What is success? How is success measured? Should success be measured in terms of fortune and fame? Is a person really successful if he has all the riches of the world; a trust fund, gems and jewels, a big house, fancy cars and a large bank account? Or someone who has peace of mind in taking care of his family and happiness in the realization of his dreams above all the treasures of the world.
The story of You Can't Take It With You, a play by George Kaufman and Moss Hart, and a movie produced by Frank Capra is one of greatest comedies which commemorate the joy of unconventional life. The play has a serious message which makes all of us ask questions of ourselves, Is it alright not to make your dreams come true? Is it acceptable to spend the entire life doing something which you don't like? Is it wise to give up everything for something in which you believe in?
Kaufman and Hart had answers to these questions or at least they made an attempt to show the readers a way of living life in its true sense. They showed hope to their audience and the possibility of existing in the world which has its priorities on a higher level above money. The play came as a great relief to the country, America, in midst of chaos within the Great Depression. The 1930s gave birth to some of America's most enduring plays. The renowned playwrights of the era included George Kaufman, Eugene O'Neill, Lillian Hellman, George and Ira Gershwin, William Sarayoan, Clifford Odets, S.N. Berhman, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Robert Sherwood, George Kelly, Maxwell Anderson, Irving Berlin, Marc Connelly, and Moss Hart.
Most of their plays dealt with a family's response to the social and economic pressures of the period. In Odets' words "struggling for life amidst petty conditions" (234). Although money was scarce and the country seemed on the brink of collapse, the theatre was in top form. It turned out that these indulgent plays written during this time were far from stereotypes. It was a time of bleakness when many Americans lost their jobs, homes, and their life savings in the stock market crash of 1929 which was soon followed by bank failures. It was the worst economic period in the history of the United States when unemployment rose to its highest peak seeing no hope in sight.
Kaufman and Hart realized that America was in need of a shot of laughter and a heaping full of hilarity. They surprised the public with their masterpiece, You Can't Take It With You which worked as an escape for their audience, an escape from the troubles and sufferings of the times. According to Brooks Atkinson review the style of comedy in You Can't Take It With You "moved the audience down under a machine-gun of low comedy satire." Their efforts were rewarded and they won a coveted Pulitzer Prize in 1936 for the comedy You Can't Take It With You.
The play brought eccentric characters to the stage. These characters were unconventional and uncommon who were unseen in the real world. They possess silly characteristic traits and make witty remarks. These funny and silly characters gave the escape from the harsh reality to the audience which was just the right kind expected of the entertainment world. According to Rhonda Gale Pollack "flashes of wit, fast-paced dialogue, jibes at potentates of business and government, volleys of wise-cracks, observations on details of daily life and an overall satiric to me."
Kaufman's and Hart's classic may be seventy years old but it still has good humor and relevance along with a message for the present world. Their human comedy is extremely energizing and touches a cord. The play You Can't Take It With You can definitely be placed amongst prestigious literary works and is well deserving of critical acclaim within the ranks of George Bernard Shaw and Thornton Wilder. You Can't Take It With You has a theme which supports the philosophy of the lead character, Grandpa Martin Vanderhof. He personifies the ideology that you can not take money with you when you are dead. Grandpa is a man who has found his own way of living life in an idealistic way and has made it his mission to introduce to people the idea of living their own lives in their own way. This is a story about a way of leading ones life by taking control of their-own destiny. For one person it might be right to be a workaholic and have no time for himself or others. For another the idea of enjoying life is to live life to its fullest and not just to survive it. Grandpa the main character of the play supports the latter and lives life on his own terms, light footed and merry of heart. He decided to quit his daily grind 35 years ago, so he could just spend each day doing whatever he wanted to do. He had fun with his hobbies including attending college commencements, collecting snakes and maintaining a stamp book.
There are approximately eighteen characters in the play and we see that all of them agree to Grandpa's philosophy and by the end of the play even Mr. Kirby is captivated by the truth in living a happy life. Martin Vanderhof's family consists of people each having a very unique character who behaves in a different and bizarre fashion than most families. The characters on the stage appeal to us and make us connect with our inner aspirations of having a better and happier life. This play works as a spark which lights up the desire for a freethinking life.
Grandpa's motto is live and let live. He has never discouraged another person from doing what one wants. His daughter Penelope Sycamore started writing plays after one day when a typewriter accidentally delivered at the family's house. Her husband, Paul Sycamore has devoted all his time and life in manufacturing fireworks in the basement. Grandpa's moral belief of free living is demonstrated through Essie, Paul and Penelope's daughter, who never stops learning ballet after her continuous failures. Her husband seems to be at the right place where he could play music endlessly and print whatever he wants. This family loves to be surrounded by people who are like them and have the same free spirit. Other members of this freewheeling household include two black household servants and a lodger named Mr. De Pinna.
The principles of Sycamores-Vanderhofs come in conflict with that of the Kirbys. The Kirbys are very rich and live off the sweat of others. Tony who is the only child of the Kirbys is about to marry Alice the other daughter of Paul and Penelope Sycamore. Alice is the only one that illustrates a contemporary way of living. She finds her family very embarrassing when it comes to introducing them to the Kirbys. When Grandpa meets the Kirbys he looks upon them as a family who are not living, but who are blinded by their self-created superficial way of life. Grandpa believes that the Kirbys like most people work hard and worry too much, and have forgotten to live. He believes that they should know what life has to offer, and enjoy every bit of it. Grandpa has disconnected himself from the rat race a long time ago and has enough time for "everything - read, talk, visit the zoo now and then, practice my darts, even notice when spring comes around." (Kaufman and Hart 757)
Tony initially is dismayed by this family of which "everybody does just as he pleases," though he later realizes that he gave up his dream for "reality" when he was pressured into joining the family business, and he admits that most people are "afraid to live" their dreams (Kaufman and Hart 758). Even the stuffy Mr. Kirby and the snobby Mrs. Kirby seem to acknowledge the theory of living live to its fullest. Mr. Kirby visits Sycamore once again after the all chaos on the occasion of the meeting of the two families. He succumbs to the idea of living by impulse and the theory that "life is simple and kind of beautiful if you let it come to you." (Kaufman and Hart 750)
In the conclusion, this play has a persisting theme of free will whose carrier is Grandpa, who lives everyday as if it were his last day. For some people it must be weird to conceive of a life as Grandpa and his family has led. But people should remember that it is their own choice in how they want to live their own lives. As a society we forget that we are the decision makers and we have the power of choosing life over money. Grandpa made that decision for himself a long time ago and has lived life contended and peacefully. He is thankful to God for what he has and for what he has chosen. At the dinner table he sits down with his family and says grace with a voice of satisfaction "Well, Sir, we've been getting along pretty good for quite awhile now, and we're certainly much obliged," he reassures the Lord. "Remember, all we ask is just to go along and be happy in our own sort of way" (Kaufman and Hart 709).
Works Cited
Atkinson, Brooks. "George Kaufman." New York Times 15 December 1936: A13.
Odets, Clifford. Six plays of Clifford Odets. New York: The Modern library, 1939.
Pollack, Rhonda Gale. George S. Kauffman. Boston: Twayne Publisher, 1988.
Kaufman, George S., and Moss Hart. Kaufman & Co. Broadway Comedies. New York: Library of America, 2004.
