Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf

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No Happy Ever Afters: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Marriage is never perfect. This fact is especially true in the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee. The play is about two married couples; Martha and George, and Nick and Honey. Martha and George have been together for many years and are hitting a rough patch in their marriage. They are not able to express their real feelings to one another, so instead they throw insults at each other. Nick and Honey are stuck in the middle of the other couple’s fights all night long. Their marriage is not as perfect as it seems. Throughout the play, Albee shows that though marriage is never flawless. Right off the bat, Albee shows the reader that George and Martha have problems. Martha decides …show more content…
Oh, George! (Albee 12).
Having this fight so early in the book shows the reader what they are in for in this play. There are going to be many more fights and insults to come, proving that marriage is not always enjoyable. After the initial fight, there are a few more notable ones. One such fight is when George insults Martha’s father who she is unquestionably attached to.
GEORGE. He does not! Your father had tiny red eyes… like a white mouse. In fact, he is a white mouse
MARTHA. You wouldn’t dare say a thing like that if he was here! You’re a coward. (82)
There is also a time where Martha is telling Nick and Honey about her and George’s relationship. Martha says that George was supposed to take over for her father as the head of a college. However, things did not go as planned. “‘You see, George didn’t have much push … he wasn’t particularly … aggressive. In fact he was a sort of a (spits the word at GEORGE’s back) … a FLOP! A great … big … FLOP!’” (93). With Martha and George hurling such awful snubs at each other it is not difficult to see that they marriage is on thin ice. However, Honey and Nick’s marriage is not so marvelous …show more content…
I married her because she was pregnant. GEORGE. Oh?... But you said you didn’t have any children… When I asked you, you said…
NICK. She wasn’t … really. It was a hysterical pregnancy. She blew up, and then she went down.
GEORGE. And while she was up, you married her. (104).
Love was never the reason that Nick and Honey got married, which further shows that getting marriage may not be advantageous. With all of these complications, the play further escalates when the couples go from talking atrociously about each other to committing damaging actions.
Martha and George start an all out war with each other towards the end of the book. First George pretends to shoot Martha. “ George takes from behind his back a short-barreled shotgun, and calmly aims it at the back of MARTHA’s head. HONEY screams…) ‘POW!!’ (pop! From the barrel of the gun blossoms a large red-and-yellow Chinese parasol) ‘You’re dead! Pow! You’re dead!’” (62). Then Martha and Nick dance together in a romantic way right in front of George and Honey.
HONEY. ...(NICK and MARTHA move apart now and dance … It is as if they were pressed together)
MARTHA. I like the way you move.
NICK. I like the way you move, too.
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