Vol. 4 (2) Dec. 2022

Article ID. JHSSR-1160-2022

Mamet’s Oleanna in a Hazing Clash for Becoming Self-Actualized

Maryam Hoseinzadeh Shandiz and Nayan Deep Singh Kanwal

Abstract:

What humans can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. Abraham Maslow Oleanna is a 1992 play by the American playwright and author, David Mamet. This three-act, two-character play is about a tricky clash between a professor, John, and his student, Carol, who has a prejudice towards him and duels against him to defeat him. This play has mostly been analyzed through the thematic concepts of sexual harassment and power play between two opposite sexes. However, this essay is a try to do something innovative. In this study, with the help of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, as the methodology, it is going to be approved that the whole story is shaped around shortage and lack because human beings are motivated by their unsatisfied needs. Five levels of the hierarchy are used for looking deep into the characters’ behavior. Physiological needs and the needs for safety, belongingness and love, esteem and self-actualization are the different steps of Maslow’s pyramid. As it is going to be discussed, the need for knowledge, skill improvement, making the world a better place by theorizing about the dystopian aspects of life, dealing with problems by writing books and even financial betterment are all the surface plotline of the story; these are all some portraits of the Oleannaian utopia that is going to be built through the academic system. The results show that John and Carol’s real intention is their desire for regaining power over one another, take revenge, win the duel, and reach their brutal basic needs.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37534/bp.jhssr.2022.v4.n2.id1160.p217