1. International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, January, 2013 ISSN 0975-3486, RNI- RAJBIL- 2009-30097, VOL- IV * ISSUE- 40
Research Paper—English
Sense of Reality and Illusion in Edward Albee's Play
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?"
January,2013 * Anil Kumar
* Reg. no. 1050103322, Research Scholar Ph.D. Dept. of English, Singhania University,Pacheri Bari
A B S T R A C T
The play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?is Edward Albee's first full length play. It consists of three acts. It was first performed
in New York in 1962 and after itsproduction it immediately became a great success. Inspite of its great success, itremained
controversial among critics and audience. The play is a serious one but not sober, because both the couples, involved in
the plot, drink almost continuously and it seems almost unbelievable that three out of the four characters stay on their
feet despite having consumed large quantity of liquor. This couple has developed many illusions about almost about every
aspect of life. The main aspect of the play is a combination of reality and illusion. However, the play symbolizes a world
where love and life and passions and the creative act are artificial or machine made.
Keywords- Edward Albee, Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Reality, Illusion, American Drama.
Introduction source of frustration and misunderstanding and then
The editor of the Tulane Drama Review greeted George decides to destroy this fantasy by killing their
Albee's play, Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?as a imaginary son and face the reality. Martha is horrified
"persistent escape into morbid fantasy."[1]He found it at the prospect of facing life without illusions but George
a dirty play and indicted it for its "morbidity and sexual is relaxed and moreover the shattering of this illusion
perversity which are there only to titillate an impotent brings the husband and wife closer to each other.[3]
and homosexual theatre and audience." [2] The inten- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?is indeed concerned
tion of the writer in this play far from endorsing illusion with the ultimate destruction of illusion and was infact
remorselessly peels off protective fantasies in order to at one time to have been named The Exorcism.
reach "the bone. . . the marrow" (v.w.p.213). The main In retreat from reality Albee's characters re-
characters of the play are Gorge and Martha.They are sort to Faustian distractions, passing through the
middle-aged, childless couple. Both of them are under- varying degrees of sensuality from drunkenness to
achievers or rather non-achievers. None of them have sexuality in a play whose second act is aptly entitled
been able to achieve any fulfillment individually or Walpurgisnacht. The retreat into illusion which seems
collectively. to provide an alternative to a harsh existence, is not
This couple has been leading a frustrated life however an attractive alternative. Because Albee points
for the last twenty-three years. George is an associate out that far from facilitating human contact, illusions
professor of History, and is a failure because he couldn't rather alienates individuals from one another and serve
make advancement in his career. He has not been able to emphasize their separation.Out of contact with real-
to become a professor and Head of his department. ity they are like the mad-undeveloped. Indeed this
Inspite of having got married the daughter of the col- immaturity is emphasized by the child-language which
lege president, he couldn't achieve anything signifi- recurs throughout the play.[4]
cant nor could he succeed his father in law. He doesn't In a similar story parable recounted by
maintain any public relations instead he is a book worm George,a boy accidently kills his parents. When he
who spends most of his time in reading and writing. loses his mind as a result he is locked up. Finding him
Martha is an intelligent and energetic lady but also unable to face reality "they jammed a needle in his arm"
frustrated and vulgar. She keeps humiliating her hus- (v.w. p.96). This is an image of contemporary life as
band because she feels proud to be the daughter of the Albee sees it. For if the needle is replaced by liquor the
college president. She doesn't have an identity of her escape of the child becomes valid for the man. The boy
own. She is a childless woman and miserable house- retreats into the protection of an asylum and man re-
wife. She has become a drunken, vulgar and frustrated treats into the closed world of illusion.[5]
woman. But both George and Martha share a private Conclusion
illusion that they have a son. They keep this illusion as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?may well be
a well-guarded secret and live in a world of imagination studied as an exploration of the myth of the American
and fantasy share a mutual bond between them. When Dream through the technique of illusion and reality.
Martha tries to make it public, this illusion becomes a The fantasy of the unborn son skillfully built into the
RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 47

2. International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, January, 2013 ISSN 0975-3486, RNI- RAJBIL- 2009-30097, VOL- IV * ISSUE- 40
fabric of action, is the very heart of the play. Although and happiness. The metaphor certainly reaches be-
the visible drama of action centers on George and yond the immediate to the American scene in general
Martha flaying humiliation at each other.[6] The play and Albee here successfully communicates the ethos
impresses us as an exquisite piece illustrating the sig- of artificiality and sterility which he had presented in
nificant place of illusion in modern American life. It's a The American Dream with particular care. The technical
work in which Albee attempts to touch the heart of skill of organizing incidents into close knit fabric of
American life. It's a work in which Albee attempts to emotions andaction is superb and in the play there is
touch the heart of American culture , the culture that some of the best urban nervous dialogue to be written
manufactures fantasies and dreams as well as cars and in the American theatre.And because of thesequalities
Hollywood films. The personal failures of the charac- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?has proved an im-
ters represent the failure of a culture and the unborn mensely popular pay in the USA and England.[7]
son is a symbol of the American Dream of fulfillment
R E F E R E N C E
1. I Kolin, Philip C, II Davis J. Madison, III Series, Critical Essays on Edward Albee, p.80-81, Confronting Reality:Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ,1986,G.K. Hall & Co., Bostan, Massachusetts (USA)
2. Ibid p. 81
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. Bigsby,C.W.E., Edward Albee: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice Hall, 1975, USA.
7. Paolucci, Anne, From Tension to Tonic: The Plays of Edward Albee, Griffon House,2005, NY, USA.
8. Rutenberg, Michael E., Edward Albee:Playwright in Protest, 1969, Discus/Avon, NY.
9. Tilak, Raghukul, Edward Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,p.188, Rama Brothers, New Delhi, 2003
48 RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION