Marriage-Comparison Essay

Marriage, the union of two people, is satirically presented by Evelyn Waugh in the fable A Handful of Dust and by Edward Albee in the play Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Both authors adopt a chilling approach to demonstrate the enzootic of negative attitudes and pressures of 1930s London and 1960s American parlia mentary procedure placed on to moral institutions such as marriage, with the central protagonists exposed under a powerful microscope to reveal the detrimental effects of society.Albee illustrates the emotional strains inflicted on to individuals and couples aspiring to the American Dream and more importantly the result of failing a fantasy that is unreachable by the majority. In Albees play, George and Martha are metaphysically exposed to the peeling away of the illusion that surrounds their marriage to reveal the murky opaque depths of reality. Waugh on the other hand shows the corrupt and barbaric upper class London society at the time of the Great Industrial Depressi on, evoking a story of Tony and his manipulative, qat resembling wife Brendas failing marriage, and that of the culture and civilisation Waugh so admired.Both Albee and Waugh employ the hire of irony in their chosen orbits. In Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as large, boisterous Martha turns on the light the sense of hearing are subjected to an emotional meshingfield. Set in a success driven university campus which is a microcosm of society, it is in short made opened it is not a place of learning, achievement and sophisticated culture, cardinal of lust, deceptions and sadness, a place where musical beds is the faculty sport. People like Martha are motivated by greed and self rice beer this indicates the threat of America existence New Carthage, destroyed not by another field hardly by internal corruption and spiritual emptiness, as George reads from The Decline of the West, Albees Cold War subtext is clear.In contrast Waugh gently eases the ratifier in to the amicable correctting of rural England, with an absence of harsh words and scenes of domestic playfulness between the Lasts, indicating an external picture of a content marriage. The setting is an extended metaphor of their marriage. Set in Hetton Abbey, named after Arthurian Legend, indicates their marriage is similarly unreal. With irony, Brenda is appropriately placed in to the bedroom, Guinevere, wife of King Arthur burnt for adultery this gives the reader an ominous feel from the outset about the subsequent regular(a)ts.The novel depicts Tonys chouse for the ancestral, primogeniture home, which like his marriage is devoid of interest. Tony is trapped by the big and quite hideous ho practice session as Brenda is in the marriage, suggested by Waughs use of death imagery used when describing the house like a tomb. The wear out had penetrated in to one corner further indicates the internal decay of the Lasts not in perfect repair marriage. The fact Brenda resents Hetton as she has loc omote there and left her family home- I shouldnt feel so badly about it if it were a really lovely house- like my house for instance, quickly weaves a negative undercurrent to their apparent happiness.Illusions versus reality feature in the marriages in twain Waughs and Albees works. In Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? George and Marthas illusionary smarts provides escapism, acting as a bean bag cushioning their tempestuous, crushing marriage from reality. However as the countersign has been talked about the illusion has pass away reality too the extreme that the illusion now controls them. The son noblelights the pretentious society in which George and Martha live, forced to create a son to fill societies illusions of perfection. The son is for Martha to feel she has fulfilled her role as a woman. However the child is not only a desire for fecundity within their relationship merely in addition a projection through which they expose their personal desires, needs and problems.i ronically the son that was supposed to bring the couple closer has become a reason to fight being used as a tool to undermine one another. By killing the son, George is realising that the illusion has become out of control, Martha has broke the rules by telling Nick and Honey, the pawns in their games. The childs death signifies a milestone in their understanding of marriage, George no longer has to compromise his area of reality and Martha is no longer in danger of losing herself in a domain of a function of Ilyria. Symbolically this happens the day before the child would turn 21. Through the child, Albee as an absurdist is illustrating his view that a life of illusion was wrong because it created a false content for life. George and Marthas empty marriage can clearly only give-up the ghost if they abandon their illusions.Nick also embodies the illusion in Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf. Nick represents the Arian race with his blondie hair and blue eyes are initially seen as How ever his marriage to the slim- hipped mouse is based upon pretence as the child they married for was only a phantom pregnancy. Added to this monetary gain, just as in the Polly Cockpurse of Waughs Belgravia, lies at the core of Waughs A Handful of Dust similarly is based on illusion. The barbaric characters and emotionless buildings provide the reader with an external falsity. Mrs topper represents the destructive forces of modernity with her suggestion of chromium plating. Mrs Beavers character conflicts with Tonys as she destroys old buildings, Tony clings to every glazed brick or encaustic tile at Hetton. Tonys nostalgic feudal nature is arguably one of he main reasons for the breakdown of his marriage. Described as stiff whitened collar suggests he has a refusal to change and ironically at the end is left reading Dickens showing inevitable he is stuck in the past. Tony has been blind by Hetton which provides him with constant delight and exultation, however is formerly one of the notable houses of the country and not in perfect repair therefore devoid of interest to anyone except Tony. Romanticism dominates through Tony, his search for ideals that his parents possessed inseparable in Guinevere are unattainable by Tony.Similarly George and Martha can not reach the ideals set by the American dream. George is symbolic of the past who simply sift(s) everything plunging him in to a world of history which is as important to him as Tonys shining urban center. He is a bog in the history department unable to compete with the direct threat imposed by well- put- together Nick who represents the new kink of the future. As a scientist he signifies clinical facts and evidence he is emotionless like his marriage. At twenty eight Nick is successful and a high achiever unlike George at fifty something who is still in the History department and only ran it for four years, while the war was on, but that was because everyone was away.Albee seeks to emphasise the sensatio n of alienation, in modern men. George thus attacks the decay of individualism Youre the one whos going to make all that troublemaking everyone the same. History presents a cynical view, George prophesises as he reads out the west musteventually fall materialism dominates over culture resulting in sterile smartism. However George bares one key element that Tony realisation does not. George recognises the flaws in his dump of a marriage whereas Tony similar to Honey is blind and does not grasp the sad, sad, sad truth embodying his marriage. Tony refuses to digest how warped and separated he and Brenda have become.The illusion of George and Marthas marriage is portrayed through phrase, for when language stops reality exists. George and Marthas continual battle of incessant banter and total war masks a more sinister and damaging reality and therefore, their fear of silence. Truth is shown through non verbal, theatrical devices throwing flowers and the use of a toy gun, creating desp erate humour through deep anxiety and expectations. Speech is used to gain power and control in swan to deceive others. Ironically George comments Marthas a devil with language showing she is manipulative with her acerbic speech and has dominance in the relationship, (Martha) wears the pants in this marriage because someone has to. This use of clichs shows a loss of capacity to speak the truth, Your in a straight line.and it doesnt lead anywhere.except maybe the grave underlined by the root of terror in the play, the notion of life being meaningless.The regressive language is symbolic of the Martha and George being trapped by their childhoods and therefore they acquire fight roles in a childish manner. However in contrast the callous Martha uses beautiful language when talking about their child, And his eyes were greengreen withif u peered so deep in to themso deepbronzebronze parentheses rough the irisessuch green eyes showing that when sincerity and love exists the hard-hittin g language stops. At the end the simple, basic language, stripped of all metaphors and clichs reflects the simple, basic reality that George and Martha now face. In contrast to Albees use of vibrant and destructive language, in A Handful of Dust conventional, banal and ordinary language dominates.Similarly to George and Martha, Brenda and Tony are shown in scenes of childlike playfulness. The alphabet diet is treasured and endearing, but has an underlying tension as they are confined by the constraints the diet creates. The emptiness of the emotionless, large dining room they dine in which even today mild elsewhere, it was bitterly cold in the dining hall further shows a lack of warmth between characters. The readers depression encounter of the Lasts boosts a content marriage While he ate breakfast Brenda read to him from the papers however the reader is aware of the negative undertones of the commonplace marriage These scenes of domestic playfulness had been more or less continu ous in Tony and Brendas life for seven years. Waugh stylistically and subtly reveals problems through his use of setting There seemed to be no way of securing an even temperature in that room. The reader is also lead to question the stability of the Lasts marriage through Mrs Beaver comments everyone thought (Brenda) would marry Jock, and (Tonys) a prig. I should say it was time that she began to be bored.George and Martha, the quintessentially dysfunctional couple are emotionally trapped by their complyive childhoods, as a consequence they both are exposed to low self image and esteem. The history of the couples past is slowly revealed by Albee to the audience. Martha tells Nick and Honey in Act One that her mother died when she was young and she became very close to her father, she married briefly but her father had the marriage annulled. After college she fell in love with George which she thought would please her father.However George is not the high achiever that would satisfy her father. Martha is a lost Daddys girl who hasnt left can buoy the prospect of his unconditional love. George is also revealed to have had a troubled childhood. The revealed plot of his failed novel where a teenager kills both his parents is later publicised by Martha that George was in fact the teenager in his novel. Although the audience doesnt know whether this is true it does explain Georges guilt about his parents. Albee is suggesting through these parental bonds that human relationships report from human vulnerability.In A Handful of Dust parental roles do not strive in adultous fashionable London. Brenda and Tony are ineffectual as parents and as washbowl Andrew reveals he prefers the groom Ben far more. Waugh uses washbowl Andrew as a satirical tool to expose the falsity of upper class society. He also reveals Tonys ineffectualness in disciplining his son and the emotionless Brenda as a direct contrast to Jenny Abdul Akbar who John Andrew is infatuated by the attentio n she provides him with. John Andrews death acts as a watershed in the novel. For Brenda the death symbolises her last link with Tony and a chance to escape the world she is trapped by and ironically highlights Tony misjudgement as he does not know Brenda so well. As Brenda burst in to tears this is arguably the realisation that she has thought of John Beaver over her own son and goes to the extremes of immorality of Oh thank God when she is told her son has died, not a reaction expected from a mother that has been told her son has died. The death simply signifies the end of the Lasts marriage Dont you see Tony, its all over.Brenda with her manipulative, cat like ways who utilises her female charms to her full advantage and is arguably more responsible for the breakdown of her marriage. As she applies her make up it acts as a symbolic mask to cover up the reality of the deceit. In order to get her flat she sat close to Tony on the sofa and ate some sugar out of his cup and rubbed ag ainst his cheek in the way she had, this tempting way highlights the weakness of men. By getting the flat Tony is compromising the repairs he wants to make to Hetton.On the other hand Waugh suggests that it is Tony that it is pushing Brenda in to a society of adultery. Portrayed as an imprisoned princess in a castle as though a character in a fairytale, Brenda is frustrated by her special(a) role and Beaver acts as a lifeline to get her out of the big house. She is clearly eager for information of London and jokes that have been going around for six weeks. Brenda however stays in control of the marital breakdown. The letter that Brenda leaves is merely a pencil note showing her lack of commitment and respect for Tony. The pencil is symbolic of the marital vows that can easily be erased and irretrievable like death vows Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.Waugh uses Tonys search for a hidden city to show Tonys transition from one period of his life to another. Similarly Brenda moves to Lo ndon in search of a new chapter in her life. Although we can turn over that Tonys decision to go on the exploration shows courage and strength, someone else has planned the trip therefore it is ineffectual. His journey to enlightenment is made in intellectual darkness symbolically leading to his worst nightmare. Added to this the fever he acquires on his journey is representive of his whole life being a grotesque hallucination.Tony had a clear picture in his mind that the city he was searching for would be like a transfigured Hetton illustrating that Tony is still trapped in the past, inspiring pathos from the reader. When Tony is go about with the harsh reality of life, his real world is destroyed. Romanticism can not save Tony from reality, it is not a refuge and cannot save a near truthful man from being sacrificed because of his complacency. Arguable through a number of short scenes in the jungle and London, Waugh is trying to show similarities of the two settings her ladyshi p has gone to live in Brazil both uncivilised worlds are oceans apart yet are both uncivilised and animalistic, inhabited by savages.Religion is an occurring theme in both Albees play and Waugh novel. Albee uses blasphemy Goddam at both the start and end of act one. The audience may not be surprised at this language in the godless environment we are introduced however we are more concerned about Marthas comment that she was an atheist at crop and furthermore the uncertainty of whether she still is. Marriage as a religious bond makes the audience doubt the importance of religion when presented with a sewer of a marriage.Religion is represented through Honeys father although it is corrupted by the mention of him having money which further questions Nicks motives for marrying Honey. At the end of the play the mystery of religion begins when language ends through the use of Jesus Christ. Injuxtaposition Waugh makes little references to religion. Tony attends church on Sundays from whic h he gained great satisfaction. On days of exceptional clearness, the spires of six churches could be seen from Hetton instigating that it is Tony who includes religion in to his life not Brenda. Hetton is a city of romantism and fantasy rather than a city of God.Animal imagery is referred to in both texts, to emphasise the moral crudity of events taking place. As Nick mount(s) (Martha) like a goddam dog in order to gain status, it shows the need to succeed overcomes morality. Martha an earth mother is repellent of the lunk heads who strive for promotion using her in totally pointless infidelities. Waugh however uses animal imagery to further his satirical approach and emphasise the farcical characters. Polly Cockpurse is referred to as being similar to a monkey by John Andrew. Money orientated, she is a predator only acting for her own interests, after rich men for their money. Mrs Beaver similarly extends the satirical animal imagery by suggesting she like a beaver, digging for gossip. Both of these characters are deliberately ridiculous, highlighting the absurdity of the exciting Belgravia backdrop in which these people are created.Similarly Waugh uses pathetic fallacy to emphasise characters emotions and relationships. Directly after commenting on the Lasts marriage, Waugh makes references to the weather around Hetton mist in the hollows and pale blitheness on the hills..the undergrowth was wet, dark in the shadows which directly suggests an ominous feel surrounding the Lasts marriage. When Tony goes In search of a city, Waugh is suggesting that similar to the waves, Tony is plungingin to the black depths. In the same way the sky- over head was neutral and steely with swollen clouds symbolically showing that Tony is exposed in a world that is unclear.However when Tony has a liaison with Thrse de Vitr there was A week of blue water that grew clearer and more tranquil daily, of sun that grew lukewarm presents the idea that Tony is happy although with no clear blue skies he is vulnerable and lost. Likewise as Thrse de Vitr said goodbye to Tony the disconsolate water came to an end and rain fell continuously showing Tonys emotions are as changeable as the weather. The light breeze and brilliant, cool sunshine at Tonys funeral represents that the turbulent emotions have come to an end.In one liquor ridden night Martha and George have been forced to face their worst fears. As Martha chews on her ice cubes the faade in which surrounds there marriage has been chipped away leaving inner truth and emotion that has previously been undisclosed. In the closing scene to the play, the audience endure a feeling of pathos for Martha and George, encouraged by the pace of the dialogue slowing down and the decrease in volume allowing the audience to reflect. The final examination images are of George and Martha left just us in a state of unity. George sings at the end Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Martha replies I am. As the song represents being scared of life without illusion this response shows Martha is scared of a life of reality.In contrast A Handful of Dust ends with a change of proprietor and the ending of the regime of tradition at Hetton that controlled Tony symbolising the end of Brenda and Tonys tumultuous marriage. I agree with Rosa Flannery who suggests the breeding of silver foxes is representative of the new breed of savages that roam England, Waugh is presenting a landscape of deceit and greed which prevails in a materialistic world They lived in pairs some were moderately tame but it was unwise to rely upon them. It is not without sharp irony that Brenda survives, whilst Tony languishes in a.In both texts the marriages presented are encapsulated by societys expectations that they are blinded by illusion. When faced with reality Martha and George can unite, however Tony and Brenda Lasts marriage is as unsubstantial as A Handful of Dust.