Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf: Play Review/Analysis Edward Albee’s stunning and provocative play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf first premiered in 1962. The play provided an essential insight into American life. Coming out of the 1950s, the idea of a happy family was emphasized by our culture, and success was often measured by having one’s own house, car, and kids. These shallow measures of success often hid real problems. In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Albee seeks to reveal the truth behind these phony facades, showing the audience that hiding one’s problems only makes them worse.
Edward Albee was no stranger to these concepts. He was adopted as a baby by a rich couple from Larchmont, New York. His parents, especially his mother, were very involved in the competitive social scene in …show more content…
The one that stands out the most being the concept of reality versus illusion. Albee argues throughout the entirety of the play that hiding one’s problems from themselves or their friends and neighbors only makes those problems worse. All of the couples in this play have created illusions both for themselves and their friends and colleagues. Albee argues that this practice not only makes all of their problems worse, but actually doesn’t even work at all, as all problems come out eventually. This concept is where the title of the play comes from. Throughout the play, George and Martha sing a parody of “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” changing the words to “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” In the beginning of the play, this is used mostly as a joke, but as it progresses, the song becomes a way to symbolize the fear of giving up the illusions they create for themselves. Virginia Woolf writes very honestly, getting into the depths of the human mind and heart. She writes without any ounce of illusion. Therefore, by the end of the play, the title really mean, “Who’s Afraid to Live Without
Edward Albee was no stranger to these concepts. He was adopted as a baby by a rich couple from Larchmont, New York. His parents, especially his mother, were very involved in the competitive social scene in …show more content…
The one that stands out the most being the concept of reality versus illusion. Albee argues throughout the entirety of the play that hiding one’s problems from themselves or their friends and neighbors only makes those problems worse. All of the couples in this play have created illusions both for themselves and their friends and colleagues. Albee argues that this practice not only makes all of their problems worse, but actually doesn’t even work at all, as all problems come out eventually. This concept is where the title of the play comes from. Throughout the play, George and Martha sing a parody of “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” changing the words to “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” In the beginning of the play, this is used mostly as a joke, but as it progresses, the song becomes a way to symbolize the fear of giving up the illusions they create for themselves. Virginia Woolf writes very honestly, getting into the depths of the human mind and heart. She writes without any ounce of illusion. Therefore, by the end of the play, the title really mean, “Who’s Afraid to Live Without