Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee Essay -- English Litera

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee How a Couple Denies Reality by Escaping into a World of Fantasy --------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION Edward Albee’s account of the strange relationship between George and Martha was an award-winning Broadway play and a cinema classic. As a drama, it succeeds on all levels. But like all great dramatic works, it is much more than an absorbing story.To understand their mutual cruelty and their failure to accept the world around them, we must understand why they are what they are. The following examination of the leading characters and the drama’s underlying themes will help us understand the root causes and motivations for their actions and also the means the couple use to escape from reality. One way to escape from reality is by playing a series of games. Games abound in the play. Several are mentioned explicitly: humiliate the host, hump the hostess, get the guest, bringing up baby. For the last game ,it is George who invents the rules. Martha is a build on mother whose George invented the attributes, the behaviour toward the child. The Imaginary son has both a negative and positive aspect. It is positive because the couple share a common secret and negative because the couple claim ownership of this fantasy, as for example ;when they fight for their son’s eye colour. It is negative because they used the child in a rivalry game. This game is used by George to humiliate Martha. He said (l.126)†The kid grow up neurotic ,with Martha here carrying on the way she does: sleeping till four o’clock in the afternoon ,climbing over the poor bastard.† The same game is used by Martha to blackmail George (p19 act 1).Martha ... ...unction better as a real couple in the future, and no more as a fictional one. Maybe Albee will tell us that one cannot always live in a fictional world, one day one must confront our fears instead of trying to escape. To conclude, as we have seen, the way couples try to escape from reality that has become too difficult to face is to create illusions for themselves by making up stories, by playing games, by building up false images of reality. But one cannot eternally escape from reality, one day one must take off our mask and find out our real identity and face our problems. It is what happen to George and Martha. 1. Edward ,Albee.1962. who is afraid of Virginia Woolf .penguin plays, London 2. Liliane ,Kerjan 1977.Le theatre d’Edward Albee .university of Ferrand,.Lille 3. Samuel ,Beckett 1999.Waiting for Godot . midnight edition.Normandy. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee Essay -- English Litera Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee How a Couple Denies Reality by Escaping into a World of Fantasy --------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION Edward Albee’s account of the strange relationship between George and Martha was an award-winning Broadway play and a cinema classic. As a drama, it succeeds on all levels. But like all great dramatic works, it is much more than an absorbing story.To understand their mutual cruelty and their failure to accept the world around them, we must understand why they are what they are. The following examination of the leading characters and the drama’s underlying themes will help us understand the root causes and motivations for their actions and also the means the couple use to escape from reality. One way to escape from reality is by playing a series of games. Games abound in the play. Several are mentioned explicitly: humiliate the host, hump the hostess, get the guest, bringing up baby. For the last game ,it is George who invents the rules. Martha is a build on mother whose George invented the attributes, the behaviour toward the child. The Imaginary son has both a negative and positive aspect. It is positive because the couple share a common secret and negative because the couple claim ownership of this fantasy, as for example ;when they fight for their son’s eye colour. It is negative because they used the child in a rivalry game. This game is used by George to humiliate Martha. He said (l.126)†The kid grow up neurotic ,with Martha here carrying on the way she does: sleeping till four o’clock in the afternoon ,climbing over the poor bastard.† The same game is used by Martha to blackmail George (p19 act 1).Martha ... ...unction better as a real couple in the future, and no more as a fictional one. Maybe Albee will tell us that one cannot always live in a fictional world, one day one must confront our fears instead of trying to escape. To conclude, as we have seen, the way couples try to escape from reality that has become too difficult to face is to create illusions for themselves by making up stories, by playing games, by building up false images of reality. But one cannot eternally escape from reality, one day one must take off our mask and find out our real identity and face our problems. It is what happen to George and Martha. 1. Edward ,Albee.1962. who is afraid of Virginia Woolf .penguin plays, London 2. Liliane ,Kerjan 1977.Le theatre d’Edward Albee .university of Ferrand,.Lille 3. Samuel ,Beckett 1999.Waiting for Godot . midnight edition.Normandy.