Oleanna was written by David Mamet, which is a two-character play about the struggle between a university professor and one of his female students.
From the whole script of Oleanna, the biggest blind side of John is his inferiority complex. His inferiority complex is rather difficult to be detected as it is different from some we can see in our everyday life who simply lack the materials which they can be proud of. His inferiority complex is something that gradually emerges from the achievements that he gets. I have referred to many critical reviews of Oleanna, and many people blame John for his arrogance or his hypocrisy. However, those characteristics cannot fully explain the reactions John pays to his student Carol. The greatest pride and the biggest inferiority complex are the soul of the most powerless” (Spinoza 17). His arrogance may be the mask of his anxiety deep in his heart. We can dig that in the following details.
In the play, John is the professor which seems to be and actually is the superior one. When facing another self-contemptuous one, John seems to find a way to release his own sufferings. John explains a bit much when Carol asks what the term of art is. A word “sorry” will suffice when John, according to his phone call, has something else to see to. That is to say, John is not an arbitrary and indifferent teacher. When Carol argues that why John would forget, he defines his forgetfulness to an “everyone” level in the hope that his forgetfulness can be understood by Carol.
Later on, when he feels “the compliment” or the “obeisance” (Mamet, 3) that Carol pays to him, he immediately finds his interest in Carol. That is another sign of his inferiority complex. Those who are self- contemptuous, due to their lack of sense of security, tend to enjoy a lot others’ respect and admiration. Only in that way can they make sure that they are not looked down upon but thought highly of. Once their amour-propre is satisfied, they would become the most easy-going and helpful persons. We can see that from Act one when John decides to sit down with Carol to talk about her concerns.
We have to notice that John has only one time that mentions the reason of his inferior complex. He says to Carol,” I’ll tell you a story about myself. Do you mind? I was raised to think myself stupid. That’s what I want to tell you” (Mamet, 10). That is another proof to show John really suffers from inferiority complex when he was young. He also says,” I was brought up, and my earliest, and most persistent memories are of being told that I was stupid” (Mamet, 10). It may be his childhood when he was surrounded by reproach and vituperation that the seed of inferiority complex has taken root and spread. When Carol asks why John stays here with her, John replies, ”Perhaps we are similar, yes” John himself admits he is self- contemptuous in his answer to Carol. Meanwhile, the last “Yes” just cannot be ignored as it is so important for us to define John’s personality. The word “Yes” is the confirmation John made to convince himself. Deep in his heart there stand no strong spirits which he can rely on, so he has to give himself sense of security, from time to time, to convince himself of the correctness of every decision or action he makes.
John becomes proverbial because of these words—“Your grade for the whole term is an “A.” If you will come back and meet with me. A few more times. Your grade’s an “A”” (Mamet, 15). Many consider it shows John’s abuse of power. It truly is, though. However, what really lies in these words is his swaggering, which surely derives from his inferiority complex. When someone is arrogant about something, he must feel himself inferior in another thing. That is to say, John “abuses” his authority, partly to cover his inferiority complex.
As a conclusion, the inferiority complex has been institutionalized in the mind of John’s. Once he meets someone inferior to him, the self-contemptuous side of him begins to boil. “Proud people often use pride to hide his cowardice” (Claire, 30). John is one.
