Who’s Afraid Of Virginia

Woolf?
H2 Literature: Paper 3 (Ideas of the Mind and Self)
 Themes
FALSE ILLUSIONS FUN AND GAMES

DESTRUCTIVE STATES THROUGH DYSFUNCTIONAL

RELATIONSHIPS
OF MIND
PORTRAYAL OF
LIES AND DECEIT DIFFERENT SELVES
IDEAS OF THE MIND
STATES OF MIND
❏ Differing states of
mind by the various
characters
throughout the play
❏ Eg. Despair,
Desperation,
Destruction
IDEAS OF THE MIND
CoPING MECHANISMS
❏ Usage of illusions to shield from
reality
❏ Attacking others’ sense of self
to build their own sense of self
❏ Games to distract from the
failing marriages of the
characters
IDEAS OF THE SELF
SENSE OF SELVES
❏ Ideal Self
- The “best” self one could be
❏ False Vs True Self
- Facade vs Reality
❏ Roles of the Self
- Identity as a mother, a father, etc.
IDEAS OF THE SELF
SELF IN RELATION TO
OTHERS
❏ Dysfunctional
relationships
❏ Social/Societal
Expectations
❏ Dissociation from/Assault
on others to protect sense
Main Characters
 CHARACTERS

- Martha (52) -> Wife of

George; A wild,
rambunctious woman who
constantly attacks George
for his shortcomings; Ample
but not fleshy, large and
boisterous but looking
CHARACTERS
- George (46) ->
Husband of Martha; A
thin man with his hair
going grey; A history
teacher who
experiences a shift
from passivity to
 CHARACTERS
- Honey (26) -> Wife
of Nick; Petite,
blonde girl who is
rather plain looking;
Childlike and
innocent, serves as
the basis for humour
CHARACTERS

- Nick (30) ->

Husband of Honey;
Blond, well-put
together and good
looking man who
serves as the object
of sexualisation to
Nick and Honey vs George and Martha
- Nick and Honey serve as dramatic foils to George
and Martha -> completely opposite character traits
in respect to each of their counterparts
- However, this juxtaposition is broken down in Act 2
when the audience finds that Honey and Nick’s
marriage is in fact not as perfect as portrayed to
be
WHO IS THE WOLF?
Ie. Who forces the characters to confront reality?
GEORGE AS Exposes the
truth of the

THE WOLF Nick-Honey

Marriage

Tears down the

illusions and lies Exorcises
and bringing the son
redemption from his
marriage
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
A song in reference to ‘Who’s Afraid
However, the song is
of the Big Bad Wolf?’
used to console a
Originally used as a tool by George grieving Martha at
the very end,
to distract himself from Martha, the
reconnecting
song becomes a symbol of the
Martha and George
fractured relationship between as well as healing
Martha and George the fractured and
ailing marriage.
The title is a That only gets

QUESTION...
answered in
the last lines of
the play

By admitting to her fears,

Martha takes the first
step in confronting
reality and facing her
true self.