It is evident from the thematic study of Edward Albee’s Who’s is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the preceding Chapter that the play is thematically rich. Its themes often overlap and support one another in ways that make the play complex and richly textured. Both George and Martha state the theme of illusion versus reality, the most important theme of the play, explicitly in Act III of the play. Martha is horrified at the prospect of facing life without illusions, but George is not – the shattering of this illusion brings the husband and wife closer to each other. Albee thus takes away the imaginary bridge of communion between George and Martha. Martha’s response is “George and Martha: sad, sad, sad.” (102) Albee also exposes several facets of
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The principal factor is the distorted values, most of which go under the name of American concept of success. Martha fails to understand her husband and establish contact with him largely for the reason that he is a professional failure. She adores Nick for the reason that he seems to possess all the qualities that make a man successful. The second main factor which acts as a hindrance to genuine communication is illusion. Martha and George cultivate the illusion of a fantasy child which, as the play develops, becomes a cause of conflict between the two. Once this fantasy is shattered, a genuine contact between George and Martha becomes possible. Thirdly, there are the social conventions which act as a barrier to true contact. The convention of civility, hypocritical courtesy, social games, etc. discourage people from coming close to each other. The games that the people play in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? are in fact a parody of many social conventions which Albee attacks. His reason is that until these false conventions are dispensed with, genuine contact between human beings is not possible. The whole play is, in fact, a plea for mutual understanding and acceptance based on reality and devoid of all illusions and social
The principal factor is the distorted values, most of which go under the name of American concept of success. Martha fails to understand her husband and establish contact with him largely for the reason that he is a professional failure. She adores Nick for the reason that he seems to possess all the qualities that make a man successful. The second main factor which acts as a hindrance to genuine communication is illusion. Martha and George cultivate the illusion of a fantasy child which, as the play develops, becomes a cause of conflict between the two. Once this fantasy is shattered, a genuine contact between George and Martha becomes possible. Thirdly, there are the social conventions which act as a barrier to true contact. The convention of civility, hypocritical courtesy, social games, etc. discourage people from coming close to each other. The games that the people play in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? are in fact a parody of many social conventions which Albee attacks. His reason is that until these false conventions are dispensed with, genuine contact between human beings is not possible. The whole play is, in fact, a plea for mutual understanding and acceptance based on reality and devoid of all illusions and social