Fear Of Reality In Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf

Fear of reality is a major theme in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Write an essay on this topic and how it effects the action. Edward Albee has said that the song – and title- of his play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” means “who is afraid to live without illusion”. Throughout the play it is made clear to the readers that George and Martha certainly possess this fear of reality, because every significant action in the eventful night is inspired by this fear. From the very beginning, readers see that George and Martha communicate primarily by trading insults. The insults make it clear that George and Martha are afraid to communicate in a sincere way, for that may lead to them openly acknowledging how greatly they hide from reality. This is made obvious when George implores Martha to not bring up “the bit about the kid” (Act I) to their guests. He does not want Martha to expose their illusion. Nevertheless, Martha mentioned their child to Honey. It is this that spurts George to eventually destroy the
However, in the novel it is not really him who committed all those sins, but rather a nameless boy. (Martha: “…In spite of something funny in his past… which Georgie boy here turned into … a novel all about a naughty boy child … who killed his father and mother dead.” (Act 2)) This action (turning reality into a fictional novel) has fear of reality written all over it; George is running from the horrible reality of his past as well as the dismal situation he finds himself in in the present. At the end of Act 2, George even turns the reality of the “chiming” Honey continuously referred to as the news that his son had died, rather than what it really was (a product of Martha and Nick “necking”, thus hurting Georges’ sacred dignity). This version of altering reality ends up being counter-productive, for George’s action ultimately forces himself and Martha to come to terms with