Steve Martin’s WASP is an absurdist take on 1950s suburbia and its White Anglo-Saxon Protestant values that seeped into popular culture. A nuclear family--Dad, Mom, Son, and Sis--gather together for dinner and banal conversation. But when each family member is alone, they truly come to life in a world of imagination, fantasy, and philosophy. They ponder love, desire, existence, and purpose. Individually, they rebel against the WASP norms that dictate their lives and behaviors, yet as a family unit, they continue to “live the lie” of middle-class American life. A true satirical work, WASP defies clear interpretation and challenges the audience to make meaning from its absurdist critique.
WASP guide sections
