The title for the opening act; ‘Fun and Games’ can be taken in a variety of ways; the literal sense in which actual ‘Fun and Games‘ could represent the typical niceties of a party. However this is not in keeping with the increasingly disturbing titles of the two subsequent acts, it is therefore highly likely that Albee intended for ‘Fun and Games’ to be taken in a deeply subversive way. The first ‘game’ we are presented with revolves around Martha role-playing as Rosa Moline, the character played by Bette Davis in the 1949 Warner Brothers film, ‘Beyond the Forest’. The ‘Game’ is relatively simple and serves no greater purpose than allowing the audience to draw parallels between the characters of Martha and Rosa. The ‘games’ however become more subversive and sinister as the play progresses into the second act, ‘Walpurgisnacht’, the alliteration of the first letters of the game titles: ‘Humiliate the Host’, ‘Hump the Hostess’ and ‘Get the Guests’ make the games more memorable to both the characters and the audience.
An unusual feature of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ is that all the stage directions are written by Albee and not included by a director, therefore we can assume that they have a deeper significance than pure face value. The opening stage directions are seemingly suitable; the house (and therefore the stage) is ‘Set in Darkness’ most likely because of the hour and the fact that the two characters are returning to an empty house after being out for the evening. In many drama productions the audience form the ‘fourth wall’ of the room within which the action is set and are therefore also in darkness, although theirs is a metaphorical darkness brought about by their ignorance of what is to come.
In many classic stories and plays darkness is used in pathetic fallacy to bode evil deeds and unnatural forces, initially we are unaware of what this force may be, however as the play progresses we learn that it is their fantasy child which suffocates their marriage and brings about the metaphorical darkness which surrounds their lives. The darkness brings about apprehension within the audience watching the play, and it is heightened by the initial ‘Crash against the front door.’ and the ignorance of what caused it. Albee here plays upon the natural reaction of the audience to fear what ‘goes bump in the night’.
This build up of tension is temporarily released through the laughter heard, the introduction of light and the entrance of Martha and George on to the set. The order of appearance may have some significance, especially once it has been observed that Martha is the dominant figure in the relationship. Once the characters have entered the stage, the first to speak is Martha who immediately swears; ‘Jesus’. I believe this to be partially due to the drink we later find out she has been consuming at her father’s faculty party and also as a reaction to the apparent mess in the room. However it may also be an early hint that religion, especially in regards to Martha, will be an important theme in the play. It is my opinion that this is true due to the variety of references George has to her religion later in the play, initially as a ‘pagan’ but than as a ‘SATANIC BITCH’ when she discloses his novel to their guests. This is starkly contrasted with George’s opening statement of ‘Shhhhhhh’, a not unreasonable request for Martha to keep the level of noise to a minimum, especially considering that the play is set at ‘two o’clock in the morning’.
It is a mere three lines into the play Martha’s dominance over and disregard for George is asserted, through ignoring her husband’s attempt to control her outbursts and continuing with, ‘H. Christ’. However this disregard causes frustration to surface within the essentially patient and sympathetic George leading to the blasphemous out burst of ‘For Christ’s sake, Martha’, it is here that we understand that both characters are frustrated with their situation, however cannot appear to communicate about it with each other. In fact their only communication seems to be through fighting and verbal abuse.
The verbal abuse of George that continues throughout the play begins seven lines into the production. George after his attempts to control Martha is repeatedly called a ‘cluck’, however in this case the repetition is for emphasis. However I do not believe that it is ‘cluck’ that is to be emphasised, but rather the effect alcohol has had on Martha’s thoughts. Georges wit seizes upon this for his rebuttal, and uses repetiton to condescend to Martha, as if she cannot grasp the concept of the fact that ‘It’s late, you know? Late.’ However Martha’s response to this is once again to directly ignore the messages her husband is trying to convey to her, but rather than belittling him, she conveys her feelings through role-playing other, stronger female characters, and is it not beyond the bounds of possibility that not only does she perceive the similarities between herself and the other characters, but that there is an element to them she wishes to find in herself, and can only attain this by through this fantasy.
‘What a dump.’; is possibly Bette Davis’s most famous line, and the use of this conveys to the audience her own feelings about the state of her room, but possibly also her life. This gives Albee the scope to further develop this particular ‘game’, and also the characters playing it. It becomes a guessing game, in order to determine the name of the film, ‘What a dump!’ comes from it clearly shows yet more personas Martha can portray in a attempt to convey her feelings to her husband. ‘Aw, come one! What’s it from? You know…’, is her attempt to gently coax George into playing with her, and through playing, perhaps, she feels they communicate. However, George already frustrated with his wife, the hour and their situation does not go along, but responds with a plea almost ‘…Martha…’, this however was not the response she desired. Upon this response she instantly becomes irate and snaps out her next line:
WHAT’S IT FROM, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE?
It can be taken that George has seen this scenario before as they have been married for 23 years and with therefore know what will happen if he does not go along with her. Some may take this as a display of a weaker man as he ‘wearily’ agrees to ‘play’, however the sarcastic tones used earlier indicate that this is not the truth. Instead of perceiving George as the weaker partner, I believe that he should be viewed as a man prepared to do most things in search for a peaceful night.
However Martha’s choice of roleplaying characters is done completely at random by Albee, they usually signify a trait either possessed or desired by Martha. When she desires loving attention from George, she frequently adopts a childish and girly persona; ‘…just one! One single little epic!’, it is unclear why this persona is adopted at first. We later learn that it is because she was unloved by her Father as a child; and the attention sought by her active inner child is an attempt to fill the void created as a child, psychologically it cannot. This leads on to the frequent displays of frustration, however this is transferred away from the cause; her father, and displaced onto the nearest person, usually George. However there are other personas Martha enacts in her own private fantasy world, Bette Davis is an example of this (via her character Rosa Moline), she attempts to escape her own private life; ‘She’s discontent’ and yet is perceived as evil for her own hedonistic ideals, as it goes against the principals of society at the time.
I believe Martha, through role-playing stronger female characters she is attempting to find the strength to escape her own personal hell, but fails her. There are obvious parallels between Martha and Bette Davis, from these we can deduce that there must be parallels between George (at least in Martha’s eyes) and Joseph Cotton.
Albee here uses stereotypes to painstakingly dissect the façade of American values and strip it away to reveal the truth of the situation. He realises that women are powerless because they have been stripped of their independence by the very society in which they live, refused education, careers, in the case of both female characters paternal affection, where as Honey is unlucky enough to be refused marital aswell through being wedded for the wrong reasons. The claustrophobic nature of this society means that Martha sees her self as a kept woman, who has been ‘set up’ in her own personal ‘modest cottage’ by her own personal Joseph Cotton.
