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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).源'自:751-'论/文'网"www.751com.cn
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.