Analysis Of Edward Albee 's ' Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf '

Social expectations is a significant component in people’s lives, to the point where people become obsessive over materialistic aspects in life. These expectations creates normality for individuals and essentially tell individuals how they should behave. There are different social expectations that are induced for the upper class and the lower class, otherwise known as social status. The two protagonist Marta from “The Falling Girl” and Earl from “They’re Not Your Husband” undergo challenges that they face regarding social expectations and social status, which in turn shows the similarities between the two short stories. Marta was identified as someone of lower class, she had dreams and ambitions of being a part of an elite society. Despite all her aspirations in life, she knew that she would never obtain this lifestyle, which ultimately lead downfall as she wanted to be a part of society. Marta from “The Falling Girl” was influenced by the materialistic aspects in life that she failed to realize she had so much time to

In the short story “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, Millicent Arnold is a narcissistic teenager undergoing her initiation into the most prestige social group at Lansing High. Despite being aware of the risk at losing her best friend, Tracy, Millicent eagerly seeks the opportunity to be part of a close-knit group and as a result, she is mistreated and forced to conform to the group’s narrow standards. Plath explains how being part of a social group does not necessarily help one grow individually, but rather assimilates them into what is portrayed as esteemed social status. As Millicent goes through the downgrading initiation process, she discovers the value of friendship and realizes that being associated with a certain group will not help her achieve confidence in her true self.

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

The American Dream has always been the unattainable idea of a perfect life, often causing disorder when it is not realized. In response to society’s unrealistically high standards, and the human desire to be accepted, people shape their existences to fit within the quixotic ideals of society. The ubiquity of this conformity is demonstrated by its omnipresence as a theme in American literature. The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, along with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, demonstrate how these perspectives of social mores are centered on the prevalence of the unrealistic views of normality. The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and

Jem and Scout, throughout “To Kill A Mockingbird,” learn to consider things from other people’s perspectives. Atticus, Jem and Scout’s father, says “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in” (Lee 39). They learn this through experiences with their neighbor Boo Radley as they mature beyond their years. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout make fun of Boo and assume that all of the rumors going around about him are true. However, later on in the story the children grow an admiration for Boo and learn to understand him. As they matured, Jem and Scout naturally learned many life lessons of appreciation, respect, and courage

Harper Lee is best known for writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel takes place during the depression in Alabama with the main character, Scout, viewing her lawyer father, Atticus, defending a wrongly accused black man of rape. The reader gets to understand Scout’s childhood view of this controversial situation. Scout’s character in to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is really the author’s own life playing out in the novel, which is most likely why this novel is thought to be one of the best American Novels of the 20th century.

While it may be tempting to leave society in order to pursue one’s dreams, severing the ties with those whom one knows can result in a world of chaos and instability. One such example can be found in Jeannette Walls’s, The Glass Castle. In this memoir, Walls recounts her volatile childhood that was the result of her parent’s strong beliefs in the importance of self-sufficiency. While it is not looked down upon to be dependent on oneself, when we evaluate individualism through the scope of Jeannette Wall’s dysfunctional life one can tell that more often than not individualism brings instability and results in the negligence in regard to those around them. Thus, the consequences of individualism profoundly outweigh any benefit that is reaped because

Do our actions and behaviors reflect the nature of ourselves or rather the character of those who's household we lived under? This question is central to the story and childhood of accomplished American playwright David Mamet. Mamet reflects and displays his time growing up through his personal essay called "The Rake." Using vivid language and imagery, Mamet establishes a core theme of how we are influenced by those around us to take actions we otherwise would never consider doing. When living in an environment that is persistently abusive and watching as your sister is victimized by those you are meant to love, it's not hard to have your actions, thoughts and feelings be similar to the only world you know. Mamet even alludes to this theme at the conclusion of his essay where he states, “I remember the walks home from school in the frigid winter, along the cornfield that was, for all its proximity to the city, part of the prairie. The winters were viciously cold. From the remove of years, I can see how the area might and may have been beautiful.” (Mamet, Para-37) Even though Mamet may have preferred to not follow in the footsteps of his family, there are sometimes realities you can never escape.

From the start of the play, the reader is lead to believe that Martha has the other hand and she is the most powerful in the relationship. Being mean, brutally honesty and cynical makes people to believe she is powerful. On a night similar to the night of this plays, George and Martha create a son. This is a figment of their imaginations, to hold together their failing marriage. The rules to keep the son alive with in them, is to never speak of this son to any one else. Well Martha told her guests about their son. George seeing an opportunity to get Martha back for exposing their lies decides that their son dies tonight. In a game George created to expose every ones lies, whether it be Nick marring Honey because she got pregnant and has money or Martha's fake son, No one will leave their house tonight not embarrassed and exposed. George is using his knowledge of the truth, as a power against people. He tells Martha in front of her guest

The sense of belonging humans naturally seek in life reflects the feeling of security and being accepted. They struggle with their identity as they make the choice whether to reject the individuality and belong to a community or group. When individuals seek to belong and rigidly follow society’s norms and practices, they must adhere to the strict rules of their society. In doing do, the desire to belong comes into conflict with the need to be an individual. These ideas are powerfully evident in Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible”, “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger and the Gurinder Chadha film “Bend it like Beckham.” In each of these texts, most desire to belong but need to restore the balance between the need to belong and the

Both Albee and Fitzgerald present women as being confined by the American Dream, leading them to rely on illusions of a better life. In the play ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, Martha feels that

Often we are told not to let the past define us, to do our own thing, to be even better than those before us, however, at times we find ourselves doing the same thing; some of us are forced; some of us are stuck. Maggie from the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, had an implied responsibly to keep her family’s tradition going. Looking up to her, at times cruel, sister Dee she watch as Dee reached new heights, went to school, but she new her role. Though she had a mom that loved her, Maggie fell into pain, envy, and low self-esteem not only because of her discourteous sister, but because of her well- know position in tradition. “… she will stand hopelessly in the corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs…”

Social expectations are a significant component in people’s lives, to the point where people become obsessive over materialistic aspects in life. These expectations create normality for individuals and essentially tell individuals how they should behave. There are different social expectations that are induced for the upper class and the lower class, otherwise known as social status. The two protagonist Marta from “The Falling Girl” and Earl from “They’re Not Your Husband” undergo challenges that they face regarding social expectations and social status, which shows the similarities between the short stories. Marta from “The Falling Girl” was associated as someone of a lower class, she had ambitions of becoming a part of an elite society. Despite all her aspirations in life, she knew that she would never obtain this lifestyle. Marta was influenced by the materialistic aspects in life that she failed to realize she had so much time to grow up and opportunities in life, but was focused on the unrealistic expectations. In Buzzati’s words, “Within it were

To enjoy a blissful life, people tend to turn a deaf ear to the negative aspects of life. However, by doing so, their utopic world can easily be burst and they are left harshly exposed to the reality they once tried to ignore. This is clearly illustrated in Shakespeare’s play King Lear, in Maupassant’s short story “Madame Hermet”, and in Cheever’s short story “The Swimmer”. Through the characters affected by madness in these literary works, it is depicted that madness can lead to a breakdown in individual identity, especially when social status is involved. The way individual identity is linked to social class in these texts can be understood by looking at obsession with accumulating wealth and power, preserving one’s beauty, and being accepted

The battle fought between George and Martha is played with the weapons that each sex has perfected. In American Plays and Playwrights of the Contemporary Theater, Lewis notes "Martha has instinct for the right wound; her tongue for the cutting word and her body for the most humiliating insult"(89). George has a greater vision of cruelty. When threatened by Martha, to cheat on him with one of the guests, George pretends not to care in order to upset his wife."I'm necking with one of the guests" "Good...good. You go right on" "Good?" "Yes, good... good for you, why don't you go back to your necking and stop bothering me? I want to read" (Albee,171,2). At the end of the play, George triumphs in the battle by using what he knows will hurt Martha the most; their son. Amacher states in Edward Albee, "All of the games, in terms of Albee's purpose, relate directly or indirectly to George and Martha's attempts to hurt each other"(93).