Explore the theme of secrecy in Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962)

Explore the theme of secrecy in Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962)

In Edward Albee’s play Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf, the theme of secrecy is presented and explored in detail through deception and lack of communication in relationships. He portrays the way in which the scheming tendencies of a certain character are effective in contributing to their ability to keep secrets, or their desire to share them. Furthermore, through the isolation of statements and the lack of elaboration of them, Albee denies the audience a full or clear picture of the characters’ lives, creating a mysterious and ambiguous feel throughout the play. The theme of secrecy is effective and important in shaping this play, as it is responsible for sparking both curiosity and rage in the characters, affecting the plot as a whole. Moreover, the sense of secrecy lingers on even after the conclusion of the play, due to the unspecific and arguably confusing (though touching) ending, which causes the audience to reflect and think about their own interpretations of the play as much of it is left to the imagination.

The way that much of the plot is left to the imagination, creating an overwhelming feeling of secrecy, is mostly due to Albee’s choice of language. Instead of revealing important or factual information, he focuses largely on the way that the characters speak to each other. He also leaves isolated phrases unexplained, such as when George says to Martha “just don’t start in on the bit about the kid”. For the rest of the play, the audience are left wondering what is meant of this is, and whether this statement may have stemmed from a past conversation known only to the characters in the play. This cryptic way of writing is continued further when George refuses to give Nick a direct answer as to whether he has children. “That’s for me to know and you to find out”. It also portrays the feelings of jealousy that George has towards the younger, more handsome Nick, as he is not concerned with satisfying him with clear yes or no answers, but rather desires to intimidate and confuse him.

In Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Albee also develops the idea of secrecy and betrayal to show how it plays an inevitable part in the lives of married couples in the 60s. Nick spills an intimate secret to George that he has held from his wife Honey, saying “I only married her because she was pregnant”. Here, Albee creates a window of opportunity to portray Nick’s deeper feelings of regret for marrying her, and his lack of respect towards her by stripping away her dignity in front of a relatively unknown person. This could suggest that Albee is criticising the conventions of marriage through demonstrating the way in which people want to get married out of “traditional” values rather than out of love. Albee also shows how unfaithfulness is often sparked by secretive habits. Martha relies on the safety of her secrets as protection when she says to Nick “well nobody is going to know”.

Secrecy is a very important theme in the play, as it sparks many of the events that occur through the build up of jealousy and underlying feelings. Albee creates the meek character of Honey to grow increasingly uncontrolled and drunk during the course of the play, perhaps as a way of protecting herself against the harsh reality of the situation that she is in, with her husband Nick, and Martha growing increasingly close. Through secretive flirting between the latter two characters, Honey devastatingly realises for herself the event that is taking place behind her back. Through the events that follow, Albee is suggesting that dishonesty is a bigger crime than the affair itself, leaving Honey feeling as if she is not worth any honesty. Another vital part of the plot that stemmed through this secretive event and the provocative conversations leading up to it, is the last scene where George “kills” his and Martha’s son. Albee is presenting the way in which heartbreak and pain causes one to desire the same over others. In this case, George is targeting Martha’s weakness by killing her dream of having a son. However, the ending is still ambiguous, adding to the overall sense of secrecy.

The way that secrecy is presented in Albee’s play Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? is comparable to that of George Orwell’s novel 1984 as it is important in affecting the series of events that follow. In Orwell’s novel, the theme of paranoia sparks the acts of secrecy, which are similar to the acts of secrecy in Albee’s play- the main character Winston falls in love, which in the dystopian society in which it is set, is strictly forbidden. He is caught, locked up, and cruelly punished. Dissimilarly to Albee, Orwell is not criticising the acts of secrecy, but the way in which society is becoming increasingly controlling, presenting the main characters in a refreshing and liberal light in comparison to the rest of the characters in the novel. Albee, however, is showing the flaws of human nature, and presenting the inevitable effects of secrecy in relationships.

Isabella Fleming