance-floor–unable to stop myself– I’d suddenly said– ‘I saw! I
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know! You disgust me…’ And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world

was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that’s

stronger than this–kitchen– candle… (Williams 96).

Blanche, Stanley, and Stella need to stop feeling bad for themselves and fail to take the initiative

to end their terrible situations. Only at the end, when Stella and Stanley conspire to get Blanche

the help she needs, is there an initiative taken to make a change. Afterward, they can focus on

getting their lives together and building a family. In other words, Stanley and Stella may get

their American Dream because they can create their family in peace without the pressures and

cockeyed actions of Blanche in their flat. All in all, Tennessee Williams proves that when crises

are moved through and looked past, something can be accomplished. Although, the personal

destruction of the characters after the impacts of social pressures ceased the American Dream

from being attained in their future.

When it comes to the three main characters succumbing to the pressures of their world

leading to a loss of the American Dream, Williams exemplified it well. In order to fulfill the

American Dream, as President Bush says, one needs to ‘accomplish something.’ Achieving their

hopes and desires will not happen without action and ambition. Blanche, Stanley, and Stella

allowed the social expectations of treating family well and pressures of succeeding in carrying

out their American Dreams get the better of them. There was no balance, and something had to

give. It was only until the initiative was taken that the American Dream could be reached.

Lillian Hellman shows in The Children’s Hour that life will try to thwart the efforts

people make to reach their goals, but it is a person’s response that makes the difference. Crumble

in a ball and die, or get up and change the path to the American Dream. Arthur Miller in All My

Sons shows similarly that, when the pressures of society become too great, the results are
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disastrous should people succumb to them. Tennessee Williams in A Streetcar Named Desire

portrays three different reactions to difficult societal pressures. The first, falling victim to

personal traumas cease the American Dream from being attained. Second, letting one’s own

stubbornness get in the way will halt the American Dream. Lastly, ambivalence will also stop the

American Dream. Decisions must always be made and actions must always be taken. As these

three playwrights have shown, to obtain the American Dream, people must stand back up from

being defeated when pressures become immense, make a change, and create a resolution.

President Bush’s philosophy that the American Dream means giving it your all and

accomplishing something. Through these playwright’s portrayal of character’s decisions under

pressure which alter Bush’s philosophy, the American Dream can never be reached.

Works Cited

Armato, Philip M. ""Good and Evil" in Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour" Educational

Theatre Journal 25.4 (1973): 443. Web.

Hellman, Lillian. The Children's Hour. Four Plays, by Lillian Hellman. The Children's Hour.

Days to Come. The Little Foxes. Watch on the Rhine, by Lillian Hellman, Modern

Library, 1942, pp. 562–598.

Hernandez, Louis. Saving the American Dream: Main Street's Last Stand. Authorhouse, 2012.

Hooti, Noorbakhsh, and Saba Habibi. “The Nature of Guilt in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.”

CSCanada, vol. 3, no. 1, 2011, pp. 11–16., doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.sll.

1923156320110301.101.

Miller, Arthur. All My Sons: a Play in Three Acts. Dramatists Play Service, 1974.
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Vlasopolos, Anca. “Authorizing History: Victimization in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’” Theatre

Journal, vol. 38, no. 3, 1986, p. 322., doi:10.2307/3208047.

Wertheim, Albert. “Staging the War: American Drama and World War II Hardcover – March 16,

2004.” Staging the War: American Drama and World War II: Albert

Wertheim: 9780253343109: Amazon.com: Books, 4 Jan. 2016,

www.amazon.com/Staging-War- American-Drama-World/dp/0253343100.

Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services
Library, 2017.