Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who doesn’t love a party with interesting conversation? To describe Edward Albee's famous Broadway play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), the word interesting would be an understatement. The play depicts an utterly absurd party at a middle-aged couple's New England home. A drunken night of fun and games turns uncomfortable, volatile, and downright confusing, as Albee explores the complications of married life and the boundaries of living in an illusion versus reality.

Fig. 1 - In the play, the four characters unhealthily mask their troubles, insecurities, and discomfort with drinks throughout the night.

The Author of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) is a three-act original play written by the famous American playwright, Edward Albee (1928-2016). Edward Albee is known for his satirical, psychological dramas in which characters act in absurd ways that suggest and question truths held about human nature and society.

This original play by Edward Albee premiered in a theatre on Broadway in 1962. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?(1962) won both a Tony Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle award for Best Play. It was translated into a film starring the actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in 1966. In the film, Richard Burton plays George, and Elizabeth Taylor stars as his wife, Martha.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: title meaning

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? is a pun on the Disney song, ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,’ from an animated film of The Three Little Pigs (1933). In the film, the character of The Big Bad Wolf disguises himself in order to deceive others. Edward Albee uses this allusion to suggest the theme of false appearances, or illusion versus reality. Edward Albee inserts the name of the famous 20th-century writer, Virginia Woolf in the title to reflect the academic, scholarly context of the play, as the characters meet after a university faculty party.

Virginia Woolf was a writer known for her deep examination of the minds of her characters. In the play, Albee's characters are afraid of deeply examining their own lives and facing reality. They sing 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' numerous times in the play to distract themselves from their problems. However, at the end of the play, Martha admits that she is afraid of Virginia Woolf. She is afraid of reality and of examining the desperate state of her life.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Characters

These characters interact in various ways throughout the play, with Martha and George's dysfunctional marriage at the center of the story. Nick and Honey's presence disrupts their routine and brings to light many of the underlying tensions and secrets in their relationship.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Summary

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is split into three acts. The first act, ‘Fun and Games,’ revolves around George and Martha’s aggressive, emotional games. The second act, ‘Walpurgisnacht’ is named after a German festival celebrating the feast day of a saint who protected the people in her town from witchcraft. Albee uses this title satirically to suggest the wickedness and nightmarish quality of the night. The third act’s title, ’The Exorcism,’ refers to the expulsion of George and Martha's imaginary son, who the couple has invented. George tells the story of his death at the end of the act.

Summary of Act 1: Fun and Games

George and Martha return home a bit drunk in the early morning after a University faculty party. George is a history professor at a small New England university where Martha's father is the dean. George suggests they have a final drink at night before bed, but Martha informs him that they have guests coming over—Nick, a biology professor who is new to the university, and Honey, his wife whom Martha describes as a mousy woman without any hips. George is not pleased they are coming over, but Martha's father insisted they entertain the new couple. George reminds Martha not to mention the child.

Nick and Honey arrive. George is annoyed and belittles young, handsome Nick. George starts conversations about how he does not agree with genetically engineering people, and ignores Nick when he tries to clarify that this is not what he does. George and Martha passive-aggressively fight in front of the guests, who grow increasingly uncomfortable throughout the night. Nick says that they should leave but George says they cannot as the fun is just about to begin.

Martha goes upstairs to change into a sexier dress. George reveals to Nick that Martha wanted him to be the head of the history department, and he was for a while until everyone else came back from the War. Nick asks George whether he and Martha have children, and he skirts around the question. However, when Honey returns, she announces that Martha told her about their son.

Martha comes back and overtly flirts with Nick. She insults George while praising Nick's figure and tells a story about how she knocked George out in a boxing class. George comes up behind Martha with a gun in his hand. He pulls the trigger, and an umbrella pops out.

Later in the night, Honey, who is extremely drunk, asks when George and Martha's son is coming. George and Martha have an argument about their son and debate about the color of his eyes. It is suggested in this instance that they are making him up.

Martha tells the couple about how she married George with the idea that he could take over the university, but that he is a disappointment because he did not have it in him to take over. George sings 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' loudly to drown out Martha's insults. Honey runs to the bathroom, saying that she needs to throw up.

Summary of Act 2: Walpurgisnacht

George and Nick talk alone about their pasts. George reveals a strange story about a childhood friend of his who accidentally killed his mother and father and then went to an asylum and never spoke again. Nick reveals that he married Honey because she had a hysterical, or false pregnancy, and her father is a wealthy preacher. Nick talks about how Martha is one of the most powerful women at the university because her father is the dean. The two get into an argument, trying to compete with one another.

Martha and Honey arrive after Honey is finished throwing up. Honey is still drunk and disoriented. She mentions that she throws up quite often. Martha dances inappropriately with Nick and tells the guests about how George tried to publish a novel about a boy who accidentally killed his parents, but her father would not allow the publication of something so foolish. George is enraged and goes after Martha, but Nick separates them.

George presents a new game he calls "Get the Guests" and goes on insulting Honey by telling a story about a girl named "Mousie" and revealing all the secrets Nick told him. When Honey realizes that the story is about her and that Nick told George about how he married her because of her hysterical pregnancy, she feels sick again and runs off to the bathroom. Nick follows her.

Martha mocks George for taking the game too far. The two decide that it is time to go full out in their attacks on one another. Martha makes out with Nick in front of George. George, pretending not to care, goes and tells them to carry on in another room.

Summary of Act 3: The Exorcism

Martha appears talking to herself with a drink in her hand. Nick enters the scene and he says that Honey is on the bathroom floor trying to feel a label off of a bottle. It is revealed that Nick and Martha went to bed together but Nick could not perform properly. Martha becomes more vulnerable, revealing that George is the only one she has ever truly loved and she is afraid she has broken him. Nick insults George, but Martha defends him.

Fig. 2 - Honey peeling the label off a bottle on the bathroom floor suggests a search for truth in peeling off the exterior to see what is underneath.

The doorbell rings and George appears with flowers, saying they are "flores para los muertos" (flowers for the dead). He goes on to talk about his trip to Majorica, Spain. George and Martha now gang up on Nick, referring to him as the houseboy. George proposes a final game called "bringing up baby." Martha begs for no more games, but George insists.

Fig. 3 - George brings snapdragon flowers to the door. Snapdragons are a symbol of deception, foreshadowing George's plan to declare that their imaginary son has died.

Martha and George go on to describe their son and his childhood in extreme detail. They accuse one another of making their son unhappy. The conversation escalates to the climax of the play in which George declares that a telegram came stating that their son died after swerving off the road to avoid hitting a porcupine. Martha screams at George, telling him he cannot do this, but George tells her she broke the rules of the game when she mentioned their son to the guests.

Nick finally realizes that their son does not exist. Martha and George admit that they could not have children.

Nick and Honey finally leave. Martha asks George if she really had to kill their son, and he says yes. He says that things are better this way. George begins singing 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,' and Martha replies that she is afraid of Virginia Woolf. The play ends.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Plot

The plot of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has a great deal of rising action in which tension builds up until the climax when George kills off the imaginary son. Edward Albee builds tension in the play through heated dialogue and strange events throughout the night, which present George and Martha's frustrations with one another.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? plot: exposition

At the beginning of the play, the audience is introduced to the setting and the four characters: George, Martha, Nick, and Honey.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? takes place at George and Martha's New England home in the 1960s. George and Martha are a middle-aged couple. They have a nice home, which reflects their upper-middle-class lives. George is a history professor and Martha is the daughter of the dean of the university where George works.

The couple returns home drunk from a University faculty party, and Martha recalls a joke from the party, singing 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.' Edward Albee uses this context and this joke to suggest the pretentious, academic background the couple comes from. He sets up an expectation that these people are to act in a refined, educated manner, yet they do the exact opposite.

George and Martha's guests, Nick and Honey, represent a younger version of the couple. Nick is a handsome, intelligent biology professor who represents intelligence, pridefulness, and ambition. While Honey is a thin, fragile woman who is a picture of innocence and unknowingness. Nick and Honey appear to be a normal, happy, picturesque couple. However, Albee later reveals the flaws in their marriage to suggest that appearances can be deceiving and that Nick and Honey could very well end up being bitter and crazy like George and Martha.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? plot: rising action and climax

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is built on the tension between Martha and George, which comes across through their absurd, heated discussions and attempts to humiliate one another in front of their guests. The rising action of the play is developed through the escalation of George and Martha's crazy games and the guests' increasing discomfort and confusion, which they all numb with alcohol.

The climax of the story occurs in the third act, when George declares that their son was killed. Martha reacts hysterically, shouting at George and telling him he cannot do that because it is against the rules of their game. Martha and George play a game in which they tell stories about their imaginary son to mask the pain and actuality of the fact that they were unable to have children. Their hostility toward one another and the strange mentions of their son throughout the play are all directed towards this point of the night in which the games finally come to an end.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? plot: falling action and resolution

The falling action in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is quite brief. Nick finally realizes that George and Martha's son does not exist and he and Honey finally leave. The tensions of the night are released, but there is still the question of what is next for George and Martha, and why they have played all of these games.

In the resolution, or ending of the play, George assures Martha that it is for the best that their son died. He puts his hand on Martha's shoulder and sings 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.' Martha replies that she is afraid, indicating that she is afraid of living without games and illusions. She must now face the reality of her childlessness and the hurt and harm of her marriage.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Themes and Meaning

Throughout Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, it is difficult to discern what is true versus what is made up, as George and Martha share all sorts of strange things. George and Martha play games and speak passive-aggressively because they are avoiding reality and confronting their true feelings and problems. They use illusions to mask the reality of their situation. This can be best seen in the invention of their son. Once the games are over and their imaginary son is dead, Martha is forced to face the reality of her desperate situation, which she fears.

Through the theme of illusion vs. reality, Edward Albee suggests that people prefer to hide behind illusions and pretenses rather than seriously face the hardships of their realities. However, all illusions must eventually come to an end, and then people are forced to face what is in front of them earnestly.

Marriage and family

In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albee plays on the stereotype of the perfect American family. While the couples may appear well-matched from a social and superficial standpoint, there are deep issues beneath their appearances. While George and Martha have given up on trying to present their marriage in a positive light, Nick and Honey are still embarrassed about the issues they face as a couple.

Albee presents marriage and family as a powerful thing that determines much of a person's life and happiness. George's life is overshadowed by Martha's father, who is Martha's basis of comparison for who George should be. George cannot even publish his novel because Martha's father disapproves of it. A great deal of Martha's dissatisfaction comes from the fact that she wanted him to be a leader in the university like her father, but it is not his nature.

The idea of having children is present all throughout the play as well. Martha and George's marriage is colored by their inability to have children, which they mask by telling tales of an imaginary son. Nick reveals that he married Honey because she was pregnant, but it turned out to be a "hysterical pregnancy" (a phantom pregnancy, in which a woman experiences pregnancy symptoms because she thinks she is pregnant but is not). Having children is something that completes the image of the American family, but Albee suggests that the characters have deeper issues and desires that they wish to quell by having a child.

Competition

Throughout Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albee presents competitive nature as something that often supersedes a person's reason to be kind or rational. The competitive nature is introduced in the games played throughout the night, but is also seen in the relational power dynamics.

George and Nick are competitive in the sense that they continually try to outsmart one another and they are both academics at the same university. Nick also tries to compete with George for Martha's affections, though George pretends not to care. George and Martha are in constant competition to see who can humiliate the other most severely. Martha subtly feels she is in competition with Honey, who is young and still able to have children. Thus, she flirts with Nick all night to assert her own worth.

The idea of competition is also suggested through the conversations about the genetic engineering of people. Georges fears the creation of a uniform, "perfect," superior race that would likely overpower and erase the need for people like him.

Edward Albee suggests that competition can bring out the pridefulness in people as they try to mask their fears with the idea of winning or being right.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Quotes

Martha alludes to the fact that she knows she and George are hiding their true emotions. She explains that they drink away their sadness and troubles to mask it:

These final words of the play suggest that Martha is afraid to examine herself and face her own fears and realities. Virginia Woolf was an author known for her deep examination of the minds of her characters. Martha prefers not to examine things too deeply, but to carry on with games and illusions. Now that her imaginary son is dead, she cannot continue living in a false reality: