This essay analyzes Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with a focus on what the author conveys about the nature of marriage through the relationship of George and Martha. The paper argues that Albee portrays marriage not as a fairytale bond but as a complex entanglement of love, contempt, and unresolved childhood baggage. Drawing on key scenes and dialogue from the play, the essay explores how the couple's emotional immaturity, lack of self-esteem, and mutual cruelty coexist with a deep, enduring attachment — ultimately suggesting that "love ever after" is a myth, and that people can love one another without truly liking or respecting each other.
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Edward Albee's classic play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? portrays marriage and relationships in an unsparing light. Martha and George clearly love each other, but their relationship has deteriorated into name-calling, hatred, and distrust. This is the central theme of the play: two people can fall in love, but they may not remain in love, because there is simply too much "life" between them. These characters are two misfits who seem unable ever to reach an impasse. Their marriage is a symbol of two people who love each other but do not like each other very much — and who do not seem to like themselves very much, either. Albee is saying that people marry for different reasons and expect different results, but that "love forever" is ultimately a myth in marriage.
Albee's play tells the story of two married couples, so it is clear from the outset that the author has something important to say about marriage. The way George and Martha relate to each other is central to both the plot and the theme of love and marriage. George and Martha love each other, but they do not seem to like or respect each other very much. Late in the play, Martha contemptuously refers to George as "the shadow of a man flickering around the edges of a house" (Albee 226). This shows that their marriage is unhappy — as it does throughout the play — but it also reveals Martha's contempt for her husband, his work, and everything he stands for. Later, Martha calls their marriage a "sewer" (Albee 227) and cannot seem to recall anything good coming of their union. It is a sad statement about their relationship and the way they view each other.
There is something important about the couple's relationship, however, and how it relates to the theme Albee weaves throughout the play. These two people obviously care for each other, or they would not be able to withstand the words they throw at each other like weapons. "I disgust me" (Albee 189), Martha tells George in the third act, and he agrees with her. They disgust each other, but they love each other — and so they can withstand the difficulties of their marriage. Throughout the play they refer to each other as "love," and while this term seems to contradict their actions, it suggests that they do truly love each other and that their marriage was originally based on love and mutual affection.
Albee is showing that love and marriage can disintegrate over time, and that people grow older, change, and lose their respect for one another and for themselves. However, if the love or foundation of the relationship is strong, the relationship will probably endure, just as George and Martha's has. Albee also shows that two people create their own kind of relationship. George and Martha's dynamic would not work for everyone, but it works for them, and so they remain in it.
"Unresolved childhood trauma stunts both characters emotionally"
"The imaginary son symbolizes the myth of ideal marriage"
Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a disturbing look at marriage and relationships that illustrates the difference between liking someone and loving someone — an important distinction in any marriage. George and Martha clearly love each other, but they do not like each other very much, and they do not like themselves very much either, which leads to dissatisfaction, hurt, and pain. "Love ever after" is a myth to this couple, and that is Albee's final message in the play. Love can bind two people together, but it is not always love alone that keeps them there.
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