Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the play 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which presents a typical insight on the disturbed and somewhat revengeful life of a married couple, George and Martha. The writer examines the plot of the play, the writing style and the social message it was trying to portray in the late 1950's.

From the Paper:

"The era when the play was first performed is that of the late 1950s, a period dominated by a loving American President (D.Eisenhower), and good family values were considered as well as emphasized at all levels including American politics and culture. Thus, having a car, owning a house, and having kids were all deemed to present symbols of a perfectly happy family. In spite of all these aspects, there were events in the lives of people, which more often not than remained hidden, and the subject play strives to highlight those hidden feelings, and characteristics of people who continued to live their lives often pretending, or creating a world of their own in their attempts to hide their true feelings of hatred, revenge and lack of being successful in their real lives. The couple of George and Martha do exactly this and from the beginning of the play right to the end, their entire conversations and acts exemplify their hatred for each other. It is also observed that neither George nor Martha make any attempt to stop their negative and sometimes insulting behavior against each other, as evidently witnessed by their colleagues Nick and Honey, another married couple who have just begun their married life as well as their career."

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