Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

This story is intense. It's about a couple who invite another couple over to their house because the Martha's (the wife) father insisted that they be nice to them. Martha and George's marriage is basically having a meltdown in front of their guest Honey and Nick. The young couple eventually get wrapped up in the whole mess and for some reason don't just leave. Both couples are dysfunctional and there are many interesting themes of illusion vs. reality, sex being used for power or revenge [ I'm talking about Martha marrying a man to control the university, Martha using sex in an attempt to hurt George, Honey's hysterical pregnancy to get married. (although I feel Nick is an abusive character. I imagined he used her and only married her to keep his reputation. ) (hide spoiler)] and the individual problems of the characters. (Martha is over bearing, George is spineless, Nick being unfaithful and pompous, and Honey who seems depressed) If you read or watch a performance of this it's hard to look away. It's like a train wreck, where it is awful but you can appreciate the chaos of it. This work is really fun to analyze and talk about with others.

I would strongly recommend seeing this performed or a performance audiobook! ~Ashley

Amazing character building, full of life and nuance in every single sentence. The play starts as a typical mid 20th century rom-com but quickly devolves into an analysis that questions the structure of the ‘Nuclear Family.'

Every sentence felt natural, making the play overflow with emotion that passes along to the reader. A very good introductory play for those trying to get into reading them.

Disturbing. Fascinating. Disturbing.

It's been a few days since I've read this, and I am still disturbed by it! This story chronicles a cocktail party hosted by George, a history professor and his wife Martha, the daughter of the university's president. The party takes place after a celebration that is held at the university to welcome a new biology professor, Nick and his somewhat naïve wife, Honey. 

As the couple awaits their guests, they drink and insult one another. Martha take jabs at George for being married to the university's president's daughter and still not managing to make much of himself as he is only an associate professor. George tries to hold back but gets some zingers in about Martha's age. This first act is strange because they insult each other and then seem to put it behind them as though they just get their kicks from the mudslinging. It feels like it's an uncomfortable game that they only understand and enjoy playing. 

When the guests arrive, the insults escalate, and a look into Gorge and Martha's personal faults and failures are revealed. The guests feel uncomfortable but are somehow talked into seeing the night through. At this point, George begins to insult the guests as well. George seems insecure about Nick. He senses that Nick has motives to take over the university (and his wife!). 

The third act takes an insane turn with more insults and drinking. I don't know whether I enjoyed the look into George and Martha's lives or not. The dialogue was razor sharp and witty. And if the goal of the writer was to make the reader feel uncomfortable then maybe I should've given this 5 stars. I think another GR reviewer put it best when she said, “This play is so f—ed. I don't know whether it's genius or madness. Probably both.”

This is a hard review for me because I can't honestly say that i liked it. There is no doubt that is masterfully written and a landmark in American drama. My issue is not with quality just with the content. The whole play feels very intrusive, like peeping through curtains. i couldn't shake the feeling that I just should not be witnessing something so intensely personal to the people in the play. In the beginning, Honey and Nick felt very much a part of the audience witnessing the cruel, twisted battles of George and Martha. The way George and Martha's games turned them from spectators to active participant was extremely disconcerting as an audience member, feeling that the same could easily happen to me.

Oh Edward Albee, what a dramatic piece of fiction you've created for the 20th century audience. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf illuminates the lives of two different couples, Martha and George as well as Nick and Honey in a New England town either in the 50's or the 60's. The troubles that surround both couples are released in the early morning following the party that Martha's father hosted at the New Carthage college campus. Nick, the new biology teacher at the school is invited to Martha and George's home alongside Honey, a small, and not-so-bright woman who comes from a well-to-do background. Immediately the audience is introduced to the love-hate relationship that George and Martha have been building up from their 23 year marriage. The openess that Albee has towards this tumultuous relationship shows society of the many failures that we keep behind closed doors. Negative attributes of everyone will fall into the open and true colors are shown. What made this book so weird in my opinion was the constant arguing between Martha and George. It was awkward for them to feel so comfortable doing it around company, so abnormal especially in a time frame such as the 50's/60's.
You can tell there were dissatisfaction's with all four characters; Martha for being too abrasive and yearning for attention, George for being considered a failure in his job at the History department of the college, and not mounting up to the “man” that Martha's father wished he was. Nick for being the “gorgeous genius” whose not as open to the world of deception until he meets the unhappy older couple, and Honey because her alcohol abuse and limited intelligence gets shunned by most because of her wealthy status.
This book took about four hours to read. I think it was the loudness of the characters that drew me in to read more and although I had questions about alot of moves being made by the characters, by the end, it was just so different to read a play that took America into a new direction about the stereotypical family and what it should include.