Always use the old sense of the word

Compare the presentation of love in Albee’s play ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, Fogelman’s film ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ and Fitzgerald’s ‘Great Gatsby’.

Both Albee and Folgelman show how love can be superficial. Albee displays that Nick’s intentions for marrying Honey were solely based on the fact she could conceive. For example, Nick tells George that he only ‘married her because she was pregnant’, which is shortly followed by a pause. The abrupt statement shows the reasoning behind Nick and Honeys marriage. Instead of marrying for love, Nick is shown marrying for an ulterior motive. This highlights his cruel and immoral nature. Also, the pause draws attention to absurdity of Nick’s statement and how shallow his mind set is. Albee also uses a pause to invite the audience to fill in the gaps. The pause urges the audience to question the issues surrounding childbirth at the time and highlights the immoral attitudes of people in society. The cruel hearted nature of Nick is reinforced further through stage directions, as Albee shows he says it with ‘no emotion’. The lack of emotion shows that Nick is almost inhumane as he is unaffected by the fact he married on the basis of having a child. The extreme lengths Nick goes in order to have a child makes the audience question whether Nick is a cruel, superficial individual or someone who is desperate for a child and willing to go to extremes to fulfil his desire.

Thus, the audience are uncertain whether to empathise or feel angered by Nick’s swift statement. The superficial mind set of Nick seems to influence Honey and drives her to change her attitudes towards child-bearing. Albee shows that Honey refrained from child-birth, telling Nick ‘I don’t want any children’. The assertive attitude of Honey shows how she was in control of her physical being. Although, after hearing George mocking her for being ‘slim hipped’ Honeys attitude changes. Albee shows George’s description of Honey is based around the fact she hasn’t had children. This encourages Honey to change her attitude as Albee shows she tells Nick ‘I want a child’. This shows that Honey has also inherited a superficial and shallow mind-set due to the influence of George and Nick.  Albee is conveying the pressures of societal views on abortion and child bearing. Also, as this occurs in the chapter of the exorcism, Albee is showing that ideas about child birth are emerging from Honey’s soul. The transition of Honeys attitude displays that everyone in relationships feels the pressures of living up to everyone else’s expectations. Albee shows that instead of Honey following her own desire of not wanting children and Nick following his own desire of finding true love, Honey and Nick’s relationship is based on the means of how others want them to live. The relationship is ultimately depthless, showing how superficial their love for each other actually is.

Similarly, in Fogelman’s ‘Crazy Stupid love’, love is based on superficial means. Fogelman shows that Jacob is giving Cal advice on how to attract women. For example, Jacob questions Cal ‘how much money you spend on clothes today?’ This suggests that Jacob thinks Cal’s appearance will help him find a lover and make him appear more desirable to the opposite sex. This is reinforced as Cal states ‘Five hundred?’ which Jacob swiftly replies ‘Three thousand’. The short two word reply informs the viewers that Jacob is confident and serious in his speech. This informs the viewers of Jacob’s distorted mind set as he thinks buying Cal a whole new wardrobe will help him find a possible partner. This is similar to Albee’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’, as Nick’s idea of love is distorted and driven by the superficial means of wanting a child. Likewise, Fogelman displays Jacob also has these contorted views of love, thinking that relationships are based on appearance and how much money someone is willing to spend on clothes. The idea that Cal’s appearance will better his relationship status is shown as Jacob assures Cal ‘Your personality is actually your weakest link’. This infers that Jacob thinks Cal’s personality isn’t up to scratch, therefore uses his looks to compensate. This suggests that Cal can’t obtain a relationship with his personality alone and has to better his image in order to be loved. Thus, both Fogelman and Albee show how someone’s selfish passion or desire can change and manipulate relationships, ultimately leading them to fail.

In addition, Albee and Fitzgerald present how love can be destructive. Albee shows George giving relationship advice to Nick. George tells Nick that there’s ‘quicksand here… and you’ll be dragged down’. George is warning Nick of the dangers of marriage. The metaphor of quicksand helps the audience understand how defeated George feels. Also, the visual imagery of George being dragged down allows the audience to see the dangers of marriage and how it can destroy an individual. The destructive nature of love is reinforced as Nick laughs at George, which is followed by George telling him ‘you’re a smug bitch of a bitch personally, but I'm trying to give you a survival kit’. The colloquial language brings a serious tone to the scene. George’s anger suggests he is serious about his advice and is honestly giving Nick guidance. The metaphor of Nick needing a survival kit also demonstrates that George’s relationship is a constant battle. The audience may empathise with George at this point in the play, as he is shown vulnerable and weak. Similarly, Fitzgerald displays how Jay Gatsby becomes vulnerable after pursuing Daisy. Nick recalls that ‘he wanted to recall something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy’. Fitzgerald shows that Gatsby was so preoccupied with obtaining Daisy, that he lost himself in the process. This shows the strength of Gatsby’s love. Like Albee’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ the readers sympathise with Gatsby’s helpless position. This shows that powerful love can cause a loss of self and integrity.

However, unlike Albee, Fitzgerald suggests that Gatsby’s main downfall was not love, but himself. Nick states the biggest danger to Gatsby was ‘what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams’. The readers are made to feel that Gatsby was self-destructive, taunting himself with the idea that Daisy may love him one day. The metaphor of the foul dust suggests that Gatsby’s mind-set was clouded by the goal of obtaining Daisy. Also, by calling the ideas in Gatsby’s mind ‘foul dust’, the readers can understand how Gatsby was his own worst enemy and the source of all his problems. The death of Gatsby also signifies the dangers of self-destructive thoughts. Due to Gatsby’s obsessive thoughts, he lost himself and a sight of who he was. Unlike Albee, Fitzgerald uses the dramatic device of a death to show the dangers of love and how it can be self-defeating if you can’t control it. Whereas, Albee uses language to show how both people in relationships play a part in destructing one another.

Fogelman and Albee present how people pursue love for superficial reasons. However, Albee shows how this can destroy relationships and lead to people destructing one another. Similarly, Fitzgerald displays the destructive nature of love. Although, through Gatsby’s death, Fitzgerald comments on how love isn't always the problem, it is sometimes the result of over-obsessive thoughts. Fitzgerald shows the extremes of love and how people will go up and beyond to pursue a passion or desire.

ALLLLLLLLZy (alice)