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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper discusses several of the factors involving Albee's play "The Sandbox," including the conflict faced by the main character; the way in which other characters heighten the conflict; the play's climax; and whether or not the ending is happy or unhappy. It also considers the setting, and why the main character is at the mercy of societal forces. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVSandBx.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
conflict faced by the main character; the way in which other characters heighten the conflict; the plays climax; and whether or not the ending is happy or unhappy. It also
considers the setting, and why the main character is at the mercy of societal forces. Discussion Edward Albee is widely considered an American proponent of the Theatre of the Absurd
because "his work attacks the very foundations of American optimism" (Esslin, 1969, p. 267). The sandbox is certainly not the picture of a loving family, but is instead a shattering
portrait of a family that is falling apart. The characters are named only "Mommy," "Daddy," "Grandma," "The young man" and "The musician" (Albee, 1968). We are thus confronted first with
the idea that these people are symbols rather than real individuals; they represent the caricatures and stereotypes of mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, rather than being in-depth portraits of
actual persons. The setting is a bare stage, with chairs on one side and a huge sandbox in the middle. The symbolism of the sandbox is complex: it is
a place where children play, and may be said to recall childhood and the happiness and freedom found there. But it is also a place where cats eliminate and bury
their waste, an interpretation borne out by Grandmas lines: "they ... fixed a nice place for me under the stove ... gave me an army blanket ... and my own
dish" (Albee, 1968, p. 364). Its quite clear that Grandma is being treated in just the same fashion as the family would treat a stray cat: shes given a dish
and a blanket and a warm place to sleep. Of course, we can infer that Grandma is not really forced to sleep under the stove; she is drawing a parallel
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