Power In The Play Oleanna

What does the word “power” mean? There are many instances where different individuals have tried to define this word, however, no one can exactly put their finger on what the definition really is. This is all due to the fact that the word “power” has a different meaning to each individual person. It is unlikely that two people have the same definition of this word. Power can be considered a struggle between genders due to the fact that one wants to have more control and more authority over the other. In the play Oleanna, any reader would quickly realize that power is definitely an issue between John and Carol. Both of these individuals, at some part of the play, want to have complete power over the other, however, this is

“Their fragmented, chopped-up sentences directly indicate the fragmentation present in their own little universes.” (Matović). These scenes depicts that both John and Carol are fighting for power. Each one will not let the other one get a word in. Both John and Carol believe that their opinions and statements are better than the other ones. With both of them being stubborn, it makes for a bad ending. As the Oleanna play progresses, it comes to a point the if seems as if John is trying to be more sympathetic with Carol. John “falls quite comfortably into that paternalistic, authoritarian role when he tries to comfort Carol” (Badenhausen). Whenever this point of the play is reached, it feels like the two are trying to level out the playing field. John begins to be of guidance to Carol even though he previously stated that he was not Carol’s father in Act 1. The power then seems to shift from John to Carol. Carol begins to find loopholes that will allow her to obtain power, even though she is clearly the weaker of the two individuals. Carol even uses her own gender throughout the play to try to gain more power. Somehow, John doesn’t realize that this is happing, until it becomes so big that he is being punished for something that he didn’t even mean to