Essays on Oleanna

The play Oleanna brings up a variety of issues that are very relevant to today’s news headlines. For instance, sexual harassment, politics, rape accusations, and finally: gender issues. Controversial issues between gender binaries have been brought up for centuries upon centuries. It seems as long as men and women have been considered different, neither can see past these so-called “differences” long enough to empathize and understand one another. At first glance, Mamet’s play is difficult to understand and it can…

Mamet’s Oleanna serves as a paradigm to reveal the power dynamics within one of our most vital institutions. Act One, Two and Three all present different stages in the characters power relations while the first act presents a typical teacher student relationship, the second and third acts take a sudden turn and reverse the pre-established hierarchy of the first acts. John is introduced from the first scene of the play as a university professor, husband, and father in his mid-forties…

In Oleanna, written by David Mamet, the problems that arise between John and Carol are the result of lack of communication. John's phone calls, as well as the conversation with Carol are a great example of the John and Carol's inability to carry on discussions. By failing to effectively communicate, the relationship between student and teacher collapses. Constant interruption, either by the characters or by the phone, contributes to communication problems. Carol's questions are often interrupted by John's response. These…