When Martha tells Nick to "answer the door" and George bursts in saying “Flores para los Muertos.” The line “Flores para Los Muertos,” translated to “flowers for the dead,” is a quote from Tennessee William’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire. In this play, a solemn woman is selling flowers on the street, foreshadowing the grim fate awaiting the main character, Blanche.
About Edward Albee: his contribution to American theatre; bringing absurdist drama to the stage, and used absurdist theatre to interrogate the american dream, he also queried the meaning of the smerican dream, about ambition, relationships, life and modern life in particular. He looked at the way america was shaping up in the 1960s (George Washingtons(1st US president)wife- Marth,, he was born in Washington. He comments on the marriage that is celebrated in American history is reffered to in the dysfunctional marriage that he presents on stage. Albee was adopted by a rich family. He lived a luxurious life as a young person. This did not deter him from realizing the detriments of the sought after American Dream. Greenwich Village- joined avante garde- it is reputed to be the place known as the artistic nerve centre with independent thinkers and writers who ask questions about american society through their work. "The Zoo Story". Broadway is coternmous with american theatre. Off broadway are those theatre productions held outside off the broadway circuit. Broadway has plays that are staged in the most important theatre hoises in NY. The westend is the British version. "The Debt of Bessie Smith, The american dream". Commerical theatre- Tennesee Williams, Arthur Miller- projected the world of American world in a realistic way. Established the idea that men and women are in control of their own fates. Wanted the audience to understand their deep seated anguish at the absurdity of the human conditon. Avante grande artists- absurdists
The Albee play on the screen, with an outstanding cast, is a film classic to me. Thank you for your preview. Outstanding. By the way, the movie’s official soundtrack is a wonderful “refresher” of the movie/play itself.
15:33 [Unrelated] Shows you how deep Pagan hatred seeps into the psyche of Academics, specifically literature. Not only here, I have numerous Video essays and Commentaries where Pagans and Paganism have been equated to Regressive; even when subject matter has no allusion to Paganism. Ironically, the professor here himself (I'd assume) comes from a Pagan background. Makes you think about Anti-Semitic sentiments hiding in plain sight.
George and Martha were not the typical American family (at least not what popular media portrayed or what I knew growing up in this country) but more like highly educated, very sophisticated, and somewhat affluent American couples. They have more to do with what Albee knew growing up in Larchmont, New York. George and Martha were geniuses of mental cruelty. People not born into the upper reaches of the well off or with such social sophistication really didn't have the self-awareness to engage in G&M's mental sadomasochistic games. They were actually more like Edward Windsor and Wallace Sympson. It's ironic that George's lack of ambition may have been the reason he is the only character of the play that actually manages to remain mentally standing by the end of the battle. He is the only character with far more self-awareness or self-possession than the rest. BTW - I think the answer to Martha's question about Bette' Davis famous quote and gesture is the movie - Johnie Belinda - which is actually a rewrite of Flaubert's Madame Bovary. She was another literary character who was bored with the dull stability of her husband. Very nice synopsis of the play Mr. Vidya-mitra. I read the play and saw the movie in high school when it was first released. I'm 68.now and see the play as more than a bit exaggerated.
