The positive aspect of the child’s game is that it create a complicity in the couple, It fills in their loneliness. Their child is like a load that is used to put all their problems on it In fact George and Martha create the child in order to overcome their problems, they have resorted to the illusion that they are not alone ,that they have a child who loves them and “unify” their wedding. The couples can be seen as representative of a modern relationship that feel the abandonment brought on by our modern world. Their marriage is sterile, consequently ,in order to overcome this load ,they have created a child.
I would like to make a parallel with Beckett’s play “waiting for Godot “ to show the role of the child in the couple.As Godot is a fake character in Beckett’s play “waiting for Godot “ allowing the people to survive ,is the child in Albee’s play.The protagonists of Godot and Albee invent imaginary characters. Godot and Jimmy are a symbol of everlasting hope, a reason to live. The imaginary child is the crutch to hold the failures of Martha and George and escape from the frustration of their life. But as George kills the child, they must suddenly find in themselves a solution. In Becket’s play the mental universe of the characters is characterised by stagnation. The fact that Godot will come, give them a hope in the desolation of their universe (p.138)Vladimir says to Estragon” One always finds something to give us the impression to exist,yes we are magicians”:As in Albee’s play, Georges and Martha always find games .The differences is in the end;Vladimir and Estragon are exhausted, but they are still “waiting for Godot”. In Albee’s play, the son is killed and we (as reader) are confronted to its impact on the characters. As soon as the child dies it provokes a total confusion. The couple is now confronting to the sterility and emptiness of their life. First ,it changes their status as players. They are now real characters .Secondly it changes the relationship inside the couple .Now it is George who takes the initiatives. He is first the killer, the preacher and the one who comforts Martha. She is afraid and frustrated because the existence of their couple was based on the life of their child and worries about the future so she attempts to re-establish the lie .(p.139-140) Georges says: ”it will be better (to kill the son)” Martha (worried):just us? maybe, we could...(reinstate the idea of the child)...George answered; ”no Martha. Martha seems not to be able to live without fantasy. It is interesting to see how she reacts when the game is over.
Her distress comes suddenly when she discovers the end of her role as mother, because the life of Jimmy was a part of their life since 21 years, his death is like her own death .The end of her identity. George is the one who takes the initiative of the end of the game. The last game allows him also to have power over Martha. He is the one who leads the game. The one who takes control over Martha who is lost. The death is the last game of the evening” good for you, girl, now we are going to play this game to the death.” George takes pleasure in this, because he has the important role in the game. He plays the killer and the preach. The bang with the gun has also a symbolic meaning .It is the act of killing the past. George says: ”When people can’t abide things as they are, when they can’t abide the present, they do one of two things ;either they turn to a contemplation of the past, or they set about to alter the future. And when you want to change something you bang!!”(p.107).So George seems to be ready to face reality and to change their life. The sacrifice of Jimmy takes over the illusions of the couple. The announcement of Jimmy’s death makes a split between past and present. It is a necessary rite to clear up the illusions and come back to reality. Thus Albee calls the last act” the exorcism”. George is playing the character of the exorcist. He is the preach who announces in Latin “libera me”. This act of liberation might be a symbol of salvation for the couple. The commentary in Latin reinforces the idea of salvation. The rite allows an initiative passage by which the transformation of the couple takes place. George chants a prayer for the dead in Latin. As he chants ,he mourns the passing of his son and exorcises the chaos of the night and the chaos of the couple. The verb “exorcise “is powerful. It means to rid one’s body of evil spirits .By the act of exorcising, Albee obliges George and Martha to face their weaknesses and their couple’s problems.
Because as soon as the game’s rules are violated, the characters are exposed ,they have to take off their masks. When the game is over, the future of George and Martha is in question, because they can no more hide behind something but have to face reality. The Game represents a solution that changes the personality of the person who plays the game and allow her to hide behind a role. As soon as it disappear the players are lost. Martha who seriously pretended to be the mother is lost. After the “exorcism” the strong Martha becomes a weak woman who needs consolation from George. For Martha their child was like an hero, a deliverance. He had a supernatural power to join the couple together as (P 128) she says:”the child holds us a bit, he protects us all from George’s weakness and mine. Only when George ends the fantasy of having a child does Martha finally admit a vulnerability and a fear of the future.
The ending of the play is undetermined. We don’t know if it is positive or negative .If they now free themselves from the mutually destructive pattern of their married life .In a psychological aspect ,it is positive, because they now confront reality. But they still have now two choices; one is to make up a new game and continue to escape from reality ,the other solution is to get rid of the illusion, to take off their masks. Only the future will tell whether they have been strengthened or made even more vulnerable .They may be able to function better as a real couple in the future, and no more as a fictional one. Maybe Albee will tell us that one cannot always live in a fictional world, one day one must confront our fears instead of trying to escape.
To conclude, as we have seen, the way couples try to escape from reality that has become too difficult to face is to create illusions for themselves by making up stories, by playing games, by building up false images of reality. But one cannot eternally escape from reality, one day one must take off our mask and find out our real identity and face our problems. It is what happen to George and Martha.
1. Edward ,Albee.1962. who is afraid of Virginia Woolf .penguin plays ,London
2: Liliane ,Kerjan 1977.Le theatre d’Edward Albee .university of Ferrand,.Lille
3. Samuel ,Beckett 1999.Waiting for Godot . midnight edition.Normandy.