Fatherhood

A couple people in the open thread mentioned Ibsen's story of Peer Gynt and how it related to Don's character. I was also struck by the connections between to the two. Peer Gynt is the story of a man who, due to his father's neglect and drunkenness, spends his life running, pretending to be what he's not, and trying to redeem what his father so carelessly lost. Specifically, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (the piece of music played by the boy on the piano at the beginning of the episode) comes at a part in the play where Peer sneaks into the Mountain King's home, insults his daughter, and then must run for his life. The end of the piece of music is loud and crashing because the mountain falls, killing Peer's pursuers, and Peer ends up free.

As I was mini-researching all this and reading, my first thought went to Pete -- he's insulted the daughter of a "Mountain King" (i.e. his father-in-law), and now he is running away. But I also thought about Don and his interaction with Betty's father (the whole "You have no people" situation). The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much this season has focused on fatherhood. Some other connections to this theme that I found:

*Betty being angry with Don because he comes home and is the "hero" dad.
*Don telling Betty that he used to dream about killing his father.
*Don taking the hat off of that guy in the elevator because he was being ungentlemanly (acting as a disciplinarian father figure).
*Betty's father forgetting who she is because of his sickness.
*Betty crying that now she's an orphan.
*Peggy's interactions with the priest from her church (another form of fatherhood -- especially since she seems to not have a father?).
*Pete insistance that he is virile and can father a child without a problem.
*Pete's mother's disgust for the idea of Pete being the father of an adopted child.
*Pete's father's insolvency.
*Pete having no idea that he IS a father.
*Roger's "fatherly" role in Jane's brief career at SC.
*Ken's desire for Sal's approval of what he's written (a weak connection....but it could be argued that since Sal is so much older, he is set as a father figure to Ken).
*The frat boys and Jane breaking into "Dad's" (i.e. Mr. Cooper's) office.
*Mr. Cooper's role as father of SC (and the impending loss of his fatherly role due to the merger).
*Don's uncomfortability with Joy's father being aware of their obviously sexual relationship and Joy's weird relationship with her father.
*Harry Crane becoming a father.
*Duck's strained relationship with his children due to his divorce.
*That weird kid Glen who doesn't have a father and comments on his mom's boyfriends (who aren't father figures).
*Anna saying to Don (in the Christmas flashback) that he wants a family (i.e. fatherhood).
*SC as father to all of its employees.

I feel like the list could go on and on. What I find most interesting, though, is that Joan really seems to be the only one who isn't clearly affected by this fatherhood theme. Sure, she's a member of the staff at SC, so she has that general "father" figure....but it's not enough. Everyone else has some kind of deeper connection to fatherhood, even if its disfunctional, like Don's history with his father. Everyone has some kind of connection, and she doesn't. I would argue that she used to have that with Roger, and still could, but is actively choosing not to pursue that connection. Agree? Disagree? New idea?

So, what do you think, kids? Do we have a bunch of people with Daddy issues? Is the redemption sought by so many of these characters related to their need to atone for the sins of their fathers? How do you think this will all play out in the future?