A Study Of Ethics In David Mamet’s Drama

David Mamet is an innovative playwright in contemporary Americandrama, whose ascendant reputation demands an appraisal of his thought andthe evolution of his craftsmanship. In his Writing in Restaurants (1986), hereiterates that the purpose of the play is to bring the stage “the life of the soul”.Mamet deeply cherishes “ethics”, contending that the play is a strict lesson inethics and ethics is “First Principles” of the Theatre as well as personal andsocial life, which makes the artists’ presentations honest, moral, andcoincidentally, moving, funny, and worth the time and money of the audience.Implicit within this contention is the notion of “craving for ethics”, serving asan essential component of Mamet’s ethical thoughts, upon which his aestheticvision is founded, and as one of his most significant subject matters as well.Through a study of some of David Mamet’s works, this dissertationinvestigates:(1) Mamet’s origin of pursuing ethics (Mamet’s moral dismayand ethical awareness;(2) Mamet’s concrete representation of pursuing ethics(Mamet’s business, sex and profession ethics);(3) Mamet’s outcome ofpursuing ethics (Mamet’s ethical thoughts and ideal). This dissertation isdivided into six chapters: Chapter One presents a brief introduction to the origins of thisdissertation and the studies on David Mamet in the field of literary criticismhome and abroad. Based on a comprehensive review of Mametian literarycriticisms in recent years, the author analyzes the existing problems andproposes the research path and basic views. This dissertation makes a textualstudy of David Mamet’s plays on the perspective of ethics, based on hisethical and aesthetic vision, attempting to reveal its hidden ethical connotation;and argues that Mamet conveys his own quest of business, sex and professionethics, combining criticizing the erroneous trends of ethical thoughts andvoicing the ethical ideal by use of “simple plot” and “idle talk”.Chapter Two is ethical orientation and American drama. First, a briefreview of the understanding of “ethics” in the process of human civilization isgiven from the western philosophical perspective, including the ethicalcriticism in literature so as to clarify the academic origin of this issue. Second,it follows an argumentation of the ethical concerns of modern andcontemporary American drama according to the relation of dramatic traditionand ethics, particularly describing the political, historical and socio-culturalcontext of ethics in contemporary American drama in order to highlight theuniqueness of this issue presented in Mamet’s works in the postmodernAmerican society. Last, another focus on Mamet’s ethical awareness,scrutinizing the formation and representation of Mamet’s moral dismay and his ethical awareness to speak for “the American spirit and the human spirit”,and expounding how he innovatively employs theatrical content and artisticform to express his ethical thoughts.Of paramount importance are business, sex and profession that constituteprincipal parts of David Mamet’s “craving for ethics”. The following threechapters center upon Mamet’s representations of American ethics of business,sex and profession respectively, investigating how this ethical vision findsexpression in his plays. In Chapter Three, the author argues that Mametexposes the improper ethics separating business from morality rooted in thecharacters of American Buffalo (1975) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1984)through the superficially simple plot of “robbery”, and condemns that thedistorted business has been reduced to a cold and risky game and solidarityloses significance in competing for economic interests; then, he reveals theindividual’s need for positive contacts with others in heart through thecharacters’ seemingly idle talk, affirming the ethical value of friendship andcooperation, and presenting his craving for business integrity.What David Mamet thinks of sex ethics manifests itself in Chapter Four,in which the author contends that in Sexual Perversity in Chicago (1974) andthe Woods (1977), Mamet vividly reproduces the characters’ ethical dilemmaof difficultly distinguishing between sexuality and love, and deems that lackof responsibility leads to undue insistence on self and ignorance of the other’s need; then he exposits the individual’s sincere will to communicate andeagerness for intimate relations through the characters’ soliloquy orstory-telling, approving the ethical value of communion and expressing hiscalling for sexual responsibility.Chapter Five probes into Mamet’s views on profession ethics, claimingthat Mamet exposes the characters’ incorrect ethics detaching private gainsand losses from ideal pursuit in A Life in the Theatre (1977) and Lakeboat(1980) and its destructive influence upon personal life and professionalrelationship, and believes that professional status and value would just be wonby demonstration of excellence and some form of communal assent; then hediscovers the individual’s desire to forge a community possessed of mentallink and shared value with the colleagues, confirming the ethical value ofconsensus and ideal and conveying his pursuit of professional excellence.In Chapter Six, the conclusion, the author generalizes the deep glamourof Mamet’s drama in its unremitting quest for “ethics” and summarizes itspursuit of ethics in sex, business，profession and its significance, indicatingthat the dramatist calls for bearing the absolute responsibility and the genuinecommunity with shared values by demonstrating its absence or corrosion. Thedissertation maintains that Mamet’s craving for ethics in his drama is, to someextent, more profound and powerful in revealing various ethical phenomenathan other philosophers’ exploration, and the diverse ethical issues and profound prayer for value propounded by Mamet would also provideinspiration for the ethical conception of the philosophers.