Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf – Edward Albee, English Book

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Edward Albee

Introduction

This story is written by the American playwright Edward Albee, who is known for his psychologically profound and often critical dramas exploring marriage and human relationships. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is an absurdist drama, first performed in America in 1962. It is still played all over the world.

What does the name of the book mean? Virginia Woolf was a British author, and in her works she showed deep layers of human thoughts that were often cruel and raw. So we can understand it as “who is afraid to face the truth?“

Summary of the Book

The story takes place during one night after a party. There are two married couples – older, loud and spirited Martha and George, and younger and more reserved people – Honey and Nick. Martha invites Honey and Nick to their home just to have an “after party“. But it becomes wild. It turns out that Martha and George can’t stand each other and feel lost in their marriage. They often humiliate each other and fight for power. On the other side – Honey and Nick are quieter people, but thanks to the alcohol they also reveal themselves. Nick reveals that the main reason why he married Honey was money and that under the Honey’s innocent look is a woman, who has problems with alcohol, which also led to her miscarriage.

The biggest secret there is between Martha and George – they also couldn’t have children, so years ago, they „created“ their own imaginary child, and have lived with it in their minds ever since. They considered it the last untainted thing in their marriage. But Martha broke the condition that she was not allowed to talk about it with strangers. So as a revenge – George „kills“ the child. Martha becomes desperate and in the end of the book, they sit on the floor together and Martha whispers: “I am afraid of Virginia Woolf…“.

Themes and Main Ideas

The book raises themes such as unspoken truths, secrets and living in a lie that feels safe. Also, it is about hate between people, emptiness and fear.

My Opinion

I couldn’t wait to read this book. I heard about it as a theatre play and I wanted to know it. The way it is written is different than I was used to in other dramas – the play contains some modern expressions, a great emphasis on emotions and also a lot of curses. :-) In some parts, I could be just shocked and not even try to guess what comes next. Despite the themes of the book, there are also many funny dialogues.

While reading, I sometimes read the lines out loud and imagined myself playing the characters. :-) For me, the most attractive and at the same time most challenging character to play would probably be Martha.

I think the story is not that complicated, but it can happen that you don’t get everything that is „hidden“ behind the text on the first reading.

To sum up – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a powerful story and it brings many topics we all may live in, but do not realize them. I would recommend it to people who like theatre and the psychology of characters and are not afraid to read something a little crazy.