Pagan Elements in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
"I am preoccupied with history" George observes in Act I (p. 50) of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. But his relationship with his wife, Martha, seems to lean almost towards anthropology. Pagan social and religious elements in Albee's work seem to clarify and enhance the basic themes of the play.
Pagan trappings adorn the whole structure of the play: the prevalence of alcohol, the "goddamn Saturday night orgies" (p. 7) Martha's father throws, Martha's identification as "the only true pagan on the eastern seaboard... [who] paints blue circles [of woad?] around her things" (p. 73) or "the Earth Mother" (p. 189), or George's injunction, in Old Testament language, to "just gird your blue-veined loins, girl" (p. 205). The stage seems set for religious ritual. Even the act titles have pagan religious significance. "Fun and Games" are of course the prelude to many a religious event, even in the Christian Easter and Christmas. "Walpurgisnacht" or "St. Walburga's Night" is the evening before May Day, when Christians claim witches and nightmares are on the roam. But May Day and the evening before is also the pagan Beltaine, a day of fertility rituals as the God and Goddess bring vitality and passion to Nature -- a maypole signifies masculine fertility; the flowers about it show feminine vitality ("flores para los muertos"? (p. 195)). And "The Exorcism" is a banishment of the spirit of evil, in the sacrifice of the imaginary child who has become a scapegoat bearing all George and Martha's sins.
Martha tries to wield her power like an old-style matriarch, saying "I wear the pants in this house" (p. 157) and controlling Nick as a "houseboy" (p. 1...
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...avior by sweeping away its very foundation, by changing her beloved son into the pagan scapegoat who bears away all the twisted, hateful history they have both constructed around him.
The pagan elements in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? strengthen the main themes and plot of Albee's play. Martha's boisterousness and sexuality make her a sort of pagan priestess, but one trapped by the myths and illusions she has constructed in her worship. But George's Latin burial service at last banishes the restless spirit who had so haunted his relationship with Martha, and it bears away much of their tortured past, making a fresh slate. Samhain has been fulfilled: the God and Goddess begin again, to build a new, more fertile relationship between themselves for the new year.
Page numbers for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? are taken from the 1984 Atheneum edition.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Gioia, Dana and R.S. Gwynn. The Art of the Short Story. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. 390-396.
Brennan, L. (2011). The battle of arracourt [Television series episode]. In Brennan , L. (Executive Producer), Greatest Tank Battles. Military Channel.
... life and goes back to these girls who turned on her in an instant. Others even confess to witchcraft because, once accused, it is the only way to get out of being hanged. The confessions and the hangings actually promote the trials because they assure townsfolk that God?s work is being done. Fear for their own lives and for the lives of their loved ones drives the townspeople to say and do anything.
After overcoming her denial and admitting that no son exists, Martha lies prostrate as George asks her, “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?”(242). Martha wearily replies, “I…am…George….I…am…”(242). In other words, “Who’s afraid of the truth?” My parents, Stuart of Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy, and Martha and George from Thomas Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”. Ceasing to rationalize reality to suit one’s needs entails dealing with the truth and experiencing pain. Therefore, it stands to reason that many smart, reasonable people fall victim to the allure of denial. However, as Martha demonstrates, the walls crumble eventually, and one feels the pain as acutely as ever. So, who’s afraid of the truth? The more appropriate question is who’s not afraid of the truth?
inches). After the initial bread information is gathered, one may commence cutting. Simply slice the entire length of the bread, but do not cut all the way through, to create a hinge effect. The entrée is then ready to be dressed.
Hodgkinson, Tom. “Don’t sell me your dreams: far from liberating us, technology isolates us and
Hicks, Jennifer. "Overview of 'The Lottery'." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Washington Irving was a very ingenious writer; he did not express his stories with Romanticism but with something more creative and dark. Washington Irving has a big role for mood; his stories are creepy, mysterious, and evil. Irving’s stories reflect on the mood, a lot of his work had deep and evil thoughts. “T...
...tical and economic woes attributed to reunification, Germany would be able to fortify its status as a reunified nation in the years to come.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 5th ed. Ed. Laurence Perrine. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Publishers 1998.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner. Boston: New York: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2013. 242-249. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Gardner, Janet E.; Lawn, Beverly; Ridl, Jack; Schakel, Pepter. 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 242-249. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 989.
Kiley, David. Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2004. Print.
While I was looking through chapter 16, I was trying to figure out what literary approach would fit. The approach I found the most fitting was the reader response approach. A Dog's Death could be considered a double entendre. On one hand, John Updike is replaying an emotional tone of sadness, frustration, and the feeling of losing a family pet. To the reader, you are able to feel his pain. But, it is even more emotional if you can relate to the poem. I lost both of my grandparents in a three month span to cancer. I instantly felt the tug of hurt, pain, and emptiness the family must have felt. If you have never had the experience of losing a loved one, or pet, Updike's use of imagery, tone, and imagination allows you to experience it all.