Modern People's Abnormal Mentality Reflected In Edward Albee's Three Plays

Edward Albee is an outstanding playwright in American drama circle. His writing style benefits from the European Absurd Theatre. By analyzing Albee's three early representative plays—The Zoo Story(1958), The American Dream(1960), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1962), this thesis attempts to study how Albee demonstrates the abnormal mentality of modern people in these three plays by applying the absurd technique; and to explore the social reasons that result in such abnormal mentality.The Absurd Theatre is a new genre of drama which appeared on the European stage after World War II. The previous study of the Absurd Theatre mainly focuses on the European classic absurd playwrights. It is after Albee became famous in the 1960s that the Absurd Theatre appeared on American stage. Previous studies of Albee's works at home and abroad mainly focus on the influence of his grown-up experience reflected in his works; the absurd features in his early works and the social meaning of his works. Through textual analysis, this thesis tries to study the abnormal mentality of modern people Albee reflects in the above-mentioned three plays by applying the absurd technique and social reasons that cause such abnormal mentality.Owing to family or social environment reasons, modern people may sometimes feel the sense of loneliness or the tremendous mental pressure; some may tend to pursue reputation or social position or worship money too much. Then under the guidance of these emotions, people may become selfish, anxious, fearful, and like to resort to illusion to find a kind of relief which may cause the distortion of human nature or even the loss of human nature. The author of this thesis names these above mentioned mentality which seem not usual abnormal mentality or abnormal psychology.These above mentioned abnormal mentality of modern people has its vivid reflection in Albee's three plays. The Zoo Story tells a difficult conversation in a zoo between two protagonists—Jerry and Peter. In order to have a real contact with Peter, Jerry pales himself on the knife he tosses to Peter in the end, realizing his hope of communicating with others at the price of his life. Through two strangers' fatal talk, The Zoo Story shows the loneness and isolation of modern people. The American Dream presents the spiritual emptiness, money worship, and alienation of modern people through a typical American middle-class family, especially by telling two absurd plots—dismembering of the first adopted child and the accepting of the doing-everything-for-money young man named "American Dream" . In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Albee demonstrates the agony of modern people who are afraid of facing the reality and indulging in illusion through the depiction of two distorted marriages. By applying the absurd means such as the depiction of the farcical and degrading characters who are deprived personality, illogical language which is obscure and nonsensical, irrational and violent actions, and illogical plot, Albee successfully reflects the above-mentioned abnormal mentality in front of his audiences. Meanwhile, Albee explores the social reasons that cause modem people's abnormal mentality, exposes many problems existing in modern society and reflects social reality. Thus Albee is proved to be a conscious social critic different from the European Absurd playwrights.