Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which opened in 1962, was the first full-length play by Edward Albee (1928-2016), one of the most significant American playwrights of the 20th century. In 1966, the play was adapted into a film starring Elizabeth Taylor as Martha, Richard Burton as George, George Segal as Nick, and Sandy Dennis as Honey.

Albee’s work demonstrates the influence of Theatre of the Absurd and the philosophy of Absurdism, though Albee resisted the label in a 1962 essay in The New York Times. Absurdist theatre was a loose post-World War II movement in which playwrights grappled with Postmodern sensibilities, particularly in the wake of the Holocaust. These works reflect the ideas that French philosopher Albert Camus proposes in his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” (1942). Camus compares human existence to the ancient Greek myth of Sisyphus, who enrages the gods and must spend eternity rolling a boulder up a hill that only endlessly rolls back down. Camus argued that life is meaningless; the absurd arises from the clash between that truth and humanity’s innate refusal to accept it.

Stylistically, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is especially innovative because Albee seamlessly integrates Absurdism with the conventions of American Subjective Realism popularized by playwrights such as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. In other words, the characters in Albee’s play are simultaneously realistic and absurd. They dance across the line until it’s impossible to tell what is meant to feel real and what is not. Or, as George explains, the line is blurred between illusion and truth because the distinction doesn’t matter.

Plot Summary

In Act I, George and Martha, a middle-aged married couple, come home drunk and fighting at two in the morning from a university faculty party thrown by Martha’s father, the president of the college where George is a professor. To George’s dismay, Martha informs him that she has invited a young new professor and his wife over for more drinks, despite the late hour. Martha sings, “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (12) to George, a joke that he doesn’t find amusing, although Martha points out that he laughed at the party. They trade barbs, and before their guests arrive, George cryptically warns Martha not to bring up the kid. Nick, who teaches in the biology department, and Honey are uncomfortable with George and Martha’s vitriolic arguing and game-playing. But the drinks keep flowing, and Nick and Honey are eventually drawn in. Martha leaves the room with Honey to show her the bathroom and the rest of the house. George antagonizes Nick and reveals that Martha resents George for not being more successful; George resents Martha for the way her father has held back his career. When Honey returns, George is furious to learn that Martha has told her that they have a son. Martha enters soon after, having stopped to change into a sexier dress, which George knows is signaling another game. Martha begins to flirt with Nick. Honey, drunk, rushes to the bathroom to vomit.

In Act II, Nick admits to George that he married Honey because she was pregnant and her family had money. Honey’s pregnancy turned out to be a hysterical pregnancy. George tells Nick about a friend he had as a teenager who accidentally killed his mother with a shotgun, and then a few years later accidentally killed his father in a car accident. George and Nick joke about Nick furthering his career by sleeping with important faculty wives, like Martha. Martha and Honey return, and Martha and George argue about their son and whose fault it is that he never visits. Martha tells everyone about the novel that her father had refused to allow George to publish. George suggests that the next game is “Hump the Hostess,” but decides that it isn’t time yet and they should play “Get the Guests.” George describes the plot of his second book, which is the details of Nick and Honey’s marriage. Honey gets upset and rushes off; Nick follows her. When he returns, Martha starts to seduce him, although George refuses to be bothered. Martha goes off to the kitchen with Nick to continue her seduction. Honey returns, George tells her that someone came to the door and informed him that their son is dead. Honey is horrified, but George orders her not to tell Martha.

Act III begins with Martha alone and talking to herself, making another drink. Nick enters, and Martha complains about his disappointing sexual performance in the kitchen, implying that they perhaps didn’t complete the act. Nick is defensive, and Martha tells him that the only man who has ever made her happy is George, which Nick finds unbelievable. Martha decides that Nick is her houseboy, and orders him to answer the door when the doorbell chimes. Nick resists but gives in, opening the door to George and a massive bouquet of snapdragons. Nick protests being called a houseboy, but George insists that he is a houseboy unless he had sex with Martha. At Nick’s pleading, Martha says that Nick isn’t a houseboy, which disappoints George. George announces that they will play one more game: “Bringing Up Baby.” The others protest, but George insists. Honey comes back and announces that she has decided that she doesn’t remember anything from the evening. George tells Martha that their son is dead, repeating the story of the car crash that he told earlier. Martha screams and cries, telling George that he can’t do this, and George says that he did it because Martha broke the one rule of not telling other people about him. Nick realizes that their son is imaginary. It’s dawn, and Nick and Honey go home. Martha worries about their lives without their fake son. George sings, “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (242), and Martha admits that she is.