Review of Western Scholarship on Edward Albee Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

【Abstract】Edward Albees Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf？ became known to readers and critics since its appearance in 1962.Over the last decades，the reception of in western world has been marked by systematic and sporadic research.This article makes a review of western scholarship on Whos in an attempt to general picture of this famous work.

【Key words】review； Edward Albee； Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Since its appearance in 1962，Albees Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf？ received New York Drama Critics Circle Award，F(xiàn)oreign Press Association Award，American National Theatre and Academy Award as well as two Antoinette Perry and one Outer Circle awards.Over the past decades，the research targeting to interpret and shed light to this play is also under its way，during which critical responses to it can be fully displayed.A careful summary of the literary criticism from different perspectives will certainly intrigue us in prospecting for the possible approaches to study of it in the future.

Albee wrote plays to probe dysfunctional family and marriage relationship to reveal moral and spiritual vacuity at the root of characters complacency.Christopher G.Busiel wrote the complexity of the marital relations between Martha and George was one of the central strengths of Albees technique.1 Robert W.Corrigan used to say it was very difficult to conceive of a successful drama without important personal relations，and of such，the most intense was，naturally，“the relation between a man and a woman”2，which idea was shared by T.E.Kalem，replied because of Albees Whos，the expression “a Virginia Woolf couple” or a “Virginia Woolf marriage” had drifted into common parlance in the following years.3 In short，the problems of family life and marital relations revealed in the play are the failure of the man and the bitchiness of the woman，on the other hand，modern society has replaced marriage relationship with “pragmatic alliances”，and the values which to sustain the social structure are at rick.4

Few plays can have been so frequently and mischievously misrepresented，over praised，denigrated，and precipitately dismissed as Whos，as well as its playwright Albee.Richard Schechner criticized Albees Whos as “a classic example of bad taste，morbidity，naturalism，misrepresentation of history，American society，philosophy，and psychology.”5 W.D.Maxwell，a member of the Pulitzer Prize advisory board，found it a filthy play，“the lie of our theater and the lie of America”.6 His revulsion was shared by other critics who similarly misapprehended Albees intention in a play which，the pressure in him toward the “transcendence of naturalism and psychological notation” had previously resulted in the “painfully coerced denouement and the descent into incoherence” in Whos on a large scale.7 Diana Trilling alike，worried herself into thinking the play a “contemporary allegory” of the atom bomb，although she admitted that the author had given no such account of his play.8 She objected all the while to the fact that the public was receiving the play not as an allegory but as a transcript of real life，and she asserted that the characters were not true to “American academic life.”9 Indeed，as Alan Schneider，the plays Broadway director，has asked，“is Albee not rather dedicated to smashing that rosy view，shocking us with the truth of our present-day behaviour and thought，striving to purge us into an actual confrontation with reality？”10 To Albee，if the play was to be called realistic，it was necessary to re-define the term to mean that “drama which faces mans condition as it is.”11 Those who advocated such a confrontation，however，had been attacked by Ibsen in The Wild Duck as possessed of “rectitudinal fever”，while ONeill，in the Iceman Cometh，had endorsed Ibsens conviction that “if you take away make-believe from the average man，you take away his happiness as well.”12

Although the negative view of this play has lasted for several years without interruption，Albees advocates also never draw back，who all endorsed the attractive of Whos is its view of life-realistic yet not defeatist.C.N.Stavrou praised Albee rejected Sartres negativeness and Pinters depressiveness，it was a splinter of light which discernible aimed the gloating of nihilisms smog，which in depicting the entire gamut of marital emotion，“Albee does not omit tenderness.”13 Robert Brustein，the first one to make comment on the play said the difficulty of the play was not that the author introduces a spurious element into an otherwise truthful play，it was rather that “it suddenly confronts us with a moment of truth after an evening of stage illusions.”14 As for Stephen E.Tabachnic，he thought in Whos the author parodied the ideas of western civilization through an inversion of the romantic form，in which romantic love，marriage，sex，the family，status，competition power-all the “illusions” man has erected to eliminate the difference between self and others and to escape the existential burden of his freedom and loneliness come under attack.15 All in all，in spite of occasional considerable misjudgments，Albee would remain “a dramatist of international reputation，” “a mainstay” of American drama during the next decade.16

In reviewing Whos，we are excited with joy，as well as feel some confusion and lost.Yet，no matter how critics comment on him，and no matter from what aspect to interpret his play，we cant have a comprehensive understanding of all.Therefore，it will inspire more and more critics and readers to explore in the future to find out the truth under the surface of the play and its writer.

References：

[1]Christopher G.Busiel，An essay on Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf？.Drama for Students.Detroit：Gale Research，1980.

[2]Robert W.Corrigan，Engagement/Disengagement in the Contemporary Theatre.Delacorte Press，1973，p.282.

[3]T.E.Kalem，Primordial Slime.Time Weekly Newsmagazine， 1975，p.57.

[4]Martin Esslin，Plays and Players.Gale，1977，p.171-72.

[5][6]Richard Schechner，Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf？.Tulane Drama Review，1963，p.64.

[7]Richard Gilman，here We Go Round the Albee Bush.Random House，1971，p.135.

[8]Diana Trilling，Who's Afraid of the Culture Elite？.1963，p.74-6.

[9][10]Ibid.

[11]Alan Schneider，Why So Afraid？.Tulane Drama Review， 1963，p.11.

[12]Henrik Ibsen，F(xiàn)our Great Plays by Ibsen，trans.R.Farquharson Sharp.New York，1959，p.294.

[13]C.N.Stavrou，Albee in Wonderland.South Review，1975，p.55-6.

[14]Robert Brustein，Albee and the Medusa Head.New Republic，1962，p.29.

[15]Stephen E.Tabachnic，The Great Circle Voyage of Conrad Aikens ‘Mr.Arcularis.American Literature，1974，p.198.

[16]C.W.E.Bigsby，Albee：Prison or Paradise.Philadelphia：Fortress Press，1980，p.8.

作者簡介

趙麗君，女，1984、漢族，黑龍江哈爾濱人，畢業(yè)于云南省云南師范大學(xué)外國語學(xué)，助教，研究方向：英語語言文學(xué)。