Albee Uses a Minor Character As a Representation o

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Albee Uses a Minor Character as a Representation of Society in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf written by Edward Albee tells the story of George and Martha, an older married couple who have just returned from a University party. George is a History professor and Martha the daughter of the president of the school. Martha has invited guests over despite the fact that it is around 2am. Nick and Honey arrive. Nick is a new Biology professor and Honey his wife. They are at first apprehensive to be there so late but quickly get sucked into George and Martha’s games. The older couple use Nick and Honey to hurt each other, with Martha eventually seducing Nick. The play moves through comedy and drama and ends with George revealing that he and Martha’s child is fiction. Martha breaks down as Nick and Honey leave. Honey is the smallest character but provides an interesting representation of the contemporary society in which Albee was writing. In the character list, Albee describes Honey as 26, a petite blonde girl, rather plain. As the audience, we are first introduced to her when she arrives at the house with Nick. She is very friendly and a bit intoxicated. At first she is apprehensive to stay due to the late hour but quickly begins drinking Brandy and enjoying herself. She compliments everything from the house, to the party, to Martha’s father. As the conversation continues she compares her experiences at this school to the last place Nick worked, where she had to make all the effort to meet people. Albee is illustrating a woman who likes to fit in, is eager to please and desires to be a part of the crowd. She feels that people should automatically be friendly and should always reach out to a newcomer. She describes the work she had to do in meeting people as “not very nice at all.” She is unfailing polite and expects those around her to be

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