"Oleanna"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses David Mamet's two-person play "Oleanna," which depicts a professor and a college student who fail to understand one another with terrible consequences. The paper argues that the conflict of the play "Oleanna" revolves around power and the way that any two persons can interpret a conversation in completely different ways. It suggests that the common interpretation of the play, as centrally concerned with sexual harassment and political correctness rather than faculty-student relationships, is misguided.

From the Paper:

"The end of the play reverses the roles of the student and the teacher reversed--now the student has power and the teacher is powerless. Now Carol has a student group who backs her versions of the events that took place in her professor's office. Her professor has lost his job because no one backs his version of events. This suggests that there is no truth, it only matters what sorts of social institutions back the individuals in conflict. In other words, all that matters is who society says is powerful and who is powerless. There is no singular truth as to what occurred in the professor's office, what matters is which person has a group to back him or her version of the events up. Once the professor was backed by his position in the university and the other faculty. He was within his rights to fail a student. Now, a powerful student group backs Carol's version of events and she has more power and her version of events is deemed to be correct. Also, now that Carol has more power, she feels free to speak more clearly to her professor. Rather than hesitating in her language, she now feels free to contradict her professor and express her anger at the nature of the grading system and her anger at his contempt for the hard work she has devoted to gaining a position at the university as a student."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Badenhausen, Richard. "Modern academy raging in the dark: Misreading Mamet's political incorrectness in Oleanna." College Literature. Fall 1998. (1-31) [21 Apr 2006] http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3709/is_199810/ai_n8824442
• Berardinelli, James. "Oleanna." 1994. Film Review. [21 Apr 2006] http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/o/oleanna.html
• Billington, Michael. The Guardian. 1 July 1993. [21 Apr 2006] http://www.haroldpinter.org/directing/directing_oleanna.shtml
• Kors, Alan Charles. "Dimness at Noon." Reason. Dec 2000. [21 Apr 2006] http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_7_32/ai_67589557
• Silverthorne, Jennifer. " PC Playhouse - David Mamet and his play 'Oleanna' - Exits and Entrances." Art Forum. March 1993. (1-3) [21 Apr 2006] http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_n7_v31/ai_13904334

More papers on "Oleanna":

• Comparison Essay # 113547 : "The Homecoming" vs. "Oleanna"
• Analytical Essay # 8874 : "Oleanna"
• Analytical Essay # 88070 : "Oleanna" and Sexual Harassment"

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