The Social Theater of Edward Albee Author(s): PETER WOLFE

The Social Theater of Edward Albee
Author(s): PETER WOLFE
Source: Prairie Schooner, Vol. 39, No. 3 (FALL 1965), pp. 248-262
Published by: University of Nebraska Press
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PETER WOLFE
The SocialTheater
of EdwardAlbee
so noisily
^lbee's detractorsand admirershavebeenyattering
boththecreativeimpulsebehindhis
thattheyhaveoverlooked
art.The
workandtheimportant
questionoftheplaysas dramatic
whichgreetedTinyAlice
and thebewilderment
rage,thedisgust,
thatthistrendwill probablycontinue.
indicate,unfortunately,
doubtemergefromthecolumnsof the
no
Albee
will
Although
theatrical
reviewsto the morehallowedpagesof the scholarly
in thehandful
definite
trends
itis nottooearlytoobserve
journals,
The six
to thepublic'sshockedattention.
ofworkshe hasbrought
giftforsure,deftreparteewith
plays,whichcombineCoward's1
haveat theircenter
head-on
Williams'trenchant
Tennessee
thrusts,
andinstitutions.
Albee's
unrest
withourvalues,practices,
a chafing
oftheolder
bracketed
as a variation
workitselfmaybe tentatively
human
different
characters
his
symbolize
types
morality
plays:
or familysituations.
thrustinto specificsocial, professional,
of theplaysis to beginneartheend ofa comAnother
tendency
pletedaction,in themannerofthelaterIbsenand O'Neill. The
as seenin JohnGabrielBorkmanand
ofthismethod,
advantages
The IcemanCometh,are unityof time,place,and actionalong
of dramaticforce.Allyinghis workwiththe
withconcentration
themovement
goalsoftheTheateroftheAbsurd,Albeeendorses
as therealistic
withGenet,Beckett,
associated
Ionesco,andhimself
modeoftoday.In a New YorkTimesMagazinearticle
theatrical
1962),he writes:
(25 February
Peter Wolfe has recently published articles on Nietzsche (MLN), Conrad (McNeese
Review), and Wilkie Collins (Forum). He is writinga book on Mary Renault for the Twayne
English Authorsseries.
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THE SOCIAL THEATER OF EDWARD ALBEE
of
As I getit, theTheaterof theAbsurdis an absorption-in-art
certainexistentialist
philosophical
conceptshavingto do, in the
to makesenseforhimselfout of his
main,withman'sattempts
world
a
whichmakesno sense-whichmakes
in
senseless
position
no sensebecausethemoral,religious,political,and socialstructuresman has erectedto "illusion"himselfhave collapsed.(31)
Albee's firstplay,The Zoo Story(1958), consistsof a dialogue
betweentwomen who meetby chancein a commonplacesetting,
New York's Central Park, on an unspecifiedSunday afternoon.
themesinclude the polarizationof society
The play'sinterlocking
and the lack of verbal and spiritualcommunicationbetweenthe
separategroups.Peter,one of the men,is describedas generically
In his stagedirections,Albee carefullyavoids
upper-middle-class.
him physically,
or intellectually:
individualizing
temperamentally,
"A man in his earlyforties,neitherfatnor gaunt,neitherhandsome nor homely.He wearstweeds,smokesa pipe, carrieshornrimmedglasses.Althoughhe is movinginto middleage, his dress
and mannerwould suggesta man younger."Jerry,the othercharthe drifter,the lonely,who findshimselfliving
acter,personifies
withoutprospectsin a roominghouse on New York'supper west
side. Even in his firstplay,we can see Albee endeavoringto redefinethe traditionalelementsof tragedy,throughcharacterand
alongmodernsociallines.For althoughphysicalviolenceand even
death are portrayedon the stage,the confrontation
of Peter and
These
Jerryis not thestandardone of antagonistand protagonist.
conventionaldramaticelementsare undercut and invertedso
drasticallythat the concludingimpression,like that of Sartre's
of humanityat large
No Exit, is one of the inevitablesuffering
ratherthanan alignmentof good and evil forcesmonitoredby a
receivedmorality.
an existential
The dramaticmachineryof the play also reflects
withthesocialscene.To establisha commonground
preoccupation
fordiscourse,JerryprodsPeter,whomhe has neverseen before,
with abrupt commentsand disarminglytrivial questions. This
illogicalitygivesthe spectatorand the unsuspectingPeterenough
shockvalue to sustaindramaticinterplay.It is here thatAlbee's
tautnessand economyare manifestedforthe firsttime. As soon
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PRAIRIE
SCHOONER
as the speakingrelationshipis established,Jerry,the intruder,
cutsdeeplywitha batteryof irrelevantbut bewilderingcomments
about Peter'sprivatelife:
jerry: And you have children.
peter: Yes; two.
jerry: Boys?
peter: No, girls . . . both girls.
jerry: But you wanted boys.
peter: Well . . . naturally, every man wants a son, but ....
jerry: And you're not going to have any more kids, are you?
Peter (A bit distantly):No. No more. (Then back,and irfaome)
Why did you say that?How would you know about that?
jerry: The way you crossyour legs, perhaps; somethingin the
voice. Or maybeI'm just guessing.Is it yourwife?
Most of the dialogue consistsof thissortof off-hand,
stinging
banter;sustainingthe restof the actionare Jerry'slengthysoliloquies about his roominghouse, his landlady,and the landlady's
dog. Each partyin thedramais attractedto theother,his diametrical opposite: Jerryfreelybegins conversingwith the East Side
talk
publishingexecutive,who welcomestheoccasionofa friendly
witha stranger.But at neitherend of theircolloquyis therecommunicationas we familiarlyknow it. Jerryeither intentionally
vexesor talksat Peter.Althoughtheysharetheirdeepestfrustrationsand agonies,neverdoes the superveningsocial barrierallow
for the developmentof a true personalrelationshipmarkedby
mutualrespectand dignity.It is as ifan obscurebut powerfulselfweb rendersintimacyunfeasible.Because the twomen
generating
transcend
the barrierdividingthem,theirencountercan
to
try
lead only to death and destruction.
JerryunmasksPeter'sposseshim
sivenessand makes
appear ridiculous;and althoughPeter,
the firstof Albee's spirituallycastratedmales,simpersand pules
to asserthis rightto comfortand convenience,Jerryis willingto
die forthe parkbenchthatthe two men contendfor.
The price thatJerrypays to learn the shallownessof Peter's
dignityis enormous;theanvil,as it were,has brokenthe hammer
in the collision of incompatiblesocial forces.Jerryhad stated
twicebeforethat"sometimesa personhas to go a verylong distanceout of his wayto come back a shortdistancecorrectly."His
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THE SOCIAL THEATER OF EDWARD ALBEE
physicaland emotionalvoyagesrepresenta modern humanistic
versionof the quest motifsemployedin medieval legend. The
encounterwith Peter markshis finalattemptto forma candid
humanrelationship.
he had failedto do thesamething
Previously,
withhis landlady'sdog. The searchin bothcasesis one of identity
Like Yank of The Hairy Ape, Jerryis finally
throughcommunity.
compelledto admitthathe does not "belong,"but he cannotexist
a strenuous
as a fugitivespecies.His collisionwithPeterrepresents
ofhisearlierfailurewiththedog. AfterseeingPeter's
re-enactment
dignityflayedin the bench scene, the spectatormay well ask if
Albee's intentionis to expose the cowardlyfellowshipof mortals
as an unworthy
goal. Despitetheunorthodoxhilaritytheplaygenon
it
thissour note. Peter'sunspecifiedsenseof guilt,
ends
erates,
whichmakes him so vulnerableto Jerry'sbarbed remarks,also
preventshim fromgivingenoughof himselfto establishan uninwithanotherperson.Only the
hibitedinterchange
ofpersonalities
humdrumand theconventionalsurvive,and in weakenedformat
that,whentheyclashwithan alien force.The identicalconcluding
wordsof bothcharacters("Oh myGod.") indicatea morepotent
forcewhichembracesJerryand Peterand to whichtheyultimately
appeal, but fromtheworkablesocial standpoint,the twomen can
neverbe united.
The themeof theestablishedand thedispossessedcontinuesto
figurelargelyin The Death ofBessieSmith(1959), but withfewer
Marxian undertones.Albee shiftshis settingfromNew York to
Memphis,wherethe contoursof social inequityare more sharply
drawn.He is, however,reluctantto compressthe probleminto a
tidycase of racial injustice.The Negroesand the whitesin the
play are not only disunitedin theiraims and loyalties,but also
dividedwithinthemselves,
especiallythe ascendantwhites.Jack,
a Negro malcontent,or at least a promoter,schemesto escape
southernintolerance
bytakingBessieto New York.Bernie,another
who
Negro,
appears only once, scoffsat Jack'splans. Instead of
fleeingto theinventiveand promisingNorth,he staysin Memphis
and drinks;like O'Casey's Captain Boyle and Joxer Daley, he
knowsintuitivelythathis societyis so incorrigiblethatthe most
prudentsolutionis simplyto forgetit or overlookit. The remain251
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PRAIRIE
SCHOONER
ingNegroin thecast,theOrderly,has been so bruisedand twisted
byseekinganswersto theracialproblemthatBernie'sacquiescence
seemsto be the mostsatisfactory
policy,even at the cost of selfrespectand social justice. Because the Negroeslack organization,
the idealisticOrderlyis forcedto seek help fromwhites.But personalcontactwiththemonlyservesto enforcehis feelingsof racial
inadequacy.The Intern'sdeferentialplatitudesand the scourging
of attaining
tauntsof the Nurse demonstratethe impracticality
civil freedomforthe Negroesthroughinterracialchannels.The
upshotofcooperativelegislationwill onlybe continuedNegrosubservience,a self-estranged
Negro polity,and a sacrificeof Negro
culture:
Tell me, boy ... is it true that you have Uncle Tom'd yourself
rightout of the bosom of yourfamily. . . rightout of yourcircle
of acquaintances?Is it true, young man, that you are now an
inhabitantof no-man'sland, on the one side shunned and disowned by yourbrethren,and on the otheran object of contempt
and derisionto yourbetters?Is thatyourproblem,son?
As morallyhopelessas the situationappears,Albee does furnisha workableoutlet,but one not realizedwithinthe play itself.
Like theNegrosingerof "Some ofThese Days" in Sartre'sNausea,
Bessieherselfis a potentiallink betweenalien forces.Racial conflictcan be dissolvedin Albee's playby her jazz singing,whichis,
suitably,an Americanartform.As in theOrpheuslegendand The
Magic Flute, Albee exploitsthe themeof the power of music.
the off-stage
Althoughshe is not portrayed,
presenceof Bessie,a
enoughwonderto keep
figureeven in 1937,suffuses
semi-mythical
of
the
drama.
at
the
center
The
her
inevitabilityof her townsby characterjuxtapeople'sfailureto benefitby herartis reflected
of thescenes.The ones involving
positionand by thedistribution
Bessie are all scrappyand undeveloped,while thosetreatingthe
anguisheddaily lives of the othercharactersare more detailed.
The play's structure,then, organicallymirrorsand justifiesits
racial intolerancerenders
theme.By erectingunnaturalstandards,
insensitive
to artand, therefore,
to art'spotentoday'ssoutherners
tial as a meansto social reform.At the end of the play the Nurse
is less movedby Bessie'sdeath than by her own sadisticimpulse
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THE SOCIAL THEATER OF EDWARD ALBEE
to savageJackforbringingthecorpseto thehospital.The humane
and social issuesare buriedwithinher raginghysteria.Ironically,
too, the mayorof Memphis is a patient in the same hospital.
AlthoughBessie dies, his powerand the bigotryit embodieswill
survive.Albee conveysthroughdramaticstructure,however,the
idea thatthe survivalwill be briefand inglorious.The verypresence ofthemayorin thehospitalindicatesa sickcommunity.
Like
and
thematic
his
structural
he
never
Bessie,
opposite,
appears on
stage;yet,also like her,he is a feltforce.The social injusticeshe
stands for invalidatedivine law and the divine gift of music,
deathof the South.
therebypresagingtheself-inflicted
While the racial question looms prominently,
there is still
anotherthemein Bessie Smithwhich probesjust as deeply into
the ailmentsof modernAmerica.Ratherthan surveyingthe general social picturethrougha chance situation,like the meeting
of Peterand Jerryin CentralPark,Albee reachesto the rootsof
societyby focusingupon fixedgroupslike the familyor the professionalorganization.His firsttreatment
of thestruggleforpower
betweenthe sexes,Bessie Smith likewiseintroducesthe firstof
Albee's neuroticwomen. In the traditionof Hedda Gabler and
theladyat thedressingtableof The WasteLand, the Nurse forms
the pivotalpoint of her society'speckingorder:
I am sick of this desk . . . this uniform ... it scratches .... I am
sick of the sight of you . . . the thought of you makes me . . . itch
I am sick of talking to people on the phone in this damn
I am sick of the smell of Lysol ... I could
stupid hospital ....
I am sick of going to bed and I am sick of waking
die of it ....
up .... I am tired ... I am tired of the truth . . . and I am tired
of lying about the truth ... I am tired of my skin . . . . ι want
out!
Beleagueredby her torpidfather,whoserulingactivityconsistsof
priminghis bigotryat the MemphisDemocraticClub, the Nurse
insinuatesherselfinsidethe defensesof the othermen in the play
and triesto crushtheirspirits.Her laceratingremarkspenetrate
theirmostvulnerableareas-theOrderly'suneasydesignsforracial
equalityand the Intern'sstatusas a lover.As a way of punishing
theIntern'sretaliations,
shevowsto use her father'spoliticalinflu253
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PRAIRIE SCHOONER
while she continuesto flaunt
ence to destroyhim professionally
Zoo Story,theattackeris once
The
him.
as
in
hersexualityat
But,
again crushed.The Intern,who had defiedthe Nurse's threats
notto administer
to Bessie,will practicemedicineoutsideof MemThe
social
idealism
oftheOrderlyis stifledand domesticated.
phis.
Jack,to ease his remorseover Bessie'sdeath,will join Bernieas a
steadydrinkingpartner.And afterthe mayorrecoversfromhis
operation,he will resumehis place in the chain of miseryhe has
at theend ofthedrama,
helpedto perpetuate.The Nurse'shysteria
death
her
an
the
of
reason
as
marking
adjunct of Bessie'sdeath,
will permeatethe entiresocial fabricuntil it exhaustsitselfas
mutuallyspenthate. Afterthe sadisticimpulsehas devoured,or
tamed,itsobject,it will turnupon itselfin an act of self-annihilation.
Albee's next four plays treatvariationsof this same theme;
and, althoughtheypreservethe stricterunityof The Zoo Story,
the techniqueand substanceof thesemore matureworksderive
fromthe social ramifications
of individual psychologyfound in
Bessie Smith. By dwellingon the tightlyknit familygroup (or
thegroupthatrecognizesitselfas a family),Albee enableshimself
to dramatizein greaterdeptha socialorganismwhichis disoriented
at its source. The Sandbox (1959), the firstof theseworks,gains
expressionthroughits use of allegory.Mommyand Daddy have
broughtGrandma to a beach. The clear symbolicstatementis
thatGrandmais returninginvoluntarily
to the sea, the sourceof
life.Resortingto anothermedievalconventionand his usual device
of raisingthe curtainclose to the end of a finishedaction,Albee
depictsGrandmain the finalstagesof tracingthe wheel of life
to its startingpoint.This motifachievesdramaticplausibilityby
Grandma'schildishprating,her gambolingin the sandbox,and
Mommy'sundisguisedzeal to jettisonher.The playaboundswith
theatricalploys,even when the allegorydoes not require them.
Like Pirandelloand Brecht,Albee is anxious to conveythe experience of stage drama. Charactersaddressthe audience directly;
Grandmainstructs
thestagecrewin thewings;Mommycomments
on thepropertiesand stageeffects.
These measuresunderscorethe
shabbinessofMommy'sschemeand thegenuinehorrorinherentin
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THE SOCIAL THEATER OF EDWARD ALBEE
the casual and the mundane.The audience's forcedawarenessof
a sinisterquality,enlarges
aside fromintroducing
activity,
off-stage
the spatial backgroundagainstwhich the drama is played. This
added breadth,firstof all, developsthe outdoorsetting.Perhaps
more significantly,
by telescopingaestheticdistancebetweenthe
cast,the stagehands,and the audience, Albee also universalizes
the action.That he was not fullysatisfiedwith thisoblique and
perhapsdiffusepresentationcan be seen by his returningto the
same themein The AmericanDream (1960). Albee himselfremarksthatforThe Sandbox,whichwas startedafterbut completed
beforeThe AmericanDream,"I extractedseveralofthecharacters
fromThe AmericanDream and placed themin a situationdifferent than,but relatedto, theirpredicamentin the longer play."
in The AmericanDream is
The mostnoticeableimprovement
the portrayalof the Young Man. The Sandbox modeled him too
villain. A brainless
closelyupon the stockTheater-of-the-Absurd
the outphysicalcolossuswithambitionsof becominga film-star,
door versionof the Angel of Death reciteshis lines badly and
on theotherhand,developsmore
The laterfigure,
unintelligently.
organicallyfromthe plot. Whereas Albee's firstAngel of Death
had onlyallegoricalvalidity,his morecarefullydrawncounterpart
thecentralmesdramatically
providesa bettervehicleforjustifying
sageofbothplays:thattheAmericandream,once an idealizedbut
wagedquest forrichesand personalhappinessat the social
sternly
and spirituallevels, has degeneratedinto the death wish. The
Young Man in The AmericanDream is direct,ruthless,and practical.Stillactingas theAngelof Death, he has come,like Mephistophelesin the Faust legend, to claim his own. Years before,
dismemberedhis identical
Mommyand Daddy had metaphorically
at
the
the
twin,
foundlingacquired
Bye-ByeAdoption Service.
Functioningas theAvenger,the Young Man conveysthe intimate
fusionof life and death,love and hate, thatthe moral confusion
of post-warAmerica has fostered.The crack in his personality
is an ironicreversalof the traditionaltragicflaw.Transmittedby
the previousgeneration,it equips him to expeditehis goals with
a traitwhichanticipatesNick, the ambiharsh,surgicalefficiency,
in Who's Afraidof VirginiaWoolf?
tiousyoungcollegeinstructor
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PRAIRIE SCHOONER
(1962) and the lawyerin Tiny Alice. The Young Man lacks the
endowmentof sympathy;Mommyand Daddy's generation,by
theimpulseto love,havefailedto engender
abusingand destroying
thisvirtuein theirchildren.This sin,accordingto Albee,is a violation of a sacred trust.Aftercourtingdeath by desecratingan
inheritedgift,thefundofaccumulatedfeeling,Mommyand Daddy
blindlyembracetheirdestructionwhen they"adopt" the Young
Man.
As in The Zoo Storyand Bessie Smith,Albee is once again
remorselessin his executionof the theme of retribution.The
enormitiesof the generationthatgrewinto adulthoodduringthe
SecondWorld War do not onlyinfecttheirprogeny;theyextend
to the previousgenerationas well. By applyinghis centralthesis
to threegenerations,the playwrighthere anticipateshis multidimensionaltreatment
of realityin Tiny Alice (1964). Grandma
had wantedto studysingingas a youngwomanbut devotedherself
insteadto thebusinessofraisingMommy.And at eighty-six,
she is
stillthe mainstayof the familygroup,now thatDaddy's will and
to Mommy.
spirithave been crushedby yearsof ministering
Afterobservingthe Nurse in Bessie Smithand the two Mommiesof The Sandboxand The AmericanDream, we can perhaps
understandPeter'sreasonforisolatinghimselffromhis wifeand
daughterseverySundayafternoonin The Zoo Story.The obsessed
behaviorof Albee's womenlabels him forsome as virulenta mias Schopenhaueror Nietzsche.Mrs.Barker,thecommittee
sogynist
workerin The AmericanDream, receivesas much of Albee's
scornas Mommy.Like Mommy,she has also contrivedto have her
mothercarted away, and her febrilereproachesand character
assaultsexplainwhyherhusbandis in a wheel-chair.
But primarily,
she is in the play to dramatizeAlbee's distastefor our matriarchal semi-welfare
societyof bureaus and committees,where
is
responsibility alwaysdissipatedto the anonymousgroup:
daddy: What does it have to do withwhywhatfs-her-name
is here?
mommy:They'reherebecause we asked them.
The AmericanDreamhasmoretensilestrength
thanThe Sandbox.
As thequoted excerptshows,Albee is now able to packa wealthof
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THE SOCIAL THEATER OF EDWARD ALBEE
meaningintoa randomphrase.The AmericanDream beginsthe
workof his maturity.
Matchinghis abilityto deepen and broaden
his subjectmatteris a defterhandlingof dramaticformand lanadvancesince The Zoo Storyis his avoidguage.A major stylistic
ance of highlydocumentedrhetoric.Grandma'sboxes, at once
make fewerdemandsthan the
moregraphicand moresuggestive,
labored precisionof Jerry'soral deliveries:
frequently
a fewclothes,a hot plate
Whatdo I have,I have toiletarticles,
thatI'm notsupposedto have,a can opener,one thatworkswith
and twospoons,one small,
a key,youknow;a knife,twoforks,
one large;threeplates,a cup,a saucer,a drinking
glass,twopicbothempty,eightor nine books,a pack of pornotureframes,
graphicplayingcards,regulardeck....
Albee has also gainedthe abilityto conveypathosand feltlife
throughactionand dialogue.When he returnsto the highlyspecific,ratherlengthyexpositionalpassage,as he does in Virginia
Woolf,when Marthaand Georgediscusstheirson,he infusesthe
language with a lyrical freshnessand a Chekhovian self-irony
whichare moredramaticallyfunctionalthan Jerry'scatalogueof
items.Albee's masteryof hyperboleand metaphoricalvividness
further
enableshimto renderhis characters'mostanguishedgrievances and give thema grotesquetwist.The AmericanDream is
studdedwithexamples:
grandma:You wantedme aroundso youcouldsleepin myroom
whenDaddy got fresh.But now it isn'timportant,
because
want
fresh
with
doesn't
to
get
Daddy
you any more,and I
don'tblamehim.You'd rathersleepwithme,wouldn'tyou,
Daddy?
*
#
#
#
#
There you go. Lettingyourtruefeelingscomeout. Old people
aren'tdryenough,I suppose.My sacksare empty,the fluidin
myeyeballsis all cakedon theinsideedges,myspineis madeof
sugarcandy,I breatheice; but you don't hear me complain.
Nobodyhearsold peoplecomplainbecausepeoplethinkthat'sall
old people do. And that'sbecauseold people are gnarledand
intotheshapeofa complaint.
saggedand twisted
Like Shaw, Albee exaggerateshis language,his themes,and
his characters
fora didacticpurpose:to correctan exaggerationin
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PRAIRIE
SCHOONER
the oppositedirection.The sugary,home-spunrhetoricof older
and theexalted
of itsdowntrodden,
people,society'sprotectiveness
stationof modernwomenin generalfurnishthreeclichéswhich
Albee is anxiousto re-evaluate.By naminghis twomain characters
Georgeand Martha,he indicatesthe relevanceof VirginiaWoolf
to modernAmerica.This carefullypatternedplay,whichreflects
Albee's love of sharpcontrastas a structuralprinciple,juxtaposes
twomarriedcouplesa generationapart.Bothhusbandsseemto be
moreurbaneand morenaturallygiftedthantheirwives;while at
the same time,each man is the other'santi-self.Nick, the young
is zealous and practical,having directedhis
biologyinstructor,
scientific
objectivityto the goal of personalsuccess.His counterof the college'spresident,has settled
part,George,the son-in-law
into a seedy second-classassociate professorship
afterfailing to
realize his scholarlypotential.Again, both men are checkedby
theirwomen.But whereAlbee treatedthisthemefrontally
in the
threepreviousplays,his approach in VirginiaWoolf is ironical
and morecomplex.Insteadof one Angel of Death, we now have
two;Nick (whichwas MacLeish'snameforthedevil in /. B.) repudiatesthefeelingimpulseby his systematic
and Honey,
selfishness,
his simperingalcoholic wife,is ruled by fear of childbirthand
by love of violence.Her impromptusolo dance in the thirdact
act symbolizesthe dance of death she has been living since her
marriage.
a livelierwit and
George,as has been suggested,demonstrates
self-control
than
Martha. (Like the Nurse, Mommy,of
greater
The AmericanDream, and Miss Alice, Marthahas a reputation
forsexual promiscuity.)
Yet her malignantverbal attackson his
and
personal
professionaldignitydemolishhis manhood. As a
youth George accidentallykilled both his parents(Washington
defeatingthe parentcountry?),and, to compensate,marriedan
older, more experiencedwoman whom his latent guilt feelings
will not allow him to injure. In turn,Martha'sown lack of selfrespectpromptsher to punishhis devotion.But gradually,as the
yearsof crueltyand the consumptionof alcohol accrue,he begins
to repay Martha'sbrutalityin kind,althoughusually at a more
sophisticatedlevel.
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THE SOCIAL THEATER OF EDWARD ALBEE
The dominantidea growingout of thisbutcheryseemsto be
the destructivequality of the life-lie.This theme is articulated
at twoa.m. froma partywithGeorge,Martha
early:afterreturning
becomesupsetbecause she cannotrememberthe titleof a filmin
a complainingwife.Unlike
which,suitably,BetteDavis portrayed
Ibsen, Albee believes that falsehoodcan only beget falsehood.
Genuinestimuliforactionin the play are usuallyabsent;yet the
Marthaand
responsesevokedare excessivelystrong.Accordingly,
Georgeoftenveil theirprofoundestutterancesby non sequiturs,
and bogusgestures.These defensiveacts,originating
irrelevancies,
in a marriagebased upon mutual weaknessand in an obsessive
fearof thetruth,cause Nick to remark,"Hell, I don't knowwhen
reachesitssaturation
youpeopleare lying,or what."The absurdity
balancedpairingof
pointat theend ofthesecondact in a skillfully
scenes.Georgeand Honey "kill" Georgeand Martha'sson, while
is
Nick, who may be impotent,and Martha,who, at fifty-two,
probablypastmenopause,are engagedin a shamact of generating
a life.
Furtherpsychologicaldepth into the older couple's wretched
marriageachieves expressionat the beginningof the final act.
Nothingis staticin Albee's tormentedworld.As he demonstrated
in The AmericanDream, wherethe iniquitiesof one generation
proliferatein both directions,events always sow consequences.
a dazzlingreversalof the courtlylove traditionwhen
Albee effects
Martha claims to Nick, aftertheirdebauch, that George is the
her.To compoundher disparagement
of
onlymanwho can satisfy
Nick, she commencesa more directassault.The Freudian metaher sexual attackwithterrifying
phorunderscores
clarity:
nick(Trying
togetitstraight):
You. . . wantme... togoanswer
thedoor?
martha: That's right,lunk-head;answerthe door.There must
be something
you can do well; or,are too drunkto do that,
too?Can'tyougetthelatchup,either?
Ironically,then, Martha's infidelityrefreshesher marriage at
Nick's expense.The centerof interestsuddenlyshiftsfromthe
adulterouspair to Marthaand Georgewhenthetwoforma united
frontagainstNick. At once funnyand poignant,theirjoint attack
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PRAIRIE
SCHOONER
conveysthe lengthsto which Marthaand George will go to try
to stabilizetheirmarriage.Unable to sustainit throughacts of
love and trust,theyare forcedto employdiscord.JohnMcClain's
reviewoftheplayin theNew YorkJournalAmerican(14 October
ingredientof theirrelationship:
1962) has capturedthissignificant
"It becomes increasinglyevidentthat the elder couple's almost
inhumanbitternesstowardone another. . . [is] provokedby an
enormouspersonal sadness which they have pledged to keep
secretto themselves."
This "enormouspersonalsadness/'springingfromtheirfailure to have a child, is the mainspringof theirmarriage.Thus
Marthaand Georgeare boundbydeprivationand guiltratherthan
by joy and vitality.The consequencesare the brutalitiesand
deceptionswhichgoverntheaction.UnlikeVirginiaWoolfs sybilline heroinesof Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse,Martha
lacks subtletyand intuition.For her, everything
must be forced
to the surface,degraded,and butchered.Her distortedmotherly
impulsesgive rise to mostof the sadisticbehaviorenactedin the
drama.
George'smurderof the son he had inventedwith Martha to
fillthevoid in theirmarriagehas positivemerit.That he performs
the act the day beforethe mythripensinto adulthoodis perhaps
theplay'smostpromisingirony.Like O'Neill's Long Day's Journey
into Night, VirginiaWoolftapersto a quiet, if not emotionally
soothing,conclusion.Jerry'sstatementin The Zoo Story,that
a personhas to go a verylongdistanceout ofhiswayto
"sometimes
come back a shortdistancecorrectly,"
applies to VirginiaWoolf
as forciblyas it does to the earlierplay. Georgeclaimsthatsome
good may derive fromhis destructionof the falsehoodlinking
himselfto Martha.(The New England college town,called New
Carthage,wherethe drama is set,suggeststhe end of a reign of
feminineunreason.)Martha,in a momentof touchinglucidity,is
lesshopeful.This endingis,ofcourse,ambiguous;by concedingto
thehappyendingAlbee would have falsified
the toneof his work.
Georgeand Marthamay well be drainedof life and purposeby
the death of theirillusion.On the otherhand, it is possiblethat
fora satisfying
George'sacthassetthegroundwork
marriage.Albee
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THE SOCIAL THEATER OF EDWARD ALBEE
is willingto go no furtherthan to suggestthatthe exorcismmay
have taughtthe couple the importanceof establishingauthentic
roots.
Much easier to overlookis the contagionbred by the night's
activities.Martha and George have achieved a sort of spiritual
parentagewhich theycould have never done under the burden
of their bogus son. Nick departsfromthe stage scourgedand
humbled,while Honey appears cured of her fearsof childbirth.
Furthermore,
yearsofself-nourishing
theydo nothavetwenty-three
tormentto overcome.The couple's leave-takingseems to signal
in favorofa morebalanced
ofvanityand selfishness
a renunciation
And even if Martha and George are no longer
understanding.
theydo acknowledgetheimportance
capableofhappinesstogether,
of happinessforothers.Albee meritsthe label of social dramatist
on the strengthof this wholesale surrenderof strictlypersonal
whichconstigoals.The tragicconsequencesof themad roistering
an age lackingpositivecreative
tutesmostoftheplay'sactionreflect
characters
values.Althoughthe four
humanity
representsuffering
of
of
life's
abrasive
the
at different
stages
journey, example Martha
and George suggestsan enlargementof vision based upon selfto dignifiedsocial values.
honestyand a commitment
Since The Zoo Story,thesteadytargetofAlbee's satirehas been
modernwoman.Today's women,he insists,are perniciousboth
and influence.Endowed with more energyand
in temperament
theyeasily gain domestic
appetitethan theirmale counterparts,
and more nimbleminds.
aims
the
men's
nobler
of
powerin spite
The easyfellowshipthatdevelopssmoothlybetweenMommyand
Mrs.Barkerand betweenMarthaand Honeyhintsof an unspoken
to wrestpowerfromtheirmates.But thisdramaticfact
conspiracy
ratherthan in contemporary
life.Albee's
takesrootin Strindberg
must
women
be
about
claims
perforceconjectural,residingas
and observationand not in empirically
theydo in interpretation
women as vessels of
verifiablefact. His view of contemporary
sadism
is
theatricallyexciting.Arousinglaughterand
shrieking
applause froman audience by savagelyridiculingtheirinherited
But it is also
valuesis an accomplishment
beyondmostdramatists.
a giftthat in a less vigilantartistcould harden into a manner.
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PRAIRIE
SCHOONER
in
Albee has temperedand modifiedhis magnificent
showmanship
of
the
of
Alice.
Without
raw,searingpower
any
sacrificing
Tiny
whatmayproveto be
theearlierworks,thenew playincorporates
a major revisionof his basic premise.Through the characterof
Miss Alice, he advancesthe idea that today'swomen oftenfind
themselvescompelled to act against their principles.Although
Miss Alice is involvedin a terriblecalamity,her acts,like thoseof
Miss Amelia in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, are largelyforced
upon her. Her failureto riseabove the monstroustaskdevisedby
makesher,as well,muchmorepatheticthanany
her conspirators
of Albee's otherwomen.It mighteven be arguedthather role in
the schemerevolvingaround Julian is, in the last analysis,more
redemptivethandestructive.He neverrelinquisheshis quest for
unionwitha spiritualideal.And althoughhis ideal is displaced,he
does learn throughhis painfulassociationwith her, that moral
progressin our contingentworld can only result from dense
withanotherperson.Miss Alice, then,performsthe
involvement
serviceof deepeningthe qualityof his commitment
metaphysical
in
withoutpersonalbenefit.Her sacrificial
act,whichshe performs
spiteof the lawyer(secularlaw) and the Cardinal (God's law on
suggeststhatAlbee is workingto refresh
artistically
earth),strongly
role in
his diatribesagainstmodernwomenand theirdestructive
Americansociety.
1 Albee has
recentlywrittenan introductionto a collection of Coward's plays: Noel Coward,
Three Plays by Noel Coward (New York: Delta, 1965). The rhetorical and ontological
parallels between Tiny Alice and Coward's Design for Living (1933), incidentally,furnish
an excellentopportunityforcomparativestudy.
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