Theme of the play 'Sandbox'

              Theme of the play:

                                          "SANDBOX"

        "Sandbox" is a famous English play which the play writer, Edward Franklin Albee has written in the memoir of his maternal grandmother. Written in allegory, the play exhibits a piercing criticism on the modern American families and the modern American values. The main themes of the poem are described below:

Filial ingratitude:

    The main theme of the poem around which all the events revolve is filial ingratitude. In this play, the contemporary prevailing trend of disrespecting elders especially grandparents in the modern American families is discussed. Grandma, being the protagonist of the play, is the subject to impudence by her daughter representing all the elders of the American society. The characters of Mommy and Daddy are illustratives of all the negligent children. This play in fact holds a mirror to the attitude of the society. Mommy is treating her mother as if she were a child instead of a respectable elder. By taking Grandma out of her house, by not being concerned of her comfort, by not giving attention to Grandma when she throws sand on her rather shouting at her in an extremely disrespectful manner demonstrate the ill-mannered modern American values. This disregard is actually a stingy reward of those black hair that turned white during upbringing of the disrespectful children.

Hypocrisy:

  Another important theme which the play manifests is the hypocrisy of the society. Mommy shows rage, rancour and ignorance to her mother when she was alive. But after her death, she starts mourning at the same Grandma. This is truly a slap on hippocratic face of society. But the hypocrisy doesn't end at this. Grandma whom she had confined to a place under the stove in her life is going to have a well-done funeral. This allegorically represents the attitude of society towards the elders that in their lives they are no more important than useless things in their houses but on their departure, people start to mourn over them.

Materialistic Approach:

  At some point, the play also hints at the materialistic approach of society. As the characters are not sincere to Grandma but in order to pretend their loyalty for her, Mommy is worried about an ostentatious funeral. This implies their materialistic approach towards life. Moreover, even the characters of Mommy and Daddy, as indicated by their way of calling each other, have no affection for each other. Mommy had married him just because of his wealth.

Theatre of Absurd:

 In this play "Sandbox", another important theme that is exhibited is the "theatre of absurd", a term coined by Martin Esslin for the plays mostly written in the 1950's and 1960's. As in this play, there is no proper plot or actions, final situation is absurd, vacuity of characters is shown and most importantly, there is no logical connection of dialogues, all these allude to the "nothingness" in the play. Moreover, there is no dramatic conflict in the play which makes it exceptionally absurd.

                             Hence all these themes indicate the humiliation and disregard faced by the older people in the modern American society.