Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf: The Illusion of Reality

What if all of a sudden you come to the conclusion that the only light in the midst of all your darkness, the only light that is keeping you afloat is simply an illusion, how would you have the ability to handle your reality? When failure emerges, reality collides with impression, producing the matrix of our own" truth". And, this is how, obviously, Martha and George's Illusionary life was built. As we begin our journey through Who's scared of the Virginia Woolf, the main characters are characterized as the average American family whose" American dreams" have actually been accomplished.

Nick and Honey also depict the typical young, simply married couple who have their entire lives ahead of them to eagerly anticipate. As the reader peels the layers of language, one transcends into a more esoteric thinking, the concept of impressions stimulated by the excess of ideas and experiences. As we participate in the first level of the play, Martha articulates about the Chicago painting," Yes.

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They're wed ... And she says what a dump/ She's discontent", in the literally level, the author meant to show Martha as a repulsive character.

Nevertheless, as one goes beyond into a more meaningful point, Albee subtlety points to the reflection of Martha and George's marriage. As illustrated in the play, George's historical impotence has actually perhaps led to the failure of his career, warping his marital life into a total" dump". Though, the only way to embrace their unreasonable marriage and maintain the restricted satisfaction is by changing their reality through the conception of a child, even if it is a fictional one.

In the play, Albee reveals a graph of an allusive death, the death of a completely gorgeous lie. As George participates in the last level of the video game, he says," Flores para los muertos", which is a Spanish translation for flowers for the dead.

The bouquet contains ‘’Pansies, Rosemary, and Violence’’, each flower has an analogous representation. Rosemary has a legendary symbolization of commemoration, Pansy; of liberation of thoughts and violence is a substitution for Violets. In other words, it is an allusive bouquet of a visualization of reality. Throughout the play illusions seem indistinguishable from reality. As we divulge more into the marriage of Nick and Honey Albee indicates that their lives are based upon an illusion as well. “But she was a money baggage amongst other things and she was put up with”.

Nick admits that he lacks passion for Honey. He really only put up with her at first because her father was rich and he married her because they both presumed she was pregnant. “The mouse got all puffed up one day and so they were married and then the puff went away... like magic... pouf. ” Now that their relationship doesn’t have a baby there is nothing to sustain their marriage. As the play progresses Nick becomes intolerant towards Honey’s dimwitted remarks. Nick treats Honey as a child by monitoring her behavior and Honey becomes irritated by him always telling her what to do.

Honey consistently drinks brandy throughout the entire play which shows her inability to cope with the reality of her situation. ‘’Who’s afraid of the Virginia Woolf’’ is an allegorical substitution for, who is afraid to live life without illusion. Both, opening and closing scenes feature the song; however, they nuance in expression. In the beginning of the play, Martha buoyantly sings the song and there is rapid explosion of conversation. Whereas at the end of the play, the characters communicate mostly with soft, mellow and single lines.

By the introduction of the song, Albee denotes that the only reality that exists is the one in our consciousness, and without this illusionary reality, life is a hopeless, bottomless pit. Hence, in the first two acts, Martha acts in vigorous manner, since there is a figment of imagination to nourish her artificial world. The mind generates a world of fantasies; by changing our thoughts, we alter our illusions and experience a different reality. To illustrate, Illusions are certainly not an accurate reflection of reality; yet, it is a fundamental component that creates our reality.

The life that we define as reality is just a collection of illusions in our mind and once we snap out of that utopia, life loses its purpose, as seen in Who’s afraid of the Virginia Woolf. The only Woolf that guided Martha through the forest, vanished, like smoke in the air; since then, her world became an empty dome with no reason to perform in. “You don't suppose we can. ” George interrupts “No, Martha” Martha replies “Yes. No. ” This emphasizes that even after realizing her son is an illusion, Martha is so horrified by the reality of her own miserable life that she still attempts to go on pretending that her son still exists.