Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… the daughter of the President of New Carthage University. Martha, from a young age, was toted as the President’s prize daughter, and eventually that prize was won over by George, an associate history professor at the university.
Living… in small college town in New England in a haze of late-night professor parties and three-too-many cocktails. Tonight, Martha and George have invited a newly married couple, Honey and Nick, to come back for drinks with them. Nick, who is a new staff member in the biology department, has now idea what is in store for him and Honey.
Profession… housewife. Martha is tired of her title as the daughter of the university president and the wife of the washed up associate professor. She feels superior to all of those related to her and she no longer wishes to live this empty life.
Interests… poking fun at George. Martha’s favorite pastime is to bring up George’s past mistakes and psychological deficiencies. But without the audience of Honey and Nick, her criticism wouldn’t be half as much fun. Nick and Honey soon realize that Martha and George have brought them to their house in order to use them as part of their dark psychological games, such as “Humiliate the Host,” “Get the Guests,” and “Hump the Hostess,” which start as clever criticisms, but evolve into serious attempts at hurting everyone involved.
Relationship Status… married. George is what you might call a loving husband, when viewed from the outside. But once you step into the crossfire of George and Martha’s marriage, you realize that the two are anything but happily married. Their hatred for each other is immense and unwelcoming.
Challenge… beating George at his own games. Martha seems to be no stranger to such games as “Hump the Hostess,” which she follows along with readily, if only to put George to shame by exposing all of the horrible things about the two of them.
Personality… overbearing, crude, and drunk. Martha has a drinking problem; this much is clear. But when she is drunk she engages in far more dangerous habits: the perilous psychological war she wages with George. Martha will not let George escape from her torture, just as he will not let her escape from his. The two are joined together eternally to relive all of their worst fears and heartbreaks.
Get to Know her in...
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Mike Nichols? film from Edward Albee's play brought new themes to the film industry. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton have never been more brilliant together as they portray an experienced married couple who love each other yet verbally attack one another when they see how boring their na
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“Twelve times a week,” answered Uta Hagen, when asked how often she’d like to play Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Like her, audiences and critics alike could not get enough of Edward Albee’s masterful play. A dark comedy, it portrays husband and wife George and Martha in a searing night of dangerous fun and games. By the evening’s end, a stunning, almost unbearable revelation provides a climax that has shocked audiences for years. With the play’s razor-sharp dialogue and the stripping away of social pretense, Newsweek rightly foresaw Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as “a brilliantly original work of art—an excoriating theatrical experience, surging with shocks of recognition and dramatic fire [that] will be igniting Broadway for some time to come.”
