Oleanna by David Mamet: Father-Daughter Relationships The most obvious and natural of all hierarchical relationships is that between parent and child. This exists from the most primitive and savage of beasts to the most evolved and developed of primates. Therefore, almost all relationships can be made synonymous and equitable with this archetypal hierarchy. The parent-child relationship is perhaps the most delicate, intricate and dysfunctional of all existing relationships. Parents regularly disappoint and disillusion their children, and vice versa. Children rebel against the standards set by their parents and then adopt them again when necessary. This is the case of David Mamet's play, Oleanna, in which the two main characters, John and Carol, take on a rather dysfunctional father-daughter relationship. The actions taken by John throughout the work outline the assumption that his exploits should be seen as incestuous in relation to the relationship he and his student share. Carol, with the support of her "group", accuses her college professor of sexual harassment, rape and battery. It thus threatens to destroy every aspect of the life for which he has fought so terribly for so long. In Greco-Roman mythology, the son of Laius and Jocasta unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, thus fulfilling the pronouncements of the divine oracle at Delphi. . Likewise, Orestes' sister helped Orestes himself avenge the death of Agamemnon, their father, by killing his mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. These two yet-to-be-identified mythological figures, Oedipus and Electra respectively, have lent their names to modern psychology. The Oedipus and Electra complexes are characterized by perverse manifestations in which ...... middle of paper ......and maliciously beats her. Subsequently, due to the captions, John does not appear to recognize the events of the last few minutes; “He approaches the desk and lays out the papers” (Mamet, 641). This is typical of domestic abuse as the abuser does not admit the truth of the mistreatment. Immediately after the incident, Carol teases and taunts her professor, as a small child would. She states looking at him and moving away from him: "Yes. It's true... yes. It's right" (Mamet, 641). This provocation is quite reminiscent of what a minor would do. Works Cited Mamet, David. Oleanna. Schilb and Clifford. 612-641. Schilb, John and John Clifford, eds. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. MartinÕs, 1999. University of Maryland at College Park Sexual Harassment Pamphlet. University park. 1997.