Edward Albee is one of the greatest playwrights of the twentieth century; this is an opinion which creates major debates among literature lovers. Many people recognize his name as the writer of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf; but if the reader takes a minute to evaluate his canon of writing, there is a splendid volume of work available. Albee faced tremendous obstacles that were not always transparent to all. Edward was at odds with the environment and the expectations of his parents. As his plays were written, he often was at odds with the critics. He compared drama critics to Genghis Khan. A wealthy couple, Reed Albee and his wife Frankie wanted a child to enhance their public image; they adopted Edward when he was eighteen days old. He was the required heir to fulfill their familial expectations. As Edward grew up, he was a child who was not living up to his parent’s ideas of how children should behave. From an outsiders viewpoint, many people thought he should be grateful for all the material things his adopted parents gave him; beneath the public facade love and affection were not to be found in that household. It was frustrating for young Edward. He was a sensitive boy, and the tension in the household influenced him deeply. His Grandmother was a bright spot in his life, she was affectionate to him, and did not judge him. He attended The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey they dismissed him for poor attendance and grades. His unhappy parents sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy; he remembers it as a reform school. Choate, an exclusive school in Wallingford Connecticut, was the next step in his education. According to Mel Gussow the only reason Choate granted him admission was the result of a letter writte... ... middle of paper ... ...luence on his art. Albee won three Pulitzer Prizes for drama, for A Delicate Balance in 1967, Seascape in 1975, and Three Tall Women in 1994. Albee tells people he actually won three and a half Pulitzer Prizes, but Columbia University prevented him from receiving it. In 2012, Albee had heart surgery, when he was interviewed he had this response: “Edward, you need open-heart surgery. When they rip your chest open and do all sorts of silly stuff to it. And my reaction to that was, What will happen if I don’t? You’ll probably die in a year. Oh. Then I guess there’s no choice. ” (Green) The surgery went well and he is recovering and planning his next play. There is a possibility it may be based on the loss of his partner. They had been together 35 years. In the mean time he is reviving some of his previous works, and overseeing new stage productions.
Poetry and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 9nd ed. New York: Longman, 2005. Pgs 389-392
Updike, John “A&P.” Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama and The Essay.4th e. Ed. Frank Madden. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 496-501. Print.
...ss. Arthur Miller, on the other hand, was disappointed by critic’s reactions. He claimed, “No critic seemed to sense what I was after, which was the conflict between a man’s raw deeds and his conception of himself”. Not only was he disappointed by critic’s reviews, he was disappointed by the “hostility of New York audiences”.
Charter, Ann, and Samuel Charters, eds. Literature and its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2003.
Edward was raised in Ashland, a small town filled with average people. From the day he was born, Edward proved he was anything but ordinary, he was a big fish in a small pond. A citizen from Ashland said “-eventually he knew more than anybody, even Mr. Pinker, the librarian. He was a big fish, even then” (12).
Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
Rosenthal, Lucy. Modern American Literature: A Library of Literary Criticism. Ed. Elaine Fialka Kramer, Maurice Kramer, and Dorothy Nyren. Rev. ed. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1976.
Harold Bloom understands that we read not only to learn of literary composition but also because “we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are.” This proves true to essentially all humans for any great work of writing. Furthermore, this “difficult pleasure” is not of entertainment or even frivolous enjoyment as one may initially presume. This difficult pleasure refers to quite the opposite: the necessity of bettering ourselves, broadening our minds, and somehow understanding the world in which we live.
Updike, John. "A & P." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. By X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. Boston: -Pearson, 2013. 17-21. Print
Griffith, John. "Jonathan Edwards." The Critical Perspective. Ed. Harold Bloom. Vol. 5. New York: Chelsea, 1987. 2573-79. Print. Rpt. of "Jonathan Edwards as a Literary Artist." Criticism (1973): 156-73.
Updike, John. "A & P." Literature: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 5th ed. New York: McGraw, 1998. 27-31.
...her and son is what ultimately makes the story so gripping with audiences and readers alike because of the subsequent evolution in the nature of their relationship as the story progresses. With each telling and retelling of Edward Bloom’s stories, the reader and William both gain a little more insight in the enigma who is Edward Bloom. Despite the resentment and anger that dominates William’s feelings for his father, his ability to strive to make peace and make sense of his mystifying father, who has always eluded his own comprehension, is significant to anyone who has ever felt disconnect with a dying family member.
Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001. 123-154.
Clurman, Harold. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Edward Albee: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. C.W.E. Bigsby. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall 1975. 76-79
Jack London is among the many prolific writers from the United States of America who possess great artistic works ranging from great time novels ,short stories to plays just but to mention a few. He is fondly remembered for his great novel, ‘Martin Eden’ published in 1909. In the novel he tries to express the challenges faced by young writers who try to exploit their talent and passion in an area where little opportunities present themselves. This novel has stood the test of time with its relevance evident to date. It is a favorite to many young upcoming writers thus the main aim for writing this paper is to focus on the autobiography of Jack London as ‘Martin Eden’.