How do the characters in the plays Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof protect their versions of reality and to what extent do they accept their illusions as false by the end of the two plays?

In ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’, George and Martha have the strongest illusion, the illusion that they have a son. Don Shiach wrote that throughout the play, George and Martha ‘sustain between them the illusion that they have a child, but, in fact, they are childless. This in itself is a symbol, perhaps of the sterility of their lives together.’ George and Martha fabricate a perfect son because their marriage is not enough. Edward Albee, said that “The play is about people of more than average intelligence getting to the point where they can’t any longer exist with a whole series of games, tricks and false illusions.” George and Martha protect their version of reality by never telling anyone else about their son. When Honey mentions the fact that Martha had discussed the son with her, George wheels ‘as if struck from behind’. At the beginning of the play he warns Martha not to ‘start in on the bit’, meaning their son. It is the one rule in their on going game, never mention the son; if their illusion is brought into reality it cannot survive, it will have to self combust. Once Martha mentions him, George decides that he has to be killed; he has to knock down ‘the entire untenable superstructure’ as Albee puts it. When George tells Martha that their ‘son is … dead’, she furiously responds ‘YOU CANNOT DO THIS!’ Martha is terrified of living life without illusions, which comes through at the end of the play. George tells her his reasons for killing the child, ‘You broke our rule baby, you mentioned him’. The finishing sequence of the play is arguably the only honest part of it. George tells Martha that ‘It was … time’ and ‘It will be better’. At the very end of the play George and Martha are left alone on stage and George sings ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’ to which Martha replies ‘I … am.’ The meaning of the ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’ phrase which is repeated throughout the play, has been argued by many critics. Albee himself has answered the question; it “means who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf, which means who’s afraid of living life without delusions”? Albert Wachtel argues that ‘By substituting a bisexual feminist writer for a more generally threatening enemy, Albee confronts his audience with more pointed fears: Animal death still lurks behind the title, augmented by the bold and frightening challenges represented by Woolf’s honesty, experimentation, and suicide.’