Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf

In the three texts we see further similarities as the women emasculate their husbands. In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Martha insults George personally, honing in on his work and its connection to his personal life. A particular moment which shows this is when Martha refers to him as a “FLOP” and George who is described as almost crying says “I said stop, Martha.” At this point of the play it is evident that Martha is shown as a domineering figure in their relationship. This is supported by Stenz, “by turns this women plays at wearing the pants” . This portrays that Martha is a strong female character and at times in the play takes on the dominant figure in their relationship which typically is supposed to be a man. Martha uses the word

This is evident in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf in which Albee presents a deeply pessimistic view of marriage, much like Yates. Both writers address the notion of The American Dream in which the characters in both texts have become consumed by. In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Albee presents Nick and Honey initially as the ideal American couple. As the play progresses and the layers get peeled back to the horror of the audience, Nick presents layer after layer of superficiality. At the most vulnerable part of the play in Act three when George destroys the illusion of the son, Nick holds back Martha and refers to her repetitively as ‘Lady’. Nick at this point of the play represents the socially acceptable form; he restrains Martha’s passion and reminds her of her social standing as an educated women. Nick does not stand for the restraint of passion because he has none. He married Honey because she was pregnant, “She blew up and then went down”. This shows Honey and Nick are bound together in a shallow marriage which has only happened due to convenience and Nick’s greed as Honey’s father is wealthy. Nick recounts this to George in a manner so distanced that he cannot help but let it haunt Nick later on in the play. When George does tell Honey of this she says it is “damaging for me!” Nick and Honey’s marriage lacks commitment and passion and are proof that happy marriages are unrepresentable in