Everything you need to understand or teach
Oleanna (play) by David Mamet.
Products may contain comprehensive summaries, analysis, notes, articles, essays,
lesson plans and more. See below for details on what is included.
Playwright and screenwriter David Mamet is highly praised for his accurate rendering of American vernacular, through which he explores the relationship between language and behavior. Born in Chicago, ...
Read more
David Mamet was born and raised in Chicago. "We have some strange local mythology. No Chicagoan makes gangster jokes or thinks of the City as particularly violent (which it isn't). (Al Capone did say,...
Read more
"In this country of incessant obbligatos accompanying all activity--music in offices, and elevators, tapes in cars, radios in restaurants--Mamet has heard the ultimate Muzak, the dissonant din of peop...
Read more
In the following review, Kauffmann assesses Oleanna, arguing that the film version is only slightly better than the play.
David Mamet dazzles. Here are a few selections from his crowded career (and he...
Read more
In the following essay, Bechtel interprets Oleanna through the ideas of literary theorist Stanley Fish.
Introduction
CAROL:
I don't … lots of the language …
JOHN:
… please...
Read more
In the following essay, Ryan examines Mamet's intended messages about power relations, especially those found in academic settings as portrayed in Oleanna.
Although playwright David Mamet has s...
Read more
In the following essay, Goggans asserts that protagonist Carol reveals consistent signs of child sexual abuse in Oleanna.
“The Bitch Set Him Up”—that's what Daniel Mufson t...
Read more
David Alan Mamet
David Mamet
David (Alan) Mamet
Critical Review by Stanley Kauffmann
