Edward Albee and Arthur Kopit: Look Who’s Wearing the Pants!
Edward Albee and Arthur Kopit: Look Who’s Wearing the Pants!

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to make the readers acquainted with the realities of the twentieth century American family, as perceived by the two American playwrights, and, on the other hand, to underline the unusual phenomena that have been brought by the changing dynamics of the family relationships. All the five plays under discussion—All Over, A Delicate Balance, The American Dream, The Sandbox by Edward Albee, and Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin’ So Sad by Arthur Kopit — present situations in which the female characters seem to have become the leader, taking the place of the head of the family, of the pater familias. They stop acting like loving mothers and wives, they forget to take care of their families; instead, they lock away their hearts and assume the part of some sort of tyrant: they control everyone and everything in the house, their word being the equivalent of a rule. The female characters are endowed with masculine traits, whereas the male characters are emasculated, effeminate, deprived of any kind of power. The purpose of the paper is to demystify the myth of the ideal, perfect American family, to make the readers realize that the image that has been presented to the non-American public is, in the twentieth century, nothing but a disguise. Our goal is to display the image of the new American family hoping that, in doing so, we will succeed in making the readers realize the fact that human relationships, especially the ones within the family, need to be re-established on a deeper and more meaningful level.

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