The Modern Family:

An Analysis of Tracy Letts August: Osage County

Bailey Steinke
Professor Judy Myers
Script Analysis
Term Paper
December 2013

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ABCs Modern Family, Trophy Wife, The Middle; NBCs The New Normal; and
films like, Dan in Real Life, Eulogy, and Big Fish, highlight the modern idea that society
has created of what a typical family looks and acts like. Tracy Letts introduces us to the
Weston family through his play, August: Osage County, and reiterates this new social
stereotype that has been set in place, breaking the traditional view of the American
family. When society refers to the traditional American family, they are referring to the
family of the 1950s, with the breadwinning father, homemaker wife, two children, a dog,
a house and the white picket fence; for the purpose of this paper, when the traditional
family is mentioned, the 1950s modeled family is what is being referred to. Although
comedy is weaved into August: Osage County, Tracy Letts sheds light on the
depressing downfall of the American family, by highlighting the harsh realities that
surround the stereotypical expectations of both familial and conjugal matters. By taking
a closer look at the different stereotypes within the family such as, patriarchy, the
parent/child relationship, sanctity of marriage, and the importance of the familial unit, we
can see how Letts defaces these ideas, with his outrageous characters.

The term patriarchy is used loosely to stand for male domination, while the
more rigorous definition lies with the literal interpretation: the rule of the father
(Mitchell 409). In the traditional family, the father, or patriarch, of the family holds the
power in decision-making and is the sole provider for the familys income. Studies show
that the majority of wives expect husbands to perform a greater share of the household
chores and childcare than in recent decades. Research is revealing trends that
Americans are moving away from patriarchal marriages (National Healthy Marriage

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Resource Center, Gender Roles). The Pew Research Center conducted a telephone
survey to assess the decision-making process in American homes; 2250 adults were
interviewed. Forty-three percent of all couples surveyed reported that the woman makes
decisions in more areas than the man. By contrast, 26 percent of couples reported that
men make more of the decisions. Joint decision making arrangements were reported by
31 percent of couples (Taylor et al., Women Call the Shots). The women of Tracy
Letts play are the characters that defy the stereotype set in place and go along with the
research. As mentioned in the excerpt from the article from the National Healthy
Marriage Resource Center, the modern relationship has very equal gender roles. Within
the play we have different relationships, but a commonality among them all is the desire
for power that all of the women of the relationships have. All of the women, with the
exception of Mattie Fae and Violet, who come from the traditional family era, have jobs
and are independent. Even so, Mattie Fae and Violet demonstrate their clear power
over the patriarchs, making their individual families, the uncommon, matriarchal
families.
Though we only get a glimpse of the interaction between Beverly and Violet, from
outside comments made by others in the play, we hear that Violet likes to take control of
things. She is the one who decided to cover up the windows and Beverly did not protest
(Letts 19). Though they were once a stereotypical family, with the power in Beverlys
hand, the roles changed with the time and Violets personality became more
demanding. This drive for power in the relationship may stem from negative feelings
towards men due to her abusive past and therefore her lack of trust for men (Letts 71).

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Because Violets demanding nature ultimately drives Beverly to kill him, this proves that
she holds the ultimate power in the relationship.
Mattie Fae very evidently drives this relationship. Though Charlie thinks he is
running the relationship and decides to take charge at certain points (Letts 83), Mattie
Faes personality completely dominates anything that he has to say. In casting this
show, it would be interesting to cast a somewhat masculine man, only because, when
these two got into a relationship, it was most likely a relationship with traditional gender
roles, but has since changed because of Mattie Faes infidelity that has made her the
dominant member of her family. The dominance she has over her husband, Charlie, has
also been carried down to their child, Little Charles. Little Charles lives to please his
mother, always seeking the approval from her that he never receives, his father
comforts and reassures him, but the two live in fear of the selfish monster that is, Mattie
Fae. In this family, Letts highlights the role of the comforting mother being taken by the
father and displaying a complete reversal of the patriarchal roles.

Parents are two of the most influential people in a childs life, whether it be
negative or positive, these are two of the most important relationships, and rightfully so.
Stereotypically a mother and daughter have a bond that cant be broken and have an
open relationship to share everything with one another. According to a Pennsylvania
State University study on the ties between midlife daughters and their elderly mothers
(Campbell). Researcher Karen Fingerman, Ph.D., found that despite conflicts and
complicated emotions, the mother-daughter bond is so strong that 80 percent to 90
percent of women at midlife report good relationships with their mothersthough they

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wish it were better (Campbell). All of the daughters fail to respect Violet, in her eyes,
Barbara being the worst. Barbara has a distinct disrespect for Violet, but the disrespect
is reciprocated, as Violet demeans everything that Barbara does, claiming time and time
again that she does not respect her parents and has amounted to nothing (Letts Act I;
Sc. 2). Violet admits to Barbara that, not only, did Beverly have favorites, but she was
his favorite. We find later, according to Ivy, Barbara is actually Violets favorite daughter
(Letts 78). Violet does mention time and time again in the play that she is thankful for
her daughters and that she has loved having them to grow up, though she has also said
that they are ungrateful, but this is just Violets critical nature that shines through.
Barbara, though she will not be quick to admit it, has turned into her mother in some
ways and her own daughter defies her authority. Tracy Letts places two motherdaughter relationships side-by-side to illuminate the changing relationship between a
mother and daughter in todays society. Though Barbara does not approve of the
activities that Jean, her daughter, engages in, she will stand up for her daughter and
they have a seemingly better relationship than that that exists between Barbara and
Violet (Letts 88). The bond between Barbara and Jean is made stronger, due to the
betrayal of Jeans father, to Barbara, being as the child is more likely to favor the parent
who was betrayed to the parent that was unfaithful (Letts 35).
It is odd that Tracy Letts hits the nail on the head with these modern
relationships, being as he is a man who has never experienced a mother-daughter
relationship. Some may say that this makes his relationships a sexist stereotype, but he
completely exemplifies the modern relationship that has been molded by todays
society. The only father-son relationship that is present in the play is that of Charlie and

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Little Charles. This relationship is yet again untraditional, because of the nature of
Charlie and Mattie Faes marriage. Because they have a matriarchal marriage, as
opposed to seeking approval from his father, Little Charles seeks approval from the
head of the family, his mother. The relationship between Little Charles and Mattie Fae is
strangely similar to that of Biff and Willy Loman, in Death of a Salesman. Biff lives to
please Willy and will go to all extents to make his father proud of him; the same goes for
Little Charles and Mattie Fae.

Tracy Letts stays very true to the modern relationships that are being created in
the society of the play. That is to say that he highlights the marriage-less, Ivy, the soonto-be divorced, Barbara, and with Karen he displays the idea of remarriage with Steve
thrown in the mix. This is very prudent to the play because it makes it relatable and
understandable to the contemporary audience that will read or watch this play. Letts has
also written the relationships this way because in this day and age there are so many
different types of relationships and no longer the together or separate that were the
only two options when Mattie Fae, Beverly, Violet, and Charlie were looking for love.
The utilization of these different relationships highlights the raw reality that is held within
the pages of this play.
Because the era Letts wrote this play in is one where the definition of marriage is
changing, he intelligently highlights the different types of marriage that we have in our
modern society. As mentioned in the above, this play takes a very non-traditional
approach to gender roles and that truly shines through within the spectrum of marriage
relationships that are seen in this play. The common feeling towards marriage, from the

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characters, is that it is sacred, at least on the outside. Underneath, there are cracks in
every single marriage in this play; that is to say that every marriage has some type of
affair that has occurred, whether that is common knowledge, or not. With this in mind,
Tracy Letts brings to light the idea that what we once thought of as a sacred thing is
now something that can be toyed with and some can challenge the waters or some will
succumb to the pressure and break the sanctity of marriage in the process. Not only is
there a verbal disrespect between couples, but also there is the physical disrespect
stemming from the adultery that occurs. Beverly, Bill, and Steve all cheat on their wives
or significant others, but as an audience, we dont really feel the need to scold these
men. If the women in this play were not so reprehensible, the men's faults might be
more apparent. As it is, we can't blame the men for being scared of their wives, for they
are truly a fearsome bunch.

The ideal family, judging from the advertisements, blurbs, and social pressures
of our time, is also one that it is constantly endeavoring to raise its standard of living by
security better houses, automobiles, education, radio and television sets, and in a not
too aggressive fashion by attempting to climb the social ladder with all of its neat class
stratifications. To marry off ones sons and daughters into nice and successful families
are an achievement highly to be desired (Abrams 4). Violet and Mattie Fae claim
several times throughout this work that they would like their non-married children to find
love, thus expressing the latter half of the above quote. This quote is wonderful,
because it rings true the idea or notion that society has set of what a family should look
and act like and that if one does not have the picture perfect family, they have failed in

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on of their most simplest of lifes tasks. This family puts on this front of caring
immensely about standards, i.e. sexual relationships, abuse, substance abuse, but
beneath the surface, each member of this family thinks that he or she can do no wrong
and is above the social standard. There are multiple cases of cheating, there is incest,
there is a turned shoulder to sexual abuse, there is physical abuse, there is verbal
abuse, there is suicide, there is racism, there is alcohol abuse, and drug abuse. Every
single social problem you could fathom, this family highlights it. Tracy Letts has created
the tempo of this play to be very sporadic and in doing so reflects the craziness of the
family. The information about the family is scattered all over the play even in the final
moments. We learn things about the characters in the final pages of the play that are
truly significant to the entirety of the plot. The information is kept like family secrets so
strategically that it creates this ingeniously beautiful mess that is the average family. All
of the characters hold equal responsibility in sharing secrets, making Letts truly
admirable for making the point that every member of the family is instrumental to the
unit, as a whole. Thusly showing that no family is safe from problems and every single
family has secrets, even a family that may seemingly have it all together on the outside,
is crumbling to pieces on the inside.
Between 1880 and 1970, about 85 percent of all children lived in two- parent
households. Then, in the next three decades, the numbers of divorces and single-parent
families skyrocketed (Benokraitis 5). The Weston family, within the play is somewhat
different than the family aforementioned. The family mentioned above, can be seen
within that of the Fordham family (Barbara, Bill and Jean). This family is currently going
through a divorce because of the affair that Bill had with a student. Jean, who is a

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teenager, is taking it very well; the reason is because the youth of this era has become
accustomed to divorce and it is the norm. To society the split is normal, but to the older
generation of the family i.e. Violet, Mattie Fae, and Charlie, this is something that isnt
as easy of a concept to grasp because as Violet states, My generation, families stayed
together, (Letts 24). In their generation, when children of the families grew up, they
didnt move away from their parents and in this family, every child, with the exception of
Ivy, has moved away. The importance of family is still high and is valued, but the amount
that families see each other has dwindled and that is directly reflected within this piece.

August: Osage County completely defaces the stereotypical American family

through the switch from the patriarchal family to the matriarchal family, the disregard of
respect for a childs elders, the abomination of the sanctity of marriage, and the
mockery made of the familial unit as a whole. Though there are light and comedic
moments, the density of the subject matter and the dialogue feed into this ominous,
parent-pleasing mood that Tracy Letts has created. This can only be described as the
feeling you get when you have left the home after being away from your parents
judgment, only to return and be pestered about everything you have ever done in life;
which is exactly what it is. As an audience member, you are given a beautifully
orchestrated tragicomedy that you can do nothing but laugh at, and then you realize that
this is serious and the reality of the situation is ultimately tragic. This play is based on
the projected family of the modern society and is filled with very real situations and does
not stray in any way, shape, or form from the truth of the matters at hand. Although
comedy is weaved into August: Osage County, Tracy Letts sheds light on the

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depressing downfall of the American family, by highlighting the harsh realities that
surround the stereotypical expectations of both familial and conjugal matters.

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Works Cited
Abrams, Ray H. "The Concept of Family Stability." Annals of the Amer. Acad. of Political
and Social Science. Vol. 272. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-8. Print.

Benokraitis, Nijole V. Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints. 6th
ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996. Print.

Campbell, Susan. "The Mother-Daughter Bond." Psychology Today 28 Dec. 2011: n.

pag. Print.

Letts, Tracy. August-- Osage County. New York: Dramatist's Play Service, 2009. Print.
Miller, Arthur, and Gerald Clifford Weales. Death of a Salesman. New York:
Penguin, 1996. Print.

Mitchell, Juliet. Psychoanalysis and Feminism. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England:

Penguin Book, 1975. Print.

National Healthy Marriage Resource Center. "Gender Roles and Marriage: A Fact
Sheet." : National Healthy Marriage Resource Center. National Healthy Marriage
Resource Center, 1 Jan. 2009. Web. Dec. 2013.
<http://www.healthymarriageinfo.org/resource-detail/index.aspx?rid=3356>.

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Taylor, Paul, Rick Fry, Ph.D., Gretchen Livingston, Ph.D., Kim Parker, Eileen Patten,
and Wendy Wang, Ph.D. "Women Call the Shots at Home; Public Mixed
on

Gender Roles in Jobs." Pew Social Demographic Trends RSS. Ed. Rich Morin.
Pew Charitable Trusts, 25 Sept. 2008. Web. Dec. 2013.
<http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2008/09/25/women-call-the-shots-at-homepublic-mixed-on-gender-roles-in-jobs/>.