Oldal 127 [127]
CREATION OF CRUELTY
a desperate and angry George throws a bottle at the bar cabinet, which then
breaks into pieces. Ihe room, drenched in silence immediately after, testifies to
the new level of aggression that has been reached. Even Martha, who is known
for her guick-thinking response time, needs a few moments to decide what
kind of tone she should adopt: "I hope that was an empty bottle, George. You
dont want to waste good liguor ... not on your salary." She is not intimidated
by the rising level of heightened emotions.
This is where the first act of the drama — which is well suited to its title
“Fun and Games” — ends: the playing of cruel games has begun, where break¬
ing the rules serves as a means of torturing George. Rule breaking (primar¬
ily mentioning the child) results in the disintegration of the former unstable
structure, leading directly to the second act, Walpurgisnacht*, in which the
third part of the game already carries the above change within itself. It is im¬
portant, however, that Martha continues to use her well-established tactics,
that is, to verbally attempt to humiliate her husband. The center of this story
is George’s unsuccessful book, and how Daddy prohibited the publication of
the manuscript. The words of his father-in-law reiterate the example of verbal
aggression, the purpose of which — both in the past on Daddy’s part and in
the present through Martha — is George’s humiliation: “Look here, kid, you
don’t think for a second I’m going to let you publish this crap, do you? Not on
your life, baby... not while you're teaching here... You publish that goddamn
book and you’re out ... on your ass!”*° The Book-mentioner — as opposed to
the previous two games, which can be interpreted as an attack on George’s
physical weakness and, later, on his social ability — targets his intellect, which
is a more sensitive point than those which come before. During the night, the
growing pain of aggression and cruelty, as well as the pain of Martha’s verbal
abuse, are all reflected in George’s reaction: no longer satisfied with a symbolic
murder after his “’LL KILL YOU!” exclamation, he launches himself at his
wife and begins to strangle her until Nick succeeds in separating the couple.
GET THE GUESTS
“THE GAME IS OVER"? — says George, thus ending the trials of Humiliate
the Host, and as a result (through the endured humiliation) he begins his rite
of passage. It is important to highlight that, among the participants, George is
38 Ibid.
39 Allan Lewis: The Fun and Games of Edward Albee, Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. 16, No.
1 (1964), 34, http://www.jstor.org/.
10 Albee: Ibid., 135.
41 Tbid., 137.
4 Ibid., 136.