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Alienation in Edward Albee’s >At Home at the Zoo<, Master thesis, World Literature, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China 2020 [application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • Edward Albee(1928 – 2016), one of the most outstanding avant-garde American playwrights, has acquired spectacular achievements in his life. Generally recognized as an eminent spokesman of the American theatre, Albee’s plays provide a key to understanding the capitalistic society. >At Home at the Zoo< combines Albee’s classic work, >The Zoo Story<, with its prequel, home-life, to form a complete story of Peter, Ann, and Jerry. Based on the theory of alienation, this thesis analyzes the alienation in individuals, families and society reflected in the play.– The thesis consists of three parts. The introduction reviews the achievements of Edward Albee and the style of his plays, with a particular focus on his work >At Home at the Zoo<. This part also demonstrates the development of the theory of alienation, with the focus on Erich Fromm’s theory of alienation, laying the solid foundation for the textual analysis. Erich Fromm defines alienation as a mode of experience in which the person experiences himself/herself as an alien. Due to the lack of communication resulting from over production and consumption, rampant inequality and alienation emerges in one’s relationship with another. The main body of this thesis is composed of three chapters. Chapter One analyzes the defective individuals who are alienated inside themselves. In the alienated society, everyone has an increasing sense of alienation. The three main characters in the play are without exception. While both Peter and Jerry feel powerless in their life, Ann feels anxious all the time. Chapter Two examines the dysfunctional families in which the relationships between husbands and wives as well as parents and children are alienated. As a couple, Peter and Ann are isolated from each other. Jerry’s father and mother are completely estranged. In the meantime, the relationships between parents and children are greatly worsened as in Peter’s family and Jerry’s family. Chapter Three delves into the problematic society. The confrontation between Peter and Jerry and the domination of Jerry over >the dog< reflect the alienation of the whole society.– The last part is the conclusion which points out that alienation is pervasive in the modern capitalist society after analyzing alienation reflected in the play. In the capitalistic society, people are no longer active and creative beings. They become cogs in the machine. Family is no longer a shelter for people, which is characterized by indifference and estrangement. This kind of problem can be solved by taking into account of the factors leading to alienation. Therefore, the social significance can be seen in the play based on Erich Fromm’s theory of alienation. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 4/2023]

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Metadaten
Author:Ting Zhang
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2020
Release Date:2024/04/04
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Zhang_Ting_2020
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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