The Zoo Story Edward Albee

1. Edward Albee (March12, 1928) is a playwright who became famous in theatrical scene in America in the 1950’s. He has written a variety of plays which depict disillusionment and agonies of his time and a transition to the 1960’s turbulent years from the placid Eisenhower. His dramatic art is likened to Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. Albee has written a total of 25 plays that have been described as uncompromising, unique, elliptical, controversial and proactive.  He describes his work as an examination of the scenes in an America, attack real societal values with an artificial substitution, condemnation of cruelty complacency and Vacuity and Emasculation. In his play, Albee depicts the beliefs of the period after the second world similar to many other American and European playwrights. These playwrights just like many other philosophers had a common belief that life was meaningless, the society was inhuman and robotic and it was impossible to communicate. These views are expressed by Edward Albee in his play the Zoo story.

2. The Zoo Story is considered as one of the theater of the absurd.  This playwright depicts a situation which is almost none realistically. The character Jerry after killing Peter puts the readers in horror and we also wonder how one can decide to harm another with no particular reason. Jerry is depicted as an almost insane person. His speech is uncoordinated. He first called Peter a vegetable but later calls him an animal after changing his mind (Albee, 2069). These are elements of absurd literature characterized by communication that is fractured. Jerry is a very harmful character.  Albee writes that Peter has a book and Jerry has a knife (Albee, 2065). Jerry’s perspective of the world is that of hopelessness and lack of meaning in life.  He has non family and he is socially and economically poor. That is why the author says that he went to the zoo to talk to a fellow human being because his life’s companion is a dog (Albee, 2060). These are the elements that make the work of Albee to be categorized as an absurd literature.

Reference

McMicheal G. et al (2010) Concise Anthology of American Literature Edition7, Publisher Prentice Hall, Albee’s The Zoo Story, pages 2055-2071

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