Virginia Woolf Social Norms

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The social norms of the 1950’s posed an idealized life, which pressured most, if not all, to achieve a perfect reputation. The societal standard illustrated a happy marriage, where the man was the head of the household, there was a stable income, which was supported by the man, there was children if you were married, and casual alcoholism. If one did not live up to these norms, they were either at the bottom of the social pyramid, or creating a fantasy world like the rest of society. Edward Albee’s play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” emphasizes the true lack of “standard” lives people lived during this time. Having to either face these truths or drink them away was an easy decision. Alcohol created a physical gateway between each individual’s…show more content…
These insecurities become exaggerated and pushed aside when in a drunken state, thus the prominence of alcoholism. Typically, the men during the 1960’s were supposed to be in a role of dominance, and the main source of income in a household. Women were supposed to be submissive, and child bearing within a household. Nick’s biggest insecurity is a lack of dominance, and/or power. When Martha teases Nick for not having “performed” well, he states “You should try me sometime when we haven’t been drinking for ten hours, and maybe…”. Ironically, he hides his biggest fear with the thing that caused it in the first place. George’s biggest insecurity is being reluctantly submissive within the realms of money, knowledge, and his overall life. Whenever a topic is brought up about any of these things, and most, if not all are indirect negative implications towards him, he drinks. George states, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you did take over the History Department…I think I’ll make myself a drink.” Immediately hiding from his unease, alcohol separates him from his anxiety. Both men gain power over one another by testing the others superiority. George makes his tests to Nick inescapable, only with the exception of liquor. During one confrontation between George and Nick, Nick states, “I’ll stick to bourbon”. Not shortly after, as the competition between the…show more content…
These secrets are caused by the expectations society has set and proposed for a modern family. The gender-specific responsibilities also proposed by society are not always attainable, especially between these two couples. Finally, the pressure to have an ideal marriage is impractical, creating unease, and a want to escape these irrational standards. Alcohol allows an escape into a fantasy world, where the characters can create unreal situations to conform to societies status quo. In the play, Martha explains the rationale behind alcoholism in this analogy, “We take our tears, and we put 'em in the icebox, in the goddamn ice trays […] until they're frozen […] and then…we put them…in our…drinks.” By putting their tears (about a perfect marriage, family, and life) into their drinks, they are essentially drowning out their fears and reality in liquor. The human instinct to either fight or flight can also have another aspect: to
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