struggle with the reality of infertility. In his play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albee utilizes dysfunctional couples in order to highlight the effect of disillusionment in the 1950s-1960s. Examining Edward Albee’s life presents information that shows how his experiences motivated the writing of his play. Albee was born Edward Harvey on March 12, 1928 in
of “power play” denotes the manipulation and exploitation of control over individuals or groups of people in order to gain an advantage. Power in literature can be orchestrated in various forms, including: Sexual, Verbal and Emotional. This is evidently demonstrated in Edward Albee’s play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” (1962), Albee explores the power dynamic among two couples George & Martha and Nick & Honey. Through the characters the composer demonstrates the constant struggle for power thus
conflicts occurring within his characters. From the beginning, Albee exercises this idea of illusion and self-deception. His title “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, is a parody of “Who is Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf”, and metaphorically translates into “Who is afraid of living without false illusions” (which Albee admitted in one of his interviews). By alluding to Virginia Woolf, a writer famous for her stream of consciousness, Albee is creating an intellectual joke of both
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