Border Crossings In Literature English Literature Essay
Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf is set in a little New England College.Its individual set, a womb-like life room, stands as an image of a refusal of life by those who enact their frights and semblances within it ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 264 ) .
One of the most of import features of the drama is the universe George and Martha invented for themselves. This universe is seen by the audience and their invitees, Honey and Nick. This universe consists of the aggregation of George and Martha ‘s imaginativeness to refashion world “ by subordinating semblance to truth ” a power which aims to confront human presence without “ life-lies ” ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 67 ) .
There is an inevitable character in the fanciful universe. He is the boy of George and Martha. There is a enigma created by the writer around him. ” Not until the dispossession will the audience, with Nick and Honey, recognize that the boy is a fiction ” . ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 68 ) . There is a hint even earlier that Martha ‘s faux pas is somthing of import, when George asks Honey so intensively about what has merely Martha said, when she told Honey about she should hold ne’er spoke about ( their invented boy ) ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 68 ) .
When the secret of Martha ‘s kid is toldto Honey, it turns out that the semblance of the boy made up which was non more than a “ game playing, the lovers’fanciful reproduction of a symbolic kid ” became a mark of a wicked and eccentric relationship ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 68 ) .
When Martha reveals the secret they kept for themselves for ages, George recognizes that there is merely a blurry boundary line between “ an unreal terrorizing pretend universe ” and the private life of their. Because of “ a psychotic trust on fiction and truth ” the differentiations between world and semblance acquire even blurrier ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 69 ) .
George and Martha are a married twosome enable to hold children.In the beginning they found out the kid as a game but at the terminal it became an onslaught to each other. “ But in fact the kid becomes a dissentious rule, claimed as an confederate by both George and Martha ” ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 265 ) . However, from Act 1 George ‘s ultimate end is to acquire rid of the fanciful boy image which poisons his and Martha ‘s relationship ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 70 ) .
Even the juncture, to where Honey and Nick are invited, is set for is the 21th birthday of the kid, which age refers to the fact that the parents have to allow the kid go. It means they ( largely Martha ) are trapped in their ain phantasy universe ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 265 ) .
The whole drama is “ a slow and grim denudation of semblance ” , which means that one minute the whole fanciful universe of George and Martha will interrupt down into pieces and they will be left to confront the existent truth without any defensive shields or phantasies to protect them “ ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 266 ) .
As George says that he wants to acquire rid of the kid they invented, nearing the terminal the audience inquiries if he has “ lost contract with the orderly differentiations between truth and semblance ” .Martha even accuses him that he is non able to make up one’s mind if Nick is a aˆzstud ” or a aˆzhouseboy ” ( Ruth Meyer Language Truth and Illusion in Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf 60 ) . This occurs in the novel as “ GEORGE: Truth or illusion.Who knows the difference, eh, toots? Eh? ( Edward Albee Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf? 119 )
In the play “ the differentiation between truth and semblance is non readily perceived ” .If what the character says is accepted by the audience to be true and the contradictory elements are non taken into consideration so the difference between truth and semblance disappears ( Ruth Meyer Language Truth and Illusion in Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf 60 ) . The state of affairs is the same with the narrative of a friend of George. Martha has 2nd ideas that maybe the narrative, he told, is the narrative of himself non merely a friend ‘s. There is a hint that the method of the slaying in instance of the friend and in instance of their boy is similar and the lone common point is George.It occurs int he drama as: “ MARTHA: Murderer.Muraˆ¦deraˆ¦er ( Edward Albee Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf? 84 ) .
“ Truth and semblance is so a major subject of the drama ” ( Ruth Meyer Language: Truth and Illusion in Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf 60 ) . First of wholly, the impression of truth and so the impression of semblance should be identified. “ ‘Truth ‘ is by and large considered a verifiable fact, ‘illusion ‘ a false mental image ” novel ( Ruth Meyer Language Truth and Illusion in Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf 61 ) . In the drama these two are present without any boundary lines, “ there is a changeless interpenetration of truth and semblance ” .Language can decide these ambiquities but facial looks and stances can besides assist to acknowledge what facts are true and which are closer the an invented phantasy world.There are infinite intimations in the state of affairss mentioned: for case if George truly was present at the decease of her female parent and male parent ( Ruth Meyer Language Truth and Illusion in Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf 61 ) .
The semblance occurs in the drama in the signifier of dreams.If we call these semblances pipe dreams it can be said that: “ have your pipe dreams if you want to but recognize you are pull the leg ofing yourself ” . ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 67 ) . This is perfectly valid if we consider George and Martha ‘s kid ‘s ‘life’.George kills him at the terminal of the drama to acquire rid of one world and this consequence in a positive displacement in the relationship because the kid weakened it for old ages and was the ground for several fighst between the partners.
Martha and George find out throughout the 3 Acts of the Apostless that their boy is non maintaining them alive but killing them and poisons their relationship.It took 20 old ages clip for them to recognize this and coercing them to kill this myth invented merely by themselves, which was merely a game in the beginning but turned out to be non so much merriment ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 67-68 ) .
At the terminal of act 3 it turns out that there is hope for George and Matha ‘s matrimony because they arrived to the point that they are able to give up their semblances and reconstruct their relationship which means there is hope for the following generation.In this instance it means Honey and Nick, who can be seen as the latter version of George and Martha ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 267 ) .
The ground for the purposes of the characters to do up a fantasy universe, to go out the existent truth is that they want to bury about world and purpose to conceal from it.The ground for George and for Martha besides worth mentioning.Martha ‘s actions are in a manner more apprehensible than of George ‘s. She was abandoned by her female parent and raised by her pa, who does n’t take attention of her, even thought she looked up to him.Her merely privation was to happen a loving hubby and construct a loving household. “ But world subverts her romantic heroic idealaˆ¦.frustrated aspirations and diminished hopes ” ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 72 ) .
The Bergin narrative in the drama inquiries a “ broader truth/illusion motive of the play ” .If we accept Martha ‘s hints that he truly was present at the decease of his parents, we have to acknowledge that Bergin is a character for George.It means that George is responsible for the decease of his pa and mum.It is even more strengthened by the verbal tools George uses in the early evening.It is said int he novel as “ MARTHA: No, Sir, this is n’t a novel at allaˆ¦this is the truthaˆ¦this truly happened aˆ¦TO ME! GEORGE: I ‘LL KILL YOU! ” ( Edward Albee Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf? 83 ) From this reaction it can be seen that George is as vulnerable and baffled as her married woman, that is the ground for them concealing in a fantasy universe with their kid semblance ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 76 ) . Both of them have jobs accepting the world over the fantasy universe but George is the one wh tries to assist “ Martha restore psychic balance ” ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 77 ) for case by killing the semblance of the made up boy and with this move canceling one world. George “ create ( s ) a new world to take its topographic point and through mapping out for Nick and Honey the manner to airt their lives, achieves for Martha and himself a extremist redirection of their ain ” ( Thomas P.Adler Albee ‘s Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf? : A Long dark ‘s journey into a twenty-four hours 67 ) .
As they assimilate to the new college, Honey and Nick begins to happen out the ain prevarications about their perfect life or at least seeking to demo as if they life would be perfect.They seem to be a “ good intending but weak twosome ” ( Matthew C. Roudane Understanding Edward Albee 78 ) .
“ Nick and Honey, the immature twosome, who witnesses the prostration of their hosts ‘ phantasies, are themselves a warning of the following phase of diminution ” ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 267 ) . Honey is terrified to be a female parent and is so afraid of the existent. With Nick, she besides starts to scintillate their prevarications towards the universe ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 265 ) .
The three games played throughout the dark ( “ Hump the Hostess ” , ” Get the Guests ” , “ Bringing up Baby ” ) are non merely to entertain the invitees but they have important function during the actions. They are to decide the prevarications regulating George and Martha ‘s and Nick and Honey ‘s relationships. The games and battles are resulted from love which George and his married woman feel for each other, which they lose at one point but addition back in act 3.
The drama can be seen as an onslaught to another sex. Throughout linguistic communication, George and Martha tease each other. George frequently calls his married woman a “ spoilt, dirty-minded, liquor-ridden ” adult female and Martha describes her hubby as person missing professional skills.This is seen in the play as “ MARTHA: he ca n’t do anything out of himself, person without the backbones to do anybody proud of himaˆ¦ ” ( Edward Albee Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf 57 ) .
“ Martha and George inhabit a metropolis of words ” ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 267 ) . They transform their semblances into a concrete language.They find out the whole life narrative of the fanciful kid, they even make up linguistic communication games as a permutation for the existent facts.For them to talk is to lie, and so there is a hazard of that this whole made-up linguistic communication system prostrations and so they left in silence, from which they are afraid the most because there they have to facet he lies they made to conceal from the existent truth ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 267-268 ) .
The duologues make it clear that there is ambiquity between truth and illusion.Some critics say this is the “ message ” of the play.We can acquire to cognize the characters throughout their manner of speaking for case George ‘s usage of platitudes refers to the protection of his realy individuality, him have oning masks to conceal his true feelings ( Ruth Meyer Language Truth and Illusion in Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf 61 ) .
“ Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a slow retreat from language- a suggestion that truth is pre-linguistic, that address is designed less to pass on so to give entree to power or to joint the demand to lead on ” ( C.W.E.Bigsby A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama 268 ) .
At the terminal of the drama the linguistic communication is simplified to monosyllabic inquiries and answers.Language is non a boundary line between world and semblance anymore.The existent universe and the fantasy universe has gone excessively far from each other.George and Martha are left without their universes and two realities.There is merely him and her. ” Where one time they had used the fantasy kid as a agency to impeach one another, now they accept their joint failure: “ Dent: You could n’t haveaˆ¦any? GEORGE: We could n’t. MARTHA: We could n’t. “ ( Edward Albee Who ‘s afraid of Virginia Woolf? 138 )
If you see merely the surface of the drama, it seems as if Albee “ dramatizes the deadlocks that arise as matrimony spouses communicate. In the earlier drama, George and Martha believe in matrimony, and minute by minute with matchless and admirable battle they communicate honestly to continue their brotherhood ” ( Jeane Luere Terror and Violence in Edward Albee From Who ‘s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to Marriage Play 51 ) .
Taking into consideration the above mentioned facts, it can be concluded that the drama is int he boundary line of semblance and world ( existent universe ) . To achive this this consequence, the visual aspect of games and the particular features of linguistic communication are deserving mentioning.