Exploring The Meaning Of Life In A Modern World: Analysis Of Themes Of David Mamet's Early Plays

David Mamet is well recognized as a brilliant playwright in the English speaking world. His plays mainly cast light on the inner life of humans and its outer reflection—interpersonal relationship in the modern world.In a modern world, life seems to lose its meanings. Mamet's protagonists suffer from a sense of loss, decay and alienation. Their language is fragmented which mirrors the interior loss and frustration of its owner. Moral dismay, natural decay as well as psychological decadence lead to a feeling of loneliness and helplessness in people's mind. As a result, they are eager to seek for companionship of others on the one hand, and they are afraid that this kind desire be detected on the other. Most of them are talkative, and they wrap their inner emptiness in a disguise of flashy eloquence. This psychological alienation is also apparent from the perspective of male-female relation. The actual border between reality and fancy is blurring. Consequently, the protagonists in Mamet's plays would rather have fun doodling in their illusions than facing an actual man or woman in intimacy. But mankind never ceases his quest for a perfect life. They are seeking for order out of disorder and a natural interpersonal relationship out of psychological alienation, especially one between male and female. Many of Mamet's plays are concerning male characters mainly, that's to say modern masculinity is one theme of his concern. In his plays, men are aggressive, which is well expressed through their arguing, refutation and the fact that a colloquial, vulgar even profane language is adopted. But the evils are not all of modern life; the meaning of life lies in the struggle. They use language as a means of action for struggle against those who intend to lay control over them. They fight against inner fear and quest for the meaning of life.Mamet commenced his career as a playwright in the 1970's. My thesis mainly focuses on his early plays:The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago and A Life in the Theatre for an analysis of the various themes conveyed based on a close reading.