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摘 要

爱德华·阿尔比是美国著名当代剧作家，他的代表作《谁害怕弗吉尼亚伍尔夫》一经出版便引起巨大反响，并赢得诸多奖项。这部戏剧创新的框架、错杂多变的语言、奇异的章节和其中蕴含的狂欢化意象都完整体现出了这部戏剧的狂欢化精神。此外，这部戏剧的章节设置也与狂欢化理论相吻合。本文以巴赫金的狂欢化理论解析《谁害怕弗吉尼亚伍尔夫》。这部戏剧的狂欢化体现在三个方面：狂欢化生活、狂欢化的艺术思维、幻想与现实的对话。此研究为理解和解构文本深层含义提供了全新视角。

关键词：爱德华·阿尔比;《谁害怕弗吉尼亚伍尔夫》;巴赫金；狂欢化理论；狂欢化生活

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 A Brief Introduction to Edward Albee and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1

1.2 Literature Review 1

1.3 A Brief Introduction to Mikhail Bakhtin and The Theory of Carnivalization 2

2. The Carnivalized Life in the Play 4

2.1 The Carnival Kings and The Carnival Collective 4

2.2 The Carnivalized Space and Time in Martha’s House 6

3. The Carnivalization of Artistic Thinking 7

3.1 The Ritual of Crowning and Decrowning 7

3.2 The Duality of the Carnivalized Images 8

4. The Permanent Dialogue between Reality and Illusion 9

4.1 Official and Civilian: the Influence of the Author"s Experiences on the Play 9

4.2 The Exposure of the Disparity between Reality and Illusion 10

5. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 12

1. Introduction

1.1 A Brief Introduction to Edward Albee and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Edward Albee is a famous contemporary American playwright. In 1962, he achieved both critical and popular success with his masterpiece Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. The play won the New York Play Critics Award and every other major award. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, widely regarded as Edward Albee’s best play, presents an all-night drinking party in which a middle-aged professor and his wife verbally hurt each other in brilliant language. Martha is a fickle woman who married to a quiet history professor of the college of her father, George. She has long used it against him that he has not been a success like her Dad, a principle of college. One night they invited the couple Honey and Nick drinking together after came back from the party held by Martha’s father. The small party explodes into a carnival of jokes, language attack, seduction under the effects of alcohol and under the guise of “fun and games”. Grade differential and decent behaviors are not exist anymore. By the time before dawn, George destroyed Martha’s most cherished illusion -- their imaginary son. After young guests left, they reached a settlement, although they were afraid of facing the reality, they have to summon up courage and to find the meaning of life.

This thesis attempts to interpret this play from the perspective of the Bakhtinian theory of carnivalization, focusing on three aspects of carnivalization: carnivalized life, carnivalization of artistic thinking and dialogue between reality and illusion.

1.2 Literature Review

Some of abroad scholars study this play by applying absurdism and deconstruction. Subtext of Albee’s work, which is absurdity of human existence, is the main idea of their research. “His presence (their imaginary son of Martha and George) is created to against the fear of being manque, and it is an windy existentialism experience” (Roudane, 1987: 81). The play is widely considered that absurd theatre is the buds of deconstruction. Daniel McDonald said that “Truth and illusion in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the reflection of times we live in” (McDonald, 1964: 67) in his research about this play. From the perspective of deconstruction, the thesis analyzes the indeterminacy of language and text, further expand to the indeterminacy of the literary works. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a combination of reality and illusion. There is a chapter in Esslin’s An Anatomy of Drama to study the relationship between reality and illusion” (Zuo Jin, 2009: 83). Absurdity of the play, and to a certain extent, as part of the deconstructionism was previewed. And there’s another special study provided by critic Anne Paolucci in her work From Tension to Tonic: The Plays of Edward Albee. She claims that Albee "has done more than any other recent author to revive the glorious tradition of polysemous writing, in a modern vein" (Paolucci, 1972: 3). She focuses in Albee’s exploitation of language, and calling Albee "a master of dialogue." This paper analyzes the symbolic meaning of the imaginary son and the meaning of killing him in Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and concludes that killing the imaginary son is the only way to escape the bondage of rigid social morality and come back to the reality.

Most popular studies about the play in China are new historicism and feminist criticism. Some scholars interpret Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? from the perspective of new historicism. “They also believes that no matter where the power structure is reflected, the power structure is opposing power relationship” (Yue Meilu, 2013:205). And they relate this to the power relationship between the authority and ordinary people in this play. The background of Edward Albee’s adoptive mother is a woman who has very strong control desire and hold dominant position in the family, offers a feminist reading of the play. “It reflects men’s value of the author and his attitude towards women. It can be interpreted from the perspective of feminist criticism” (Xu Yuming, 2009:3). Another study about this paly is from the perspective of the opposition between science and humanity. In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, George works in history department while Nick works in biology department. Obviously, they hold different attitude and opinion towards life. “ The opposition between George and Nick not only represents opposition between humanist and scientist, but also represents opposition between science and humanity” (Huang Ling, 2012:69).

1.3 A Brief Introduction to Mikhail Bakhtin and The Theory of Carnivalization

There is a strong substantial connection between the play and carnival ceremony. To some extent, carnival is a form of natural play. Without the lines, the common people put on the masks, dress themselves and act parts that they don’t play in their real life. “The Elizaberthan theatre is a professionalized form of carnival” (Bristol, 1985: 21). In Bristol analysis of relationship between theatre and carnival, he highlights the similarities of the two by drawing our attention to the marginal position they occupy in the culture of their tome. Mikhail Bakhtin was a Russian philosopher, literary critic, semiotician and scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language. Bakhtin, as a philosopher, linguist, literary critic and folklorist, has exerted a shaping influence upon a variety of western theories including structuralism and semiotics through his innovative concepts.

Bakhtin’s theory of carnivalization, as it is developed in the two seminal studies Rabelais and his world and Problems of Dostoevsky"s Poetics, has made impacts on a variety of disciplines. “The term ‘carnival’ originated from Latin expression ‘came vale’, which means ‘farewell to meet’ and it refers to a period of merrymaking and feasting celebrated before Lent. Gradually the meaning of carnival has surpassed its origin with the historical development” (Bakhtin, 1968: 23). In a wide sense, it has turned into a generic term of all forms of diverse festivals. Carnival itself is “a sum total of all diverse festivities of the carnival type” (Bakhtin, 1984: 129) and as a form “ it is very varied, giving rise, on a general carnivalesque base, to diverse variants and nuances depending upon the epoch, the people, the individual festivity” (Bakhtin, 1984: 122). He used the term “Carnivalization” to reveal the spirit of carnival reflected in literary works. The quintessence of the carnivalesque is the spirit of subversion, which is fully expressed in the ritual of crowning and decrowning. “The primary carnivalesque act is the mock crowning and subsequent decrowning of the carnival king” (Bakhtin, 1984: 124). This ceremony is a ‘dualistic ritual’ which symbolizes ‘the joyful relativity of all structure and order, of all authority’. The carnival king is the antithesis of a real king. He is ‘a slave or a jester’ whose brief reign “opens and sanctifies the inside-out world of carnival” (Bakhtin, 1984: 124). A mock king is crowned by the carnival collective, receiving unprecedented respect until he is decrowned and gets cursed and teased. Through the symbolic ritual, “the people of a community express their sense of being victims of power and their own power to subvert institution.” Moreover, the ritual of crowning and decrowning also express “the joyful relativity of all structure and orders, of all authority and all position” (Bakhtin, 1984: 124). Carnivalization makes it possible that different voices are set free to speak. There is no absolutely dominant truth or ideology in the world.

Many of the essential elements of the play, for example, characterization, imagery and theme, are all in conformity with the carnivalesque, all the similar subversive spirit of carnival. The main characters, including George, Martha, Nick and Honey, are featured with the figures of carnival king and carnival collective. The drink, laughter, curse, and so on are also endowed with the carnivalesque spirit.

2. The Carnivalized Life in the Play

2.1 Carnival Kings and the Carnival Collective

2.1.1 Carnival Kings: Martha’s Dad and Martha

According to the Bakhtin’s theory of carnivalization, carnival ceremony is a mixture, which including all type of carnival celebration, etiquette, and ritual. And he claims that in the middle ages and the Renaissance a “boundless world of humorous and manifestations opposed the official and serious tone of medieval ecclesiastical and feudal culture”( Bakhtin, 1968: 4). It can be traced back to the essence of the human original system and the root of original thinking. Carnival formed a whole set of specific perceptual form of symbolic language from big complex carnival play to an individual acting by the civilian. This language can be decomposed to perform the unity and a complicated view of the world. The canivalized life is different from normal life. It is an abnormal life, which is the opposite side of life. Laws, rules, order, bans and restrictions have been canceled in canivalized life. Any distance between people no longer exists and is replaced by casual and intimate contact.

Another category of carnival is curse. Dirty words are typical carnival square language which sometimes are very long and complicated sentences. Obviously, dirty words can be seen everywhere in this play. The first act of the play Martha shout at George when he open the door for Honey and Nick and this make the greeting extremely awkward. And the words ‘God damn you’, ‘son of a bitch’ appear frequently.

Moreover, “It is carnivalization in the theatre that the dynamic of the interaction between the carnival world and the world of established order can be fully dramatized” (Chow Po-fun, 1987:16). Carnival means the resolution of ranks. And also there will be a carnival king. The unacted Martha’s Dad is absolutely the carnival king in this play. It’s him who made Martha married George, just because George could be the inheritor of the college. George is a professor of history department who is reserved and quiet. Martha worship her Dad. We can tell from the play that George has been yield to Martha for more than twenty years. There is one line can prove that. That is, George wishes “you’d stop springing things on me all the time. You’re always springing things on me” (4-5) . After so many years, it turns out that George disappointed Martha’s father and Martha. Maybe it’s the reason why they make up a imaginary son to fill the empty of their life.

In microcosm, Martha is also a carnival king in this play. She is intelligent, well-read, and perceptive, who hides the intellectual gifts beneath a brassy, aggressive and vulgar exterior. Fairclough explains that “power in discourse is to do with powerful participants controlling and constraining the contributions of non-powerful participants”(Fairclough, 2001: 38-9). She gets the better of George, beating him down psychologically. She is skillful at dishing out punishment, and George accepts it. One night, she invited Nick and Honey coming over and this became the start of this carnival celebration. Martha:" I"m loud, and I’m vulgar, and I wear the pants in this house because someone got to, but I am not a monster. I am not" (59) . This demonstrates how Martha exerts her power as a female over George, demonstrating how she lives her life how she wants it. Martha "Hell you can take over the history department just as easy from there as anywhere else. God knows somebody"s going to take over the history department, someday, and it ain’t going to be George boy" (25) . This shows that Martha holds the power in the relationship and is able to diminish George. This also emphasises George"s inability to obtain dominance in the relationship and in his work. She abuses George, seduces Nick and gives the orders. Her willful character can be seen throughout the whole play.

2.1.2 The Carnival Collective: George, Nick, Honey and the Audience

Although, it’s George who puts an end to the play and changed everything, Martha is the one who leads the development direction. In the first act, “Fun and Games,” Martha and George try to fight and humiliate each other in new, inventive ways. As they peel away each other’s pretenses and self-respect. Martha dominates George for two reasons: she hates his inability to fill her father’s role, both professionally and psychologically; and George seems enjoys the role of victim to her torturer. Martha and George transforming their guests in to audience and witness the humiliation. Except the carnival king Martha’s Dad and Martha, the rest of the characters and the audience are the carnival collective. No audience will not to take a notice from the structuring of the play. We witness the play, but we can’t subvert the authority and we are controlled by the plots development.

2.1.3 The Subversive Spirit

Many plays are about power struggle, and Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? is no exception. In this play, the power struggle is much more complicated. If we want to have a better understanding of this play, then we have to get to know the background of this play published. “Who"s Afraid of Virginia Woolf？is themed by criticizing American society” (Zou Huiling,1999: 2). In the 1969s, Americans have already stepped into modern life. Meanwhile, for some people, making life is getting harder and harder. There is no more the time that everyone can make their “American Dream” come true. Some people think “American Dream” is an illusion. They are getting to find a way to fight out. This social background reflected in the play.

In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, George and Martha use language to construct reality, culminating in the construction of an ‘imaginary son’. To have control over language, that is, to have control over how much and what one is able to say is to have control over the construction and preservation of that reality, whether it be truth or illusion. Exercising control over turn-taking in conversation is therefore central to George’s and Martha’s struggle for power and dominance (King, 2010: 211).

As for the Who"s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the subversive spirit in this play refers to the subversion of authority, that is an illusion to them. Martha’s Dad has not showed up. He has the most powerful right and controls everything. He is the carnival king, who is subverted by carnival collective in the end. George and Martha decided to face the reality and have a new life.

2.2 The Carnivalized Space and Time in Martha’s House

From the respects of structure, Who"s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a typical three–acts play. From the original screen title have profound cultural origin. They are FUN AND GAMES, WALPURGISNACHT, and THE EXORCISM. The Walpurgisnacht is originated from a festival. On every 30^th of April’s night, the witch and various elves gathered in the peak of Brocken hill which is located in southern Germany. The festival is also called witch"s festival. Local residents and tourists wear costumes and witchlike masks gathering from all directions with brooms or other props. Then they march to the deserted Brocken hill. After night falls, they begin the witch dance as a welcome to the arrival of devil. Those festival activities would not stop until dawn. And the play"s plot chimed with such carnival development mode. As well as the German witch carnival celebrations. From the point of time, who"s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? happens in two o "clock in the morning to dawn. It is the time for the carnival celebration. The carnival often held in square and street. But in carnival literature, the place can be sitting room or dining room or everywhere that a place of all sorts of people gathering and communication. However, the story of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? happens in George and Martha’s sitting room. Martha changed the clothes before the beginning of the party and Honey’s hysteria attack, are the concrete embodiment of carnival culture. The informal communications in carnival square have been reflected in this play. People in the carnival formed a new type of relationship.

3. The Carnivalization of Artistic Thinking

3.1 The Ritual of Crowning and Decrowning

In carnival ceremony, crowning and decrowning are the most important components. The crowning happened in the day George and Martha got married. It seems that everyone got what they want. Martha’s Dad wanted Martha to marry the man who could be the inheritor. Martha finally got rid of last marriage. As to George, he was glad to marry principal’s daughter. The play focus on describe the decrowning. In the end of the crazy party, George told Martha that their imaginary son is dead. Martha can’t believe it in the first place but find the strength to face the truth later. George has been always good to her. In the end of the play, they finally broke the illusion and to face the reality. Although they didn’t know what to do, they were willing to find way out. They have the courage to face the empty after killing their imaginary son and the disappointment of Martha’s Dad. Martha’s Dad have no chip to control George and Martha’s life. The carnival king had no power.

3.2 The Duality of The Carnivalized Images

3.2.1 Song: Scare and Challenge

The title of the play Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? uses a common technique of absurdist writing and parodies a children’s song, “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf” in which ‘Woolf’ (or ‘wolf’)，according to the author，refers to reality without illusion. Martha sing the song Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? after coming back from her Dad’s party and ask George “ Didn’t you think that was funny? I thought it was a scream... a real scream. You did not like it, hunh?”(5) . Martha thinks it is funny although we don’t know why. In the end of the play, things turn upside down. George sings to Martha “ Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and Martha said “I... am... George... I... am” (90) . Actually, it refers to reality rather than just Virginia Woolf. Martha broke her illusion and accepted the reality after George killing their imaginary son, which is the theme of the play, that human have to stop pursuing false value and false sense of security. And to some extent, it’s a challenge for them. “Therefore, as for Albee’s question:‘ Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, with the power and outlook we obtain from taming the Wolf, the answer now is also crystal clear, ‘We’re not afraid ’” (Liu Si, 2009: 4).

3.2.2 Laughter: Curse and Blessing

Laughter is an amazing signifier. One may laugh to express different emotions and thoughts. A laughter-provoking play frequently incorporates a carnival into its plot structure. Carnivalization is the term assigned to this act. Carnival laughter is the laughter of all people. The entire world is seen in its droll aspects. It asserts and denies, it buries and it revives. Such is the laughter of carnival. In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, laughter happen throughout the carnival night in the play. Two couples sing "who"s afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and tease each other. They drink and dance together, be honest to each other and enjoy the happiness of carnivalized life. One element appears frequently among these is swear word. Swear word has duality in carnival ceremony and carnivalesque. The first act of the play Martha shout at George when he open the door for Honey and Nick and this make the greeting extremely awkward. And the words “God damn you,” “son of a bitch” appear frequently. Martha says that George ‘is only one man in my life who has ever made me happy’ (70) , although she abuse George and said terrible things to him. In this play, laughter can be curse and blessing.

3.2.3 The Imaginary Son: Death and Rebirth

Martha uses her imaginary son as a weapon against her father and her disappointment. In the end of the story, George told her that their son is dead in an accident. Then Martha keeping saying “ I will not let you do that!” George broke her dream and illusion so she is afraid. Afterwards, Martha became weak. George said it would be better to comfort her. They have to face the reality and the new life after break their more than twenty years’ illusion. It’s a rebirth for them. After reading some works of Edward Albee, an obvious opinion of him that can be seen from the death theme in his works is that he criticize on “ human lose true love, pursue false value and look for false sense of security” (Chen Xi, 2009:5 ).

4. The Permanent Dialogue between Reality and Illusion

4.1 Official and Civilian: the Influence of the Author"s Experiences on the Play

We can consider the party in principal’s home is the official carnival. The purpose of the party is to contact the faculties of the college and consolidate the existing authority. People talk polite and proper. The party in Martha’s home is a typical folk carnival. This also reflects the growth environment of the writer Albee. He is adopted by a rich family when he is very young. When he graduated, he was engaged in many kinds of jobs. Maybe he had “American Dream” too. When he is getting closer to thirty years old, he decided to be a playwright and treat it as a lifelong job. We can see that Albee finally find who he is and what he want. “American Dream” is broken, but he find a way out and face the reality

4.2 The Exposure of the Disparity between Reality and Illusion

As this thesis mentioned above, if we want to have a better understanding of this play, then we have to get to know the background of this play published. In the 1969s, Americans have already stepped into modern life. Meanwhile, for some people, making life is getting harder and harder. There is no more the time that everyone can make their “American Dream” come true. On the one hand, “American Dream” is an illusion to some people. On the other hand, some upper classes of society looks gorgeous and polite are often turn to opposite. There is a huge disparity between reality and illusion. In this play, when Martha suggests that her husband cannot tell truth from illusion, George replies “Yes, but we must carry on as though we did.” (76) . Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? forces the audience to decide on the difference between truth and illusion as well.

5. Conclusion

Throughout this study, Edward Albee’s play Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has been analyzed from the perspective of Bakhtinian theory of carnivalization, which offers a framework to study the carnivalized life and subversive spirit reflected in the play. The interpretation of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the color of the Bakhtin’s theory of carnivalization would help to understand the profound meaning of the play and the theory.

The play demonstrates striking carnivalesque characteristics. Firstly, the play reflects the mock crowning and decrowning ritual of the carnival king but the carnival collective. The character including Martha and her Dad, are all carnival kings to some extent. There is no absolute truth in the world. All is up and down, dead and birth, curse and blessing. George, Nick and Honey play the roles of carnival collective. Secondly, the play reveals a kind of subversive spirit against the authority. George kill their imaginary son and Martha finally face the reality. Moreover, the duality of the carnivalized images is also worthwhile to be researched. The song of who is afraid of Virginia Woolf? shows Martha’s mock and afraid. The laughter and swear words indicates the curse and blessing. And the dead of their imaginary son also is a rebirth to Martha and George to some extent.

Therefore, it can be concluded that Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play endowed with the carnivalesque spirit. The development of the play is in accordance with the carnival festival. People dispersed after the party when authority is subverted. Martha and George begin the new life. So it is possible to interpret the play from the perspective of the Bakhtinian theory of carnivalization. Thus, the study provides a new version for understanding and constructing the deep meaning of the play. Bakhtin’s theory of carnivalization is not just observation and description of the carnival festival. On the contrary, it is a applicable tool of analyzing and understanding the world and human beings.

Works Cited

[1] Albee, Edward. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? New York: Random House UK Press, 2001.

[2] Bakhtin, M.M. Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics. Ed. and Caryl, Emerson. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984.

[3] —. M.M .Rabelais and his world. Translated by Helene, Iswolsky. Cambridge: The Massachusette Institute of Technology Press, 1968.

[4] Bristol, Michael. Carnival and Theater. Plebeian Culture and the Structure of Authority in Renaissance England. Methuen. London, 1985.

[5] Chow Pofun. Carnivalization and subversion of order in comic plays with reference to Shakespeare"s Twelfth Night and Herry IV. Hong Kong University, 1987.

[6] Fairclough, N. Language and Power. 2nd ed. Harlow: Longman, 2001.

[7] King, Rachel. Power, struggle and control: An Analysis of turn-taking in EdwardAlbee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The University of Nottingham, 2010.

[8] McDonald, Daniel. Truth and Illusion in Who’s Afraid of VirginiaWoolf? Renascence 17, 1964.

[9] Paolucci, Ann. From Tension to Tonic: The Plays of Edward Albee. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1972.

[10] Roudane, Matthew C. Understanding Edward Albee. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1987.

[11] Yue Meilu. Analysis of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? from the Perspective of New Historicism. Overseas English. 2013.

[12] 陈曦.《爱德华·阿尔比戏剧中的死亡》.华东师范大学，2009.

[13] 黄玲.《科学与人文两种文化的对立——从爱德华·阿尔比的lt;谁害怕弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫gt;谈起》.四川大学文学与新闻学院, 2012.

[14] 刘思.《谁不害怕大灰狼？——荒诞派戏剧与阿尔比的lt;谁害怕弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫？gt;》.厦门大 学，2009.

[15] 徐郁明.《女性主义解读lt;谁害怕弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫?gt;》.连云港中医药高等职业技术学校,2009.

[16] 邹惠玲.《论lt;谁害怕弗吉妮亚·沃尔夫?gt;的社会批评主题》.《外国文学研究》1999年第4期.

[17] 左进.《荒诞与解构lt;谁害怕弗吉妮亚·沃尔夫?gt;中的二元对立》.外语教学,5 (2009):83.

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