Date of Award
Spring 5-5-2012
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Matthew C. Roudané
Second Advisor
Dr. Pearl A. McHaney
Third Advisor
Dr. Nancy D. Chase
Abstract
In an interview conducted by Matthew C. Roudané, Arthur Miller elaborates on the extent the myth of the American Dream infuses our literature: “The American Dream is the largely unacknowledged screen in front of which all American writing plays itself out—the screen of the perfectibility of man. Whoever is writing in the United States is using the American Dream as an ironical pole of his story” (374). Suzan-Lori Parks is no exception to this rule. In her Pulitzer-Prize winning Topdog/Underdog, Parks reveals the illusory nature of the American Dream on a private, deeply personal level by focusing her drama on two brothers living in one under-furnished room in a rooming house. As the audience watches the main characters spiral into their tragic undoing, we are forced to question the validity of the American Dream and our free-enterprise system that supposedly enables that dream.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/2527849
Recommended Citation
Abid, Sabrina A., "The Pursuit of Happiness: The State of the American Dream in Suzan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2012.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/2527849