The Satire in Edward Albee's play "who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?"

Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is a drama exploring the anxieties of modern life. By personalizing aspects of the epic Albee has inverted many of its features to create satire. This internalization pits individuals against each other and themselves. M. H. Abrams's definition of epic, in his book "A Glossary of Literary Terms," is used comparatively to demonstrate how Albee achieves satire. Abrams's first definition of epic is the closest to which "…

…the four characters has some despicable characteristic, scorn turns to sympathy as George and Martha realize that all they have in the the world, despite the misgivings, are each other. Morning over the loss of an imaginary child cuts through the ranting and raving to reveal unity and caring between Martha and George. Unlike the traditional epic this interior drama is able to communicate a more contemporary set of feelings which relate to modern life.