The Unwilling Performers in Edward Albee’s Twentieth—first Century Plays

【Abstract】Edward Albee has received Pulitzer Prize for Drama three times and won the Tony Award for the Best Play twice in 1963 and 2002 respectively， which made him one of the most influential playwrights in American literature together with Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. The author of this thesis tries to propose Judith Butlers gender performativity theory to probe into the unwilling performers in Albees plays written in the 21st century， and search into Albees reasons for illustrating subversive gender identity in his twentieth-first plays. This thesis is aimed to offer a new perspective to achieve a better understanding of Albees playwriting career.

【Key words】Edward Albee； unwilling performers； gender subversion

【作者簡介】董庆辰，海南医学院。

Edward Albee （1928- 2016） has written 32 plays since he finished his very first play The Zoo Story in 1958. He has received Pulitzer Prize for Drama three times for A Delicate Balance（1966）， Seascape （1974） and Three Tall Women （1991）. He also won the Tony Award for the Best Play in 1963 and 2002 for his plays Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf？ （1962） and The Goat， or who is Sylvia？ （2002）， which made him one of the most influential playwrights in American literature， together with Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller.

The author of this thesis tries to propose Judith Butlers gender performativity theory to probe into the unwilling performers in Albees plays written in the 21st century， and search into Albees reasons for illustrating subversive gender identity in his twentieth-first plays.

It is commonly believed that the perfect picture of woman is to give up herself and devote to men and children. The moral sources of such goods can be traced tin Judeo-Christianity highlighting the other-regarding love and the spirit of sacrifice. However， Edward Albees twentieth-first century plays are written in a time when American society has witnessed the rapid transformation in social economy and moral value. A large number of Hollywood movies proclaim all sorts of anti-traditional culture， such as violence and eroticism. Such publicity pattern attacks and ridicules the virtues of Protestantism， Protestantism and Judeo-Christianity， which has enormous impact on the moral value in America. Additionally， being influenced by three main culture thought — Existentialism， Feminism and Ecologism — America has seen the transformation of the society. Above all， Feminism reshapes the values about gender， marriage and family.

Therefore， in Albees twentieth-first century plays there is obvious incongruity between the expectation of what a man or woman is supposed to do and what he or she really wants to do. In the heterosexuality culture， children， especially sons， are considered as continued vitality of the family. According to Butler， gender is a forcible citation. Having birth to a child can build an invisible blood ties between a couple， and couples， especially wives， can fulfill corresponding social responsibilities by raising their children. However， Albees female characters always show the inclination of the phobia of children.

Me， Myself and I is Albees latest play written in 2007. This play is mainly about the mess being caused by OTTO who tries to get rid of his identical twin brother otto to acquire his own identity. When Mother gave birth to the identical twins OTTO and otto， her husband just walked into the delivery room and turned his heel and go immediately without writing or calling. Since that time， she repeatedly insists that she has shouldered the responsibility as a mother to take good care of her children for twenty-eight years. She “did everything a mother could” and she blushes to say the word that she will take revenge to those who hurt her babies （Albee 2011： 23）.

However， all these are only one side of words， she does not really care the spiritual needs of her sons and she always forgets her responsibility to perform like a mother， for She cannot even distinguish her identical twins：

Mother： Which one are you？ I never know who you are.

OTTO： Youre at it again. Practice makes perfect.

Mother： （Uncertain.） Well， youd think so. I never know which one you are. （Out） Ive got identical twins. I never know which one he is.

In the actual world， no one fails to distinguish his or her own child. However， Edward Albee， as an influential playwright in modern theater， intends to criticize that Mother dose not really know the requirement of his children by creating this absurd scene. Mother names his identical sons OTTO and otto， which sound assimilating. She takes it for granted that identical twins should have identical names， which cause the confusion of the identity of her children in daily life. Thats the reason why OTTO considers the family as a mess and tries to escape from it.

The key reason of Mothers phobia of Children may root in the fact she is too young to be a mother and she is not willing to play the role as a mother. As it is mentioned in the play， when she gave birth to OTTO and otto， she was only seventeen， which means that she was still under the legal age of legitimate marriage and she even could not be seen as a “woman”. Before giving birth to the identical twins， her husband promised that he would bathe her in “emeralds” and gives her “black panthers”. Emeralds symbolize the wealth and Panthers symbolize guardian and protection. She then becomes addicted to the fantastic dreamland being filled with emeralds and panthers. Even twenty-eight years have been passed， when talking about her husband and her marriage， she still clearly remembers the promise about emeralds and panthers. From Mothers words， it is apparent that she always complains that raise double twins bring her double pleasure， double sorrow and double despair； and she is tired of her mothers role. When she faces the choices of being a girl with girlish dreamy fantasies or being a woman with overloaded stress to tend to her sons need， Mother prefer to be indulgent into her girlish dreaming land without waking up.

Another case in point is Nevelson in Occupant. It is commonly believed that getting pregnant and having children is the very thing that most of women should be proud of， since it symbolizes the maturity of a woman. But Nevelson says that “getting pregnant” is something she doesnt want and she thinks “it would never happen”. It is apparent that she refuses to be a “mother” from the very beginning. She strongly believes that her physiological functions as a “mother”， like giving birth to children and raising children， are unnecessary. Additionally， in her eighties， Nevelson suffers from cervix cancer， and she has to accept hysterectomy， which means excising the uterus. Uterus is a reproductive organ being regarded as the symbolic image of femininity and reproduction within the heterosexuality binary frame， while Nevelson thoroughly excises the symbol of a woman.

Even when she happened to have her own son Mike， she still refuses to accept the corresponding responsibilities of a mother. Far different from the image of a traditional virtuous mother， Nevelson is known as a rotten mother. From the very beginning， Nevelson doesnt want to get pregnant or to be a mother. She almost let he son drown at the beach and baked over him in the car， and she seldom talks to him， which causes Mike was slow learning to speak （Albee 2008： 660）. Moreover， Nevelson， living an upper-class life in New York with her husband Charles， sends her son Mike to Maine to live with her family when Mike is still a young schoolboy. During this period， Nevelson and Mike only met twice. Then Nevelson left her husband and her son to start her trip to Europe. Even when Mike sends her letter to show his yearning and asks her to come back to America， Nevelson just ignore her sons request and keeps pursuing her own dream and art career in Europe. Indeed， Nevelson never tries to shoulder the responsibility of being a mother. She doesnt want to be tightly bound with her son or the household trifles， she wants to “live for [herself]； live fully； be … [herself].” She is eager to be a prominent artist， instead of being a good mother.

If gender is performative， then Mother and Nevelson can be called the unwilling performers. They refuse to carry out the responsibilities of mothers to take good care of their children. Such incongruity between what a woman is supposed to do and what she would like to do detests the notion of a fixed gender identity. Judith Butler states that “when the disorganization and disaggregation of the field of bodies disrupt the regulatory fiction of heterosexual coherence. That regulatory ideal is then exposed as a norm and a fiction that disguises itself as a developmental law regulating the sexual field that it purports to describe”. In Albees plays， the existence of the unwilling performers denotes the incredibility of any in-born gender quality in the ethical sense.

Edward Albee tries to create such characters with gender subversion to help readers reflect on the moral implication of gender norm. Firstly， by describing the unidentified characters， Albee reveals that gender norm involves an ethical obligation. If the characters have the willingness to resist the norm or to perform against the publics expectation， he or she will suffer from self-denying. Secondly， by creating the unwilling performers whose behavior is far from expectation， Albee tries to question rationality of the gender norm. Living in the new century， Albee has witnessed great changes have taken places in the moral domain and individuals internalize different moral goods. Moral good in gender norm is made， not born. Therefore， there is no need for the public to use conventional moral value to assess gender performance in the new millennium.

References：

[1]Albee，Edward.Me，Myself and I[M].New York：Dramatists Play Service，Inc.2011.

[2]Butler，Judith.Gender Trouble：Feminism and the Subversion of Identity[M].New York & London：Routledge，1999.