Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Albee and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Williams - Coursework Example

In what ways do the plays ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ by Albee and ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ by Williams destroy and debunk ‘The American Dream’? Introduction Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee are playwrights who debunk the American Dream through their works, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf respectively. The writers present their works with a characteristically American touch through fusion of the American Dream, although their presentation of this idea seems to take a different turn from what seems to be the expectation of many, in which the American Dream enhances the happiness of characters basically from wealth possessed and influence enjoyed. Through common themes such as marital frictions and conflicts, the playwrights have successfully presented the rather ‘true’ picture of the American dream at a time when the works were written. This paper is an analysis of how these playwrights have debunked the American Dream through their works. Most of the American literature appears to be an experimental and imaginative projection of the inquisitiveness that arises from the thought of the American dream, as literary authors have sought to present the true nature of this concept. Authors as Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee have done works that seek to the American dream through prose, drama, fiction and non-fiction, such as A Delicate Balance and Three Tall Women. Williams (2010, p. 44) further holds that ‘the American Dream has inspired many authors with diverse visions and perceptions’. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams are such works of literature that have presented the idea of the American Dream, with its successes and failures. The plays are an illustration of the American dream in terms of language use and style, character, and thematic concerns in which characters fail to achieve the contentment that is characteristic of the Dream through possession of wealth and influence. These works develop the idea of the American Dream, and move further to destroy and debunk the same American dream through presentation of its falsity and shortcomings as happiness has eluded the characters, their marriages are unstable out of lack of children and little success in their professions. This paper is an analysis of the ways in which Albee and Williams destroy and debunk the American dream in their works. Williams and Albee have effectively used plot development to bring out their views with regard to the American Dream. With the understanding that the scenes in a story tell the authors intended message, ‘Albee’s Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? [was] [recognized] [as] a sensational work due to its touch on powerful and critical themes’ (Rudzki-Weise 2010, p. 37) With such recognition is infused the idea of the American dream, and specifically to the falsity of the notion observed in the turn of events, such as the revelation of Nick’s marriage to Honey, which was triggered out of Nick’s desire for Honey’s wealth, and perhaps out of fear that she was carrying his baby. This is not the true projection of the American Dream, as greed is not part of the dream. The play inherently is characteristic of tension which is existent between the parties that are involved in marriages. He presents the images of such marriages with lack of genuineness that builds up the theme of phoniness. Such phoniness has been identified to characterize the American dream as characters rather live in illusion and never in truth, as seen in the couple’s illusion of their non-existent son, and George’s failure in profession, which explains his hidden contempt for Nick, whom he fells is a threat to his profession, as the Nick is considered an upcoming professor. Phoniness is further emphasized as Albee chooses to project the images of public and private marriages, as is the case in most marital affairs, in contexts that are public. On the other hand, Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof develops its events on the life of a Southerner, Big Daddy, whose life is threatened with the cancer infection. ‘[It] revolves around [his] life and tells of [his] efforts to riches from a common wanderer in the town’ (Williams & Kolin, 2010). Big Daddy is the owner to a big cotton farm. The play debunks the American Dream as it illustrates the human nature as being hypocritical and materialistic, as Big Daddy overlooks his family ties to accumulate the wealth which his family seems to be after as successful heirs after his demise which they anticipate following the knowledge of his fatal disease, which is opposed to the American Dream, in which wealth should bring ultimate happiness. Both playwrights have used characterization to drive their message to their audience, and in it the debunking of the American dream is captured as characters are in conflict, driven by feelings of underachievement in profession and family. ‘Through presentation of failing marriages and poor communication of couples, the lives of characters are critically presented to represent the nature of humans during a time when the wave of the American Dream [was] sweeping through America’ (Tyrrell, 2010). In Williams and Albee’s works, interesting turns take place in the play as the masks of the characters get torn off to expose their real selves to their counterparts as being hypocritical. This is an implication of the images that the characters fake to be with intent to appeal to others. In real life, the American dream has also been debunked by individuals who put up unrealistic images with intent to win the trust and favour of their friends, as Nick pretends to be in love with Honey, although his real intention was get a share of her father’s wealth. In marital relations, such individuals will easily generate fake images while creating wrong illusions to their spouses. Albee shows how George, Martha, Honey and Nick have their masks torn off to reveal their real images to one another. Martha is frustrated with George’s failure to prosper professionally, and is seen to be in love affair with Nick, a young and appealing man who however does not have children with Honey, and reveals that he only gets married to her for financial reasons (Rudzki-Weise, 2010). In Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Big Daddy has his true self revealed at the end of the play when he critically admits his failure to freely engage in conversation with Brick. A contrast is drawn as in Albee’s play, lack of finances lead to poor communication, while in Williams’ play, such wealth as possessed by Big Daddy stands between him and his son. Rappa (2011, p.34) argues that the theme of ineffective communication as seen between Big Daddy and Brick can be linked to the feeling of isolation and loneliness experienced by Big Daddy. It is justified that Brick and his father do normally hold constrained conversations. Big Daddy and Brick hold conversations but the viability of the conversations is rarely ascertained (Rappa, 2011). Brick says that communication can get awful among men, as he and his father may talk over and over again, while they seem not to reach any agreement on any subject. Sarcastically, Big Daddy provides a listening ear and understanding mind, although he is so strict for any of these to happen. Such fierceness is detected in his efforts to talk to his son. In an encounter with Brick who was complaining that they rarely carry out meaningful conversations, Big Daddy shuts Brick, telling to leave alone the conversation just like the numerous conversations they’ve had in the past, claiming that they always talk but it feels like they never talk about important topics. Although Big Daddy is wealthy, he does not live in ultimate joy, which in against the expectations of the American Dream, in which joy is intertwined in wealth. Discontentment in marital relations has debunked the American dream in and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof . Big Daddy also resents his relationship with his wife. His inhuman nature is revealed when he says that with his riches he gets to sleep around with women. Big Daddy also in another instance is seen as a father embarrassed to express filial love to his son, for in truth he knows that all he cares about are his riches. It therefore can be argued that loss of the virtue of family worth at the expense for care for self-worth and personal wealth negatively portrays the virtues present in the notion of the American Dream. The playwrights have established their arguments on the American Dream with due consideration of the financial success of the characters. Although the American dream is defined by financial success, the play downplays this fact through presentation of the sorry financial state of George, which propels the difficulty of his relationship with Martha. Rudzki-Weise (2010, p. 35) hold that ‘the might of failure to establish [himself] financially is presented by the manner in which [George] cynically develops feelings of disgust towards Nick who is both ambitious and young’. It is through the character of George that the playwright gets to potentially raise his doubts on the virtues of the American Dream which drive individuals to success. The desire for success as defined by the American dream entails undesirable features as destruction to the individuality and self-esteem of characters, as is the case with George. This is seen in the first act, in which George and Martha are involved in games where George humiliates Martha that she is old and always drunk, while Martha tries to flirt with Nick in the presence of George, as hinted in the title of the game ‘Hump the hostess’, and Martha openly reveals that ‘[she] [is] to make love to Nick upstairs’ (Rudzki-Weise, 2010). In ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, and with special attention paid to the American Dream and its expectations of financial success for individuals, ‘Big Daddy is the perfect illustration of the American Dream’ (Rappa 2011, p.34). He is a character who works hard in order to realise success economically. Hoverer, through him, the playwright is able to present the actions of the American society has sacrificed moral virtues in an attempt to generate money and amass wealth. ‘In his idea, [he] [not] [only] will buy a woman [who’s] beautiful, but [also] [will] [he] [have] her [chocked] with diamonds and [smothered] in minks for he’s been for years with a woman (his wife) he cannot stand’ (Rappa, 2011). The American dream thus has another ugly side with close reference to Big Daddy. This is a character who hard work and owning the cotton plantation has realized success in the field of commerce at the expense of his human and moral nature. Big Daddy becomes so interested in amassing wealth that he does not pay attention to the needs of those close to him and money becomes the centre of his life. Such materialism defines the American Dream in the play. Although Big Daddy is wealthy, there is the loneliness and internal conflict eating at him as he fails to figure out how to engage in conversation with Brick. He fails to rightly express true affection for his son. For Big Daddy, demonstration of his affection for Brick miserably fails as he is said to makes quick, shy and unsteady glances at Brick. This is an illustration on how he miserably fails to uphold the image of a loving father, ‘for [he] [is] embarrassed at the truth of not being affectionate to [his son]’ (Rappa, 2011). The American dream works towards attaining satisfaction for the female gender through the thematic concern of gender equality, as presented through the portrayal of Martha as a woman dissatisfied with her husband achievement in family and profession. In the awakening of the American Dream, women did not have as good and numerous opportunities for careers as there are currently. Men found favour in career, and the systems then were reluctant to absorb the female gender. This is the case in both plays. In Albee’s play, Martha, however, is dissatisfied with the financial position of George. Martha can be understood to be experiencing much more disappointment in George’s inability to make ends meet. Such disappointment can be understood as the need to live through George’s experience for he fails to publish his book and ascend to the head position in his department at the university, where Martha’s father is the president. Williams equally shows the state of women through their presentation as people with few opportunities to develop their financial independence. Maggie, with the desire to lay hands on Big Daddy’s fortune after his demise out of cancer, seeks to have a child with Brick in order to win the favour of Bid Daddy. It is for this reason that she boldly tells a lie of her pregnancy during the party. Women are further displayed as symbols of pleasure to men through Big Daddy’s talk as he reveals that with his riches he can afford diamonds and intimate relations with women. The American Dream is defined by success in family through effective family relations. It is for this provision that the American Dream gets debunked by the plays through presentation of childless families. In Albee’s play, the impact of children in a family is shown through family relations and problems. However, the couples in the Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? do not achieve ultimate success at the family level for they have no children. George and Martha openly resent this familial failure as they brutally humiliate each other in the face of Nick and Honey. Through his failure to give her a son and progress to be head of history department, she refers to her husband as a ‘great flop’, giving hints of his marital and professional failure. On the other hand, ‘Honey and Nick do not have effective communication as a couple as a result of lack of children’ (Williams 2010, p. 44). Williams presents the idea of not having children for the couples themselves live as children in all aspects. In contrast, Williams presents Big Daddy as a successful character in profession and family since he has got a son whom he claims to love. Although the play starts with a family united, a climax is reached which subsequently leads to a crisis of lack of effective communication and family disintegration, as Big Daddy reveals that Brick’s failure in professional football and subsequent drinking habit has a link to Skipper’s death. Brick thus feels the urge to get defensive and tells his father that he is dying of cancer, which acts as the climax for the play. The conflict thus arises in family, and Albee presents the effects of Brick’s lack of children. The American dream is therefore debunked through characters’ lack of children, and favoritism of children, as happens with Big Daddy who prefers Brick to Gooper, although Gooper achieves success in profession as a lawyer, and has a functional family with five children. Albee and William contrast in the usage of language and style. Albee utilizes symbolism, allegory and imagery to capture debunk and destroy the American dream through allusion. The styles are used with the touch of allusion to represent the notion of the American dream, as Albee names characters after renowned American idols. The advent of the ‘American Dream’ wave saw people work in various sectors due to the desire to achieve success and have stable financial sources and happy families. Those who do not achieve the status expected as per the American Dream resort to hypocrisy and pretense, as seen in Nick who, in need for the wealth entitled to Honey, fakes love and marries her. In the play, Albee however is in contention with the notion of being a real American. Albee uses symbolism to derive at his criticism for the true American. ‘Martha and George are assigned names after the famous Martha and George Washington’ (Tyrrell 2010 p. 45). This symbolises them being Americans. Controversy arises when the true nature of an American is brought under scrutiny as the couples achieve little compared to the idols they are named after. The happiness and stability of profession are factors considered in the American Dream. It can be determined that George and Martha, however, are in a miserable state for they are alien to stability and happiness for they live in denial of the fact that they do not have children. The American dream is presented as an illusion that might not be realized, since the son that George and Martha refer to in the acts is imagined, which leads to George exorcising ‘him’ on realizing that the son is all an illusion of the children they have failed to sire. This presents a debunked American Dream through mockery of the notions of the dream, such as families with children, which is missing in the couples. Allegory can be used to interpret the presentation of Honey and Nick as the ideal American children (Tyrrell 2010 p. 45), as they are used to represent the ideal children as provided for by the American Dream. This is seen in their youthful age and appealing looks. Nick is presented as being ambitious and no doubt destined for massive success. On the other hand, Honey is the kind of lady that creates an enabling environment for success through her supportive and kind nature. However, as the play progresses, it can be deciphered that the thought of these characters as being the perfect matches for a perfect marital relationship is shattered as revealed through the knowledge that Nick only gets married to Honey for financial reasons, in addition to her pregnancy, as revealed in his discussion with George while the ladies are in the bathroom. He becomes promiscuous and develops an affectionate relation with Martha, while Honey resorts to drinking to avoid the reality of her problems from dawning on her. In this order, the playwright’s intended image of the America dream contrasts greatly with the mainstream American dream since Nick and Honey physically strike the readers as a perfect couple, although Nick’s lack of love and greed for wealth are on the contrary. Williams, as opposed to Albee, does not use characters who symbolise the American idols of the 1950s such as George and Martha. The play also presents the characters who, during life crises, are forced to reveal their true emotional selves. Williams (2010, p. 45) asserts that ‘the desperation of human nature with regard to fear of death, the guilt [that is] hidden deep inside, the materialistic nature of man, the pettiness of man and his dislike for truth are tackled, and in turn their position with regard to the American dream determined’ in this paper. Although the American dream was adopted by the Americans at the time, Williams presents the dark side of this adoption as his characters desire to amass wealth while overlooking the virtues of the Dream such as family love. As Albee uses symbolism and allusion, he wants his audience to have a critical look at his satire at the turn out of the expectations of the American dream in his characters. Williams opts to use characters whose identities do not give hints of the past American history. Although, a synthesis of the illusionary achievement of the American dream is evident in both plays as all the characters fail to meet the ultimate joys of the American dream. Albee and Williams presented a debunked American Dream through presentation of the ills of the characters, who have failed to achieve the expected happiness through wealth and influence. George, as a professor of history, and son-in-law to the university’s president, is expected to rise professionally and have reasonable influence through heading the history department, while Nick is expected to have married off Honey for true love. Big Daddy ought to have given family love equal chance as the desire to amass wealth, and support his wife as Big Mama does support him, in addition to avoid drawing lines on love for his sons. In my view, the playwrights have successfully debunked the American Dream through presentation of dysfunctional families which do not achieve happiness and influence, although they have opportunities to achieve such. References Palmer, R. B., & Bray, W. R. 2009. Hollywood's Tennessee the Williams films & postwar America. Austin, University of Texas Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=275160. Rappa, A. L. 2011. Globalization: power, authority, & legitimacy in late modernity. Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Rudzki-Weise, J. 2010. Truth, Illusion & the American Dream in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". München, GRIN Verlag GmbH. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-20101227958. Tyrrell, I. R. 2010. Reforming the world the creation of America's moral empire. Princeton, Princeton University Press. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=539792. Williams, T., & Kolin, P. C. 2010. Cat on a hot tin roof. London, Methuen Drama. Read More