film adaptation of who is afraid of virginia woolf
A Comparative Study of
Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?""
& Its Film Adaptation
Jul . 2014
Comparative Literature goes beyond linguistic and national boundaries and provides broad international perspective on literary influences and analogies, themes, literary movements and literary genres and forms. It also studies the intersections of literature with other forms of cultural expression such as drama, visual arts, music, and film. Literary adaptation of films is one of the controversial realms of comparative literature and cinema studies. Studying literary adaptations broadens understanding of narratives in different forms, written on page and played on the screen. One of the main discourses on film adaptation studies is based on the notion of fidelity; whether the film is faithful to the original text and conveys the same message or violates the messages of the original work. However it should be considered that fidelity is problematic in the matter that it does not take into consideration the medial differences that are essential to the transition from literature to film. This paper is a comparison between Edward Albee 's drama, Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, and its 1966 adaptation by Mike Nichols and aims to study if fidelity of the film to the messages and the spirit of the original textual source is achieved and whether the film employs the same tone, theme and plot as the drama.
Edward Albee 's Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf was first performed in New York city in 1962 and it was a success since Albee 's drama provided an insight into American life. In the 1950s, the public culture and the politicians put great emphasis on a happy family and the American ideal successful family was considered the one with a house, car and kids. However, Albee removes this false cover from the ideal family and reveals the truth and problems beneath the surface. He shows that the public image of marriage that most couples project can be completely different
Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?""
& Its Film Adaptation
Jul . 2014
Comparative Literature goes beyond linguistic and national boundaries and provides broad international perspective on literary influences and analogies, themes, literary movements and literary genres and forms. It also studies the intersections of literature with other forms of cultural expression such as drama, visual arts, music, and film. Literary adaptation of films is one of the controversial realms of comparative literature and cinema studies. Studying literary adaptations broadens understanding of narratives in different forms, written on page and played on the screen. One of the main discourses on film adaptation studies is based on the notion of fidelity; whether the film is faithful to the original text and conveys the same message or violates the messages of the original work. However it should be considered that fidelity is problematic in the matter that it does not take into consideration the medial differences that are essential to the transition from literature to film. This paper is a comparison between Edward Albee 's drama, Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, and its 1966 adaptation by Mike Nichols and aims to study if fidelity of the film to the messages and the spirit of the original textual source is achieved and whether the film employs the same tone, theme and plot as the drama.
Edward Albee 's Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf was first performed in New York city in 1962 and it was a success since Albee 's drama provided an insight into American life. In the 1950s, the public culture and the politicians put great emphasis on a happy family and the American ideal successful family was considered the one with a house, car and kids. However, Albee removes this false cover from the ideal family and reveals the truth and problems beneath the surface. He shows that the public image of marriage that most couples project can be completely different
References: 1- Albee, Edward. Who 's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. London: Penguin Books, 1965. PDF. 2- Fox, Ann M. "Edward Albee 's Eugenic Theatrics: Disability Presence in Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Disability Studies Quarterly 31(2011) . Davidson College. Web.3 Jul. 2014. 3- Hagopian, Kevin. "Film Notes: Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". New York State Writers Institute. 2011. Albany, edu. Web. 22Jun. 2014. 4- Leff, Leonard J. " Play into Film: Warner Brothers ' Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Theatre Journal 33 (1981): 453-466 . The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web.24 Jun. 2014. 5- Leff, Leonard J. "A Test of American Film Censorship: Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" . Cinema Journal 19 (1980): 41-55. University of Texas Press. Web. 24 Jun. 2014. 6- Yates, Tiffany. "An indelible voice: After nearly six decades of genius, playwright Edward Albee surveys his domain, tolerantly and with some sharp opinions".naplesnews.com. 2007. Web. 3 Jul. 2014.