The Struggle of Power in Oleanna

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Oleanna, a play by David Mamet, depicts a struggle between a student, Carol, who cannot understand the material and her somewhat smug professor, John, who seems preoccupied with the things going on in his life at the time. In Mamet’s play, power shifts as the plot advances, as although John starts with his power as a teacher, Carol tears it from his hands by putting his job at risk; however, there also exists another, quick shift of power through John’s display of violence at the end of the play. Act one shows John speaking to Carol in an almost parental tone, exercising his power through speech, and takes it upon himself to attempt to help Carol in his own way. However, due to certain physical actions taken in act one, power shifts to Carol as she accuses him of sexism, sexual harassment and, eventually, rape. Through the course of the second and third acts, power seems to lie solely with Carol, who makes many of the same mistakes with that power that John does due to her own hunger for power. Empowered by her newly found political standing through her “group,” Carol deems it necessary to push John unnecessarily until an eventual breaking point. This leads to the final shift in power, where although John has shown power over Carol through physical means, Carol believes this to only prove her point. This makes power lie, at least in her eyes, with Carol, even in such a brutal situation.
In the beginning of the play, Carol is merely a struggling student coming to the teacher due to her lack of understanding of the material presented in the class; thus, the balance of power starts out stacked in his favor due to his position as the teacher. It is not difficult to see the manner in which John speaks to Carol, taking a paternal tone ...

... middle of paper ...

...atching the play, Ryan words are a perfect description for the ending, as there is no clear state of power or right and wrong in this conclusion, just a violent struggle for power between two power-hungry human beings.

Works Cited

Mamet, David. "Oleanna." Exploring Literature, Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Frank Madden. 5th Edition. New York: Pearson, 2012. 1184-1212. Print.
Robert, Tressell. "The Savage Struggle for Power David Mamet's Taut 'Oleanna' Expertly
Captures Raw Human Emotion." The Kansas City Star 15 Nov. 1992: NewsBank –
Archives. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Rousuck, J, Wynn. "Mamet Confronts Sex and Power in 'Oleanna'." The Baltimore Sun.
Baltimore Sun, 27 Apr 1993. Web. 18 Nov 2013.
Ryan, Steven. "Oleanna: David Mamet's Power Play." Modern Drama 39.3 (1996): 392-403.
MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

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