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Out of words,” so “ Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is also a play about the impotence of equality; Martha can do with words every thing which George can—which is to s ay nothing productive. Edward Albee's first long play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, begins with deceptive casualness. An Associate Professor of history named George, and his wife, Martha, who is also the daughter of.
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'Twelve times a week,' answered Uta Hagen when asked how often she'd like to play Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In the same way, audiences and critics alike could not get enough of Edward Albee's masterful play. A dark comedy, it portrays husband and wife George and Martha in a searing night of dangerous fun and games. By the evening's end, a stunning, almost u...more
Published August 1st 2006 by NAL (first published January 1st 1962)
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Popular Answered Questions
Robert MuirSnigdha Jayakrishnan is on the right track. In an interview about ten years ago Albe stated that he saw it scrawled on a wall somewhere in downtown…moreSnigdha Jayakrishnan is on the right track. In an interview about ten years ago Albe stated that he saw it scrawled on a wall somewhere in downtown New York and thought it was catchier than the working title he was using.(less)
GregThis answer contains spoilers…(view spoiler)[ My take on the ending is the following. Virginia Woolf is famous for her stream of consciousness writing style. In her books people often contend with…more My take on the ending is the following. Virginia Woolf is famous for her stream of consciousness writing style. In her books people often contend with thoughts that arise unwanted. At the end of the book, after an evening in which people flay at each other with rash words, at the point when Martha admits she is afraid of Virginia Woolf, at that point, I think she is trying to say she is afraid of her own unwanted streams of thought as they are filled with regrets, remorse and self-loathing.(less)(hide spoiler)]
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I have to invent a new word after this play: sadvicious. As in, sad and vicious, ineluctably intertwined, till death do them part. There's also the wicked humor of the play, for which I don't have a new word, a heartbreaking hilarity that keeps pace with the emotional maelstrom. This is an absolutely brilliant work.
Jun 28, 2009Trevor rated it it was amazing
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jul 11, 2008Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition Shelves: plays, academic, classic, fiction, literature, film, drama, 20th-century
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? = Wer hat Angst vor Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albee
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee first staged in 1962. It examines the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive an unwitting younger couple, Nick and Honey, as guests, and draw them into their bitter and frustrated relationship. The play is in three acts, normally taking a little less than three ho...more
Jan 07, 2019Luís C. rated it it was amazing · review of another editionWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee first staged in 1962. It examines the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive an unwitting younger couple, Nick and Honey, as guests, and draw them into their bitter and frustrated relationship. The play is in three acts, normally taking a little less than three ho...more
Shelves: plays, reading-the-world, us-canada-author, on-my-own, favourites, 2019-readings, penguin, 100-200
Procreation is the basic essence of human life. It is for this reason that all human go through all the crossings of life, in hope that when they are no longer in the world, somebody will be there to carry on their legacy forward. But, what happens to a couple who does not have a child? With what, the couple should hope, when the very essence of their being is refused to them. It is this theme which the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by the American writer Edward Albee deals with.
The play...more
The play...more
![Who Who](/uploads/1/2/4/9/124915943/136628886.jpg)
Nov 09, 2014Michael rated it it was amazing
A three-act play about the illusions that sustain two couples, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf follows the aging George and Martha as they entertain and terrorize the recently married Nick and Honey one night after the end of a university faculty party. The evening starts off on an unpleasant note in the former couple's home, and the situation only further deteriorates as the increasingly intoxicated small group stumbles toward dawn. Albee's acerbic wit is at its strongest here, and in contrast t...more
Jan 26, 2017Rebecca McNutt rated it it was amazing
I don't often read plays but I absolutely loved Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for its cinematic, almost comedic style, it's colourful characters and its timelessness. Definitely a classic that everyone should read.
Jul 21, 2017Kenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition Shelves: albee, scripts, classics, theatre, audio
“There's no limit to you, is there?”
Edward Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
This review is not for Edward Albee's brilliant play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but for the equally brilliant recording of the original cast with Uta Hagen.
I am a fan of the movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, but much of the humor is missing from the movie. Here, in this recording, we can hear all of Albee's wonderfully dark humor. In the words of Martha: 'I thought it was a scream. You laughed...more
Edward Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
This review is not for Edward Albee's brilliant play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but for the equally brilliant recording of the original cast with Uta Hagen.
I am a fan of the movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, but much of the humor is missing from the movie. Here, in this recording, we can hear all of Albee's wonderfully dark humor. In the words of Martha: 'I thought it was a scream. You laughed...more
Oct 01, 2015Hadrian rated it really liked it · review of another edition
I finally saw this the other night. It was fun to watch, although by 'fun' I often mean painful and awkward. This is a long social faux pas taken to its most uncomfortable extreme, and I often had to look down just from being so embarrassed at watching what was happening.
(view spoiler)[The final twist seems vaguely implausible at first glance, but then I've had people lie to me about more implausible things than having a child. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[The final twist seems vaguely implausible at first glance, but then I've had people lie to me about more implausible things than having a child. (hide spoiler)]
Feb 06, 2015Maxwell rated it really liked it
Holy smokes, this was hard to put down. It's riveting, a little vile, and dramatic to say the least. I'm so excited to talk about it in class this week. I'll probably come back and review it more properly then. Needless to say, this was excellent.
Jun 28, 2007Laura rated it it was amazing · review of another editionRecommends it for: everyone, theater buffs, fans of dysfunctional relationships
This is, in my opinion, the best play ever written in the 20th century. There's also a great story about how this was the first drama rejected by the Pulitzer Prize committee for 'obscenity' (you may have a hard time finding the obscenity in it, though, since it's from 1962). It's basically about two married couples who hang out in the wee hours of the morning following a party on a college campus in New England, but the interesting part is the way one couple tries to screw with the other's mind...more
This play is so fucked. I don't know whether it's genius or madness. Probably both.
May 05, 2012El rated it really liked it · review of another edition
This falls under that category labelled AWKWARD SOCIAL GATHERING.
You ever been to a party where the host and hostess get totally hammered and spend the rest of the evening humiliating each other? If you haven't, I don't believe you, number one, and number two, you're a lucky bastard. It's awkward and uncomfortable and lemme tell you, it's not much better if you're the drunken host and hostess either. No one's having a good time, no matter how much liquor is consumed, keep that in mind.
The theate...more
May 15, 2015Beatrix rated it it was amazingYou ever been to a party where the host and hostess get totally hammered and spend the rest of the evening humiliating each other? If you haven't, I don't believe you, number one, and number two, you're a lucky bastard. It's awkward and uncomfortable and lemme tell you, it's not much better if you're the drunken host and hostess either. No one's having a good time, no matter how much liquor is consumed, keep that in mind.
The theate...more
Shelves: favorites, anglistika, 2015-favorites, all-time-favorites, lit-classes, classics, read-in-2015
I think I'm still processing, but WOW!
'We all peel labels, sweetie; and when you get through the skin, all three layers, through the muscle, slosh aside the organs [...] and get down to bone...you know what you do then?
[...] When you get down to bone, you haven't got all the way, yet. There's something inside the bone...the marrow...and that's what you gotta get at.”
'We all peel labels, sweetie; and when you get through the skin, all three layers, through the muscle, slosh aside the organs [...] and get down to bone...you know what you do then?
[...] When you get down to bone, you haven't got all the way, yet. There's something inside the bone...the marrow...and that's what you gotta get at.”
May 09, 2007Casey rated it really liked it
This play makes me squirm with discomfort every time I read it. My mother raised me to be so conscious of manners that I'm practically Southern.
Even though George and Martha are just horrible, I can't help cackle at some of the insults they sling. When Martha says that George doesn't have 'the stuff,' my English Major heart is made happy. It's a totally perfect slam.
And who could not admire Albee's daring in using the term 'monkey nipples'?
Even though George and Martha are just horrible, I can't help cackle at some of the insults they sling. When Martha says that George doesn't have 'the stuff,' my English Major heart is made happy. It's a totally perfect slam.
And who could not admire Albee's daring in using the term 'monkey nipples'?
---'What a dump!' Thus begins a most entertaining Albeography. The language shocked prissy critics in the early 60s. There's a lot of drinking, shrieking and insulting. Another play in which 2 couples snarl at each other and you wonder why someone doesn't say, 'OK, we're going home!' But, if this was said, there'd be no play.
Nov 10, 2016Suvi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition Shelves: 1940-1969, theatre, _north-america, _favorites
The song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? was featured in the Disney short film Three Little Pigs (1933), where two of the pigs are convinced they're safe from the wolf in their straw and twig houses.
In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, George and Martha return home from a party with a younger couple, Nick and Honey, and end up downing a drink or two or ten during the night. Nick and Honey can't seem to drag themselves away from the revelling that seems more like a surreal nightmare of funhous...more
In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, George and Martha return home from a party with a younger couple, Nick and Honey, and end up downing a drink or two or ten during the night. Nick and Honey can't seem to drag themselves away from the revelling that seems more like a surreal nightmare of funhous...more
The central theme of this play is living without pretense. It involves 4 characters (and you will hate each of them) who berate each other through three acts. People have always raved to me about it, but I must admit that I can't understand why - rather than being emotionally jarred and on-edge, I felt bored and irritated. Every character is so villianized that there is no 'heart' to the play, not a single character one can relate to. It's an interesting piece of literature, but it's definitely...more
There are simply no words.
Mar 16, 2016Maria rated it really liked it · review of another edition
That was… intense.
I am not sure whether the relationship between Martha and George is highly dysfunctional or highly functional. They seem to live in a world of their own, a world that plays by their rules and not the other way around.
The presence of an audience, Honey and Nick, seems to only bring up either their worst or their best, depending on the point of view. As their games go on, instead of exposing themselves (how does one expose oneself when one already lives outside oneself?), Marth...more
I am not sure whether the relationship between Martha and George is highly dysfunctional or highly functional. They seem to live in a world of their own, a world that plays by their rules and not the other way around.
The presence of an audience, Honey and Nick, seems to only bring up either their worst or their best, depending on the point of view. As their games go on, instead of exposing themselves (how does one expose oneself when one already lives outside oneself?), Marth...more
Mar 05, 2011Lia Jacobson rated it did not like it · review of another edition
Back and forth, back and forth, a husband and wife bicker. They bicker about each other. They bicker about their son. They bicker about the company. Back and forth, back and forth. If you like watching verbal arguments take place for hours at a time (more than hours, in book form), then this is the play novelette for you.
SPOILER:
It wasn't so much the characters that bothered me, or why they were arguing, it was just the arguing itself. It seems this entire play is based on people picking away at...more
SPOILER:
It wasn't so much the characters that bothered me, or why they were arguing, it was just the arguing itself. It seems this entire play is based on people picking away at...more
Aug 16, 2015Jill rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Picture the most awkward couple conversation you've ever had to witness. You know -- an argument on the day of their wedding; boozy, passive-aggressive comments that get called out; eye rolling and mutters; all that. Then multiply it by a million. Add some bipolar disorder/delusion/daddy issues/mommy issues/general emotional turmoil. That approaches -- approaches -- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
Plays are such a distinct medium. Just in the diction and grammar, I find you can always tell when y...more
Mar 07, 2016Steven rated it really liked it · review of another editionPlays are such a distinct medium. Just in the diction and grammar, I find you can always tell when y...more
Shelves: american, books-i-own, plays, literature
'There will be order and constancy... and I am unalterably opposed to it.' (36)I had previously wanted to read Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but without a particular sense of urgency - until it was mentioned in a commentary on Strindberg's plays. Apparently, Albee was influenced by Strindberg; intrigued, I immediately ordered a copy, and ended up reading Albee's play in almost a single sitting. Powerful and mesmerizing (in the sense of hardly allowing you to avert your gaze), funny and also te...more
Feb 17, 2014Leslie rated it really liked it · review of another edition
4.5* This play about a dysfunctional couple reads almost as well as it plays on stage. I have seen the film version with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (more than once) & I kept hearing their voices while I was reading.
Mar 15, 2011Ted Wenskus rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
I'm admittedly a little biased as I played Nick in a production of this, but Edward Albee is one of the truly great playwrights of the 20th century and this is one of his masterpieces. This unflinching look at living life without illusion is embodied in three acts that progress almost in real time through the course of an unforgettable evening of 'fun and games.' In fact, it is one of the most important evenings in these four characters' lives for reasons which I won't spoil here...
Is there a lo...more
Is there a lo...more
Wholly unfamiliar with this play when picking it up from a used book store, I was both enraptured and flustered by the manic pace of this one-set story, and by the back-and-forth between characters delivered in circular and staccato fits. Upon finishing, I know I need to see it performed to really get the full impact: while there are only four characters, their individual motivations are often duplicitous, and there are so many dialogue tags within the text (so much of it is sarcastic or otherwi...more
Jun 11, 2013Alan rated it it was amazing
Must admit, the Burton-Taylor film compelled me to read it the first time. Somehow the alcoholic admixture enhanced the mood-changes that their relationship--and their psyches-- provided. Additionally, the actors' alcoholism, especially Burton's, gave resonance to the filmic portrayal of booze-induced breakdown.
It's been so long, and no longer on my shelf, that I shall have to look at Nichols-snippets online.
It's been so long, and no longer on my shelf, that I shall have to look at Nichols-snippets online.
Sep 17, 2016Cathy (cathepsut) rated it it was amazing
RIP, Edward Albee! Thank you for a brilliant play, that led to an equally brilliant movie.
Sep 05, 2018ALLEN rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Crackerjack 1962 play by Edward Albee. When it first played Broadway, critics were on hand to provide adjectives like 'searing' and 'corrosive' in its study of a middle-aged professor and his shrewish wife who 'hold hostage' at an after-party an ambitious young professor and his mousy wife. But it's also brilliant. One critic whose name escapes me said that Albee had 'breathed life into Naturalism' (which had previously been thought a dead approach to drama by the early 1960's).
By the way, if yo...more
By the way, if yo...more
Apr 13, 2014Yara (The Narratologist) rated it it was amazing
The first time I saw Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a few months ago and when I sat down in the theatre I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that it is a famous play and that I thought the title was funny. After the first ten minutes or so I thought I had it all figured out: it was a comedy of manners about a loud wife and her grumpy husband. I settled in for a night of easy laughs, maybe a bit of slapstick along the way. Little did I know that by the time the first act was over, th...more
Oct 10, 2016Faye rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Read: October 2016
Rating: 2/5 stars
The play covers one late night encounter between two couples who on the surface of things couldn't be more different. George and Martha are older, middle-aged and with horrible, bitter feelings towards each other. They are so spiteful and hateful but I think the behaviour portrayed seems realistic for a long term, unhappy marriage. They are co-dependant and miserable yet don't do anything to change their lives or marriage for the better.
The younger couple are n...more
Rating: 2/5 stars
The play covers one late night encounter between two couples who on the surface of things couldn't be more different. George and Martha are older, middle-aged and with horrible, bitter feelings towards each other. They are so spiteful and hateful but I think the behaviour portrayed seems realistic for a long term, unhappy marriage. They are co-dependant and miserable yet don't do anything to change their lives or marriage for the better.
The younger couple are n...more
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Edward Franklin Albee III was an American playwright known for works including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Zoo Story, The Sandbox and The American Dream. His works are considered well-crafted and often unsympathetic examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflected a mastery and Americanization of the Theatre of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights...more
More quizzes & trivia...
“I said I was impressed, Martha. I'm beside myself with jealousy. What do you want me to do, throw up?” — 65 likes
“Martha: Truth or illusion, George; you don't know the difference.
George: No, but we must carry on as though we did.
Martha: Amen.” — 60 likes
More quotes…George: No, but we must carry on as though we did.
Martha: Amen.”
Download Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Edward Albee ebook
“Twelve times a week,” answered Uta Hagen, when asked how often she’d like to play Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Like her, audiences and critics alike could not get enough of Edward Albee’s masterful play. A dark comedy, it portrays husband and wife George and Martha in a searing night of dangerous fun and games. By the evening’s end, a stunning, almost unbearable revelation provides a climax that has shocked audiences for years. With the play’s razor-sharp dialogue and the stripping away of social pretense, Newsweek rightly foresaw Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as “a brilliantly original work of art–an excoriating theatrical experience, surging with shocks of recognition and dramatic fire [that] will be igniting Broadway for some time to come.”