The American Dream Theme Analysis

None of the characters in Intimate Apparel are New York City natives, and yet all of them came to the city years prior to the start of the play in the hopes of achieving their dreams of success. For all of them, they define this as experiencing financial success and personal fulfillment, whether their dreams include opening a beauty shop, as in the case of Esther, or being the epitome of the perfect wife, as Mrs. Van Buren aspires to be. For a variety of reasons, however, the play suggests that the American dream is mostly unattainable for its characters, and the most that any of them can ask for or expect is survival.

Early on in the play, Esther confides in Mayme that she'd like to one day open a beauty shop that will serve black women and will be the kind of shop where her clients can feel pampered, beautiful, and fancy. Esther has spent the last eighteen years she's been in New York saving for this dream, and as such, she has a stash of money hidden in her crazy quilt. She says she doesn't yet have enough to open her beauty shop, but implies that she's well on her way. While hearing that Esther has this dream isn't shocking for Mayme, hearing that Esther is actively saving and planning for her shop is. Mayme, after working in the sex industry for years, has become extremely cynical about the ability of black women in particular to be able to move up in the world, and she long ago gave up on her dream of playing ragtime piano in fancy European clubs. Mayme is the first to introduce the idea that dreams like these can be dangerous. She tells Esther that "so many wonderful ideas been conjured in this room. They just get left right in that bed there, or on this piano bench. They are scattered all over this room." As far as Mayme is concerned, dwelling on her dreams takes away from her ability to do her job and earn enough money to make a living.

For the play's male characters, their versions of the American dream seem just as far away as Mayme's dream of playing piano does. While Mr. Marks is still doing business, he implies that he doesn't yet have enough money to bring his fiancée to America and furthermore, is losing customers and income, making it increasingly unlikely that he'll be able to send for her anytime soon. Because the reader can see how George thinks of the U.S. before he arrives in New York, it's even easier to see the American dream at work for him. Having seen white American men make their fortunes in Panama, George believes that he'll be able to emulate them by moving to their place of origin—something that ultimately proves impossible for him. As immigrants, Mr. Marks and George truly encapsulate the impossibility of the American dream for most people: they both gave up their homes abroad in the hope of making a better life for themselves in the U.S., but what they find is arguably just as dead-end and unfulfilling for them as what they left behind.

That this appears to hold true for all the characters who came to New York to chase their dreams, regardless of race or gender, suggests that the imagined ideal of the American dream is truly impossible for the vast majority of people. Instead, barring objective failure like George's eventual descent into gambling and debauchery, the most that anyone can hope to actually achieve is the opportunity to simply make enough of a living to survive—and to recognize that one's far-fetched dreams, while motivating, are more successful as entertainment than as actual plans for the future. In short, the play presents the pessimistic view that while America and New York may promise a bright future for everyone, in reality they can only deliver crushing reality and a dose of cynicism to anyone who doesn't already have the means to ensure their success.