Women in Machine Society

During the 1920s in America, many sees a marriage between a man and a woman as no longer bound by their love for one another, but as a gateway to achieving the American Dream to get tied up with material wealth and also a status marked by the Americans as the "normal" life. This form of relationship lacks the main component that binds the partners together, and the emotion of love for one another; therefore, the relationship only provides the couple with an illusion of the American Dream that they longed for. Sophie Treadwell's Machinal illustrates the life of Helen, a modern era woman, who is forced by her mother to marry George H. Jones for his wealth. The idea may perceive to be the American Dream by many other individuals, but not Helen. The inevitable American Dream replaces her freedom with hopelessness, despair, and desperation. When Helen met Dick Roe, she realizes true happiness in her life, which becomes a driving force that leads her to end her relationship with George H. Jones. Mr. Jones objectifies Helen throughout his life, causing her to murder him to be with her new love, abruptly bringing about her downfall. Sophie Treadwell uses Machinal to demonstrate the status of women and their struggle, specifically Helen's struggle. The struggle for the American Dream causes the women to pursue a façade of happiness by bartering their individual freedom in a mechanical society.

The American Dream is an ideal of most individuals inhabiting or arriving at the land of the opportunity. This is the lifestyle that the American immigrants and civilians aim to achieve in the course of their lifetimes, because the American Dream tells of the lifestyle in which every human being has equality amongst one another, possessions of vast amounts of wealth, and the freedom to take any actions possible and also is a mark of successfulness in life. Unfortunately, the ideal of the American Dream is the factor that changes the land of opportunity into a machine like society, as the individuals believe that the fastest way to achieve this cherished ideal is through gaining vast amounts of wealth in exchange for human emotion.

The only way for one to gain money is through taking part as one of the component within the business world where the individual must work continuously every day to receive the payments to become only slightly richer. Therefore the ideal of labor concludes that the longer amount of time one works, society will reward them with larger amounts of cash for them to accomplish their American Dreams; subsequently, society slowly turns into machine through the mindless repetition of human actions. The machine-like society that was the result of the American Dream can be seen throughout Machinal. For example, the stage setting of the office scene of the first episode of the play where the "sounds of machines are going. They continue throughout the scene... after the scene blacked out" (1). The names and the systematic patterns of speaking for each character within the office (described by the stage direction to be monotonous) are direct references to what the society had become in order to accomplish the status of the American Dream. This can be seen through the dialogues the characters have between each other:

"Adding Clerk (in the monotonous voice of his monotonous thought at his adding machine). 2490, 28, 76, 123, 36842, 1, ¼, 37, 804, 23, ½, 982

Filing Clerk (in the same way- at his filing desk). Accounts - A. Bonds - B. Contracts - C. Data- D. Earnings - E.

Stenographer (in the same way -left). Dear sir - in re - your letter - recent date - will state -.

Telephone Girl. Hello - Hello - George H. Hones Company good morning - hello hello - George H. Jones Company good morning - hello" (2).

The excerpt demonstrates that the tone of voice and dialogue are almost similar to computers performing their tasks such as filing objects, sending electronic mails, and calculations. Additionally, the monotonous voice that identifies these speakers is devoid of emotions that are an important factor of being humans. These characters are named by Sophie Treadwell with reference to the jobs assigned for them which are Adding Clerk, Filing Clerk, Stenographer, and Telephone Girl. The characters are not to be named human names in order to become more machine-like rather than human, and their repetitive actions throughout the scene also signify mechanical characteristics to exemplify the American society. The characters are a primary part of the society which aims solely towards achieving the American Dream. The means of wealth dehumanizes the individuals and turns them into empty shells of what was once human. Yet, there is still one individual who does not fit into this society: Helen. Helen is a modern woman trapped in a society that does not truly belong to her.

Helen is the representation of a modern woman within the machine society of the 1920s. Unlike the other characters, she can think and communicate humanly and is capable of possessing emotions to feel paranoia, sadness, and happiness; all of these characteristics are absent from this land of opportunity. As a non-machine-like character in Machinal, Helen does not function well within the society, as she always gets interrupted by those around her. They ignore her for having human-like characteristics she displays such as being late to work or hesitating about something she is about to involve herself in. From the beginning to the end of the play, she is forced to do certain things even by her mother who can be confirmed as a traditional woman. Helen is different from the traditional women around her, as Telephone Girl's flirtatious act with a man at the bar demonstrates a characteristic of a traditional woman who solely aims to seek a wealthy man in an attempt to achieve the American Dream that Helen truly opposes; thus, the concept of traditional women reveals that a modern woman such as Helen does not truly belong in the society. Helen often speaks to herself and the other characters about environments around her and the choices she is about to make in life that signify the paranoia of the society and its gender and social norms. During episode two, when she was arguing with her mother about her life, Helen says to her mother who wants her to marry George H. Jones for his money, "I'll kill you - Maybe I am crazy - I don't know... I do the best I can and I'm nearly crazy!... You don't know anything about anything!... you just take it for granted that I go to work everyday - and come home every night and bring my money every week..." (19). Helen's conversation clearly demonstrates her thoughts about the American society. Helen is trapped within the 1920s