Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, And A Streetcar Named Desire

In many great works of literature, whether they be plays, novels, or poetry, the idea of masculinity is prominent throughout the novels because for an extended period of history, men were seen as superior to their female counterparts. As time went on, writers began to portray females in their work as more dominant and less frail. In works such as Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the female characters are more assertive, while the male characters are submissive in comparison. All these plays were written in the mid twentieth century, a time where America was changing, and the stereotypical roles for people, especially women and African Americans,

were being shattered. As a result, these plays were described as revolutionary during their time, and continue to serve as examples of bold literature in classrooms today. In each set of couples, including Martha and George, Linda and Willy, and Stella and Stanley, the females’ authority overshadows the males’, taking away their masculinity as a result.
Martha from Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? proves to be more dominant than George because she controls their relationship. Her constant belittling and berating of George, along with his bitter acceptance of her comments, demonstrate that Martha is ultimately more assertive than George. Martha herself even recognizes that she is the dominant partner in the relationship, saying “I wear the pants in this house because somebody’s got to” (Albee 173). George and Martha’s relationship is built on a power struggle, both of them scrambling to try and gain the upper hand through the night of games until the bitter end. Unlike the relationship between Honey and Nick, where Nick constantly tries to repress his wife into silence, Martha and George’s relationship proves to be more fiery and aggressive by nature. Contrary to the submissive position that women were expected to obey during the era of the play, Martha broke the mold and took charge of the relationship.