THE EFFECTS OF MARTHA’S NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY

DISORDER TOWARD HER MARRIAGE IN EDWARD ALBEE’S

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By

MARTHA SETIANI

Student number : 044214040

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
THE EFFECTS OF MARTHA’S NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY
DISORDER TOWARD HER MARRIAGE IN EDWARD ALBEE’S
WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By

MARTHA SETIANI

Student Number: 044214040

ENGLISH LETTERS PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009

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 d’best preparation
for d’future is
living d’best life
in d’present

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This undergraduate thesis is especially dedicated to
My beloved parents

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty Jesus Christ who always gives

me blessings, guidance, love, care along my life and a way to finish this

undergraduate thesis. Then, I would like to thank my parents, grandmother, uncles,

aunts, and all of my cousins for their support, prayer, care, help, love and attention.

I would like to thank Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. as my advisor, and my

co-advisor Harris Hermansyah Setiadjid, S.S., M.Hum. for the guidance, advice, and

patience that helped me in finishing this undergraduate thesis. My thanks also go to

all the lecturers and the administrative staff of Department of English Letters for the

years of my study.

My gratitude also goes to my classmates, especially Mbok dhe Widhi &

Kristin for the spirit, suggestions and for the pleasant moments we have shared

together, all mudika friends (especially Atek, as my faithful driver, who always helps

me in submitting this thesis to the secretariat) and my neighbors for the supports,

prayer, and help to remind me finishing this thesis.

For the staff and my lovely students in SMP Budi Mulia Minggir, I really

thank them for the support, kindness, helps and everything. Last, I thank everyone

whose name cannot be mentioned one by one in helping me to finish this

undergraduate thesis. I thank them very much.

Martha Setiani

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………… . i
APPROVAL PAGE……………………………………………………….. . ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………….. iii
MOTTO PAGE............................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION PAGE……………………………………………………… v
PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN KARYA TULIS.............................................. vi
PERYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI........................................... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………….. viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………….. ix
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………… x
ABSTRAK………………………………………………………………….. xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION . .............................................................. 1

A. Background of the Study ........................................................................... 1
B. Problem Formulation ................................................................................. .4
C. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................. .4
D. Definition of Terms ................................................................................... 4

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .. ........................................... 7

A. Review of Related Studies ...................................................................... 7
B. Review of Related Theories ...................................................................... .9
1. Theory of Character .......... ............................................................... 9
2. Theory of Characterization ............................................................ 10
3. Theory of Narcissistic Personality Disorder ..................................... 12
4. Theory of Marriage and Psychology.................................................. 14
C. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................... 18

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ........................................................... 19

A. Object of the Study .............................................................................. 19
B. Approach of the Study .......................................................................... 21
C. Method of the Study .............................................................................. 22

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 24

A. The Description of Martha as the Main Character..................................... 24
B. The Analysis of Martha’s Personality Disorder......................................... 35
C. The Influence of Martha’s Personality Disorder Toward
Her Marriage .............................................................................................. 46

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 57

BIBLIOGRAPHY . .................................................................................... 59
APPENDICES .. ....................................................................................... 61
Appendix 1 Summary of Edward Albee’s Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? .................................................................... 61

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 ABSTRACT

MARTHA SETIANI. The Effects of Martha’s Narcissistic Personality Disorders

Toward Her Marriage in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma
University. 2009.

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an absurd play which

tells about two couples, Martha and George and Nick and Honey, who talk in
Martha’s house after attending a faculty party. This play mainly talks about marriage
problem which is faced by Martha and George. Martha, as the main character, suffers
from personality disorder which influences her marriage with George.
The objective of this study is to answer the problems that arise to find how
Martha’s personality disorder influences her marriage. The first objective of this
study is to discover Martha’s characteristics. The second objective is to reveal
Martha’s personality disorder. The third objective of this study is to find out how
Martha’s personality disorder influences her marriage.
In this study, the method used by the writer is library research. This method
means the writer is using books, theories, and any information relates to the topic.
The theory on character is applied to answer the first problem. The second problem is
solved by applying theory on narcissistic personality disorder, while to find out the
answer of the third problem then the theory about marriage is applied. Since the
focus of this study is on the personality disorder of the main character, Martha, the
psychological approach is used as the device to analyze the problems. This approach
is chosen because it provides psychological theories that are needed by the writer to
analyze the problems.
The result of this study shows that Martha is fussy, superior, lazy, liquor-
ridden, hypersexual, arrogant, perfectionist, ambitious, egoistic, emotional, spoiled,
honest, and brave. The analysis indicates that Martha suffered from narcissistic
personality disorder. Martha has great self-love and always searches for admiration.
She thinks that she is special. She is obsessed by the fantasy of success. Because of
that, she is unwilling to tolerate the failure and criticism. She lacks empathy. She is
obsessed by the fantasy of ideal lover. Those characteristics show that she suffers
from narcissistic personality disorder. Because of narcissistic personality disorder,
she is difficult to adapt with the condition around her, especially her marriage
problems. She is very rigid in facing her problems. She becomes an egoist wife and
superior to George. She is obsessed by the idea of an ideal lover, so she cannot
accept her husband’s lack. Martha and George are almost getting divorce because the
influence of Martha’s narcissistic personality disorder. She blames George as the
single cause of the unhappy marriage.

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 ABSTRAK

MARTHA SETIANI. The Effects of Martha’s Narcissistic Personality Disorders

Toward Her Marriage Relationship in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia
Woolf?. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas
Sanata Dharma. 2009.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? adalah sebuah drama absurd karya Edward
Albee yang menceritakan tentang dua pasang suami istri Martha dan George dan
juga Nick dan Honey yang mengobrol di rumah Martha setelah menghadiri pesta
fakultas. Drama ini sebagian besar bercerita tentang problem pernikahan Martha
dengan George. Martha sebagai tokoh utama dia menderita penyakit kepribadian
yang mempengaruhi hubungan pernikahannya dengan George.
Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menjawab pertanyaan yang muncul untuk
mengetahui bagaimana penyakit kepribadian Martha mempengaruhi hubungan
pernikahannya dengan George. Tujuan pertama penelitian ini adalah untuk
menemukan sifat-sifat Martha. Tujuan yang kedua adalah untuk menunjukkan
penyakit kepribadian Martha. Tujuan yang ketiga adalah untuk mengetahui
bagaimana penyakit kepribadian Martha mempengaruhi hubungan pernikahanya
dengan George.
Metode yang digunakan oleh penulis dalam penelitian ini adalah metode studi
pustaka. Metode ini berarti menggunakan buku-buku, teori-teori dan berbagai
informasi yang berkaitan dengan topik yang dibahas. Teori tentang tokoh digunakan
untuk menjawab permasalahan pertama. Permasalahan kedua diselesaikan dengan
menggunakan teori penyakit kepribadian narsis, sedangkan untuk menjawab
permasalahan ketiga digunakan teori tentang pernikahan. Karena fokus dari
penelitian ini mengenai masalah kepribadian tokoh utamanya, Martha, maka
pendekatan psikologi digunakan sebagai alat untuk menganalisa permasalahannya.
Pendekatan ini dipilih karena memberikan teori-teori yang dibutuhkan oleh penulis.
Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Martha adalah orang yang cerewet,
dominant, pemalas, peminum, hiperseksual, kurang empati, arogan, perfeksionis,
ambisius, egois, emosional, manja, jujur dan pemberani. Analisa menunjukkan
bahwa martha menderita penyimpangan kepibadian narsis. Martha memiliki rasa
cinta diri yang besar and selalu mencari pemujaan. Dia menganggap dirinya spesial.
Dia terobsesi oleh fantasi akan kesuksesan sehingga tidak mau mentoleransi
kegagalan dan kritikan. Martha kurang empati terhadap orang lain. Dia juga
terobsesi oleh fantasi akan cinta yang ideal. Sifat-sifat tersebut menunjukkan bahwa
dia menderita penyimpangan kepribadian narsis. Karena penyimpangan kepribadian
narsis, dia tidak dapat menyesuaikan dengan kondisi sulit disekitarnya, khususnya
masalah pernikahan. Dia sangat kaku dalam menghadapi permasalahan-
parmasalanya. Dia menjadi seorang istri yang egois dan superior terhadap George.
Dia terobsesi oleh fantasi akan cinta yang ideal sehingga dia tidak dapat menerima
kekurangan suaminya. Martha dan George hampir bercerai karena penyimpangan
kepribadian narsis Martha. Dia menyalahkan George sebagai satu-satunya penyebab
pernikahannya yang tidak bahagia

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

As one of the forms literature, drama or play is not really a piece of literature

for reading only. Barnet in his book An Introduction to Literature: Fiction, Poetry,

Drama said that a true play is three-dimensional. It is not just a written text but it can

be seen and can be heard also. It means not only to be read but also to be performed.

A play is written to be seen and to be heard. As Barnet and Breman state in a book

An Introduction to Literature, we must see in the mind’s eye and hear it in the mind’s

ear (1994: 897). It means that the audiences have to pay attention in details of

whatever the performers say and do because drama or play involves both of

performers and audiences. That is the way to get better understanding and catch the

meaning of the play. Dialog and stage direction are the special characteristics of

drama text, which differentiated with other types of literary work.

The writer chooses the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? because it

presents an interesting story which combine between the sad story of the characters

with the addition of comedy through the humorous game that the characters play.

While Nicola Chiaromonte in her article titled Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by

Edward Albee also stated that Edward Albee’s play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

is very popular because he is successful in making the play by combining between

the lively dialogue and incongruous tricks of realism and symbolism

(http://www.nybooks.com/articles/137520).

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As we know, literature has a link with the study of psychology. It means that

literature can be studied through the field of psychology. According to Wellek and

Warren in the book of Theory of Literature, the psychology of literature has four

meanings, they are: the psychological study of the writer, the study of creative

process, the study of the psychological types and laws which is presented in the

works of literature, and the effects of literature upon its readers (1956: 81). The

writer will use the third meaning, which is the study of the psychological types and

laws presented in the works of literature. In this study, the writer will discuss about

Martha’s personality disorder. The writer chooses Martha as the object of the

analysis because Martha has a unique characteristic. It is different with other

characters in the play. Everybody has different characteristic to make him different

from other people. Martha’s personality characteristic is rarely found on the person

in general. Martha has uncommon behavior, or abnormal based on society’s view, so

her types of personality are defined as personality disorders. Martha’s personality

includes in the inflexible and maladaptive personality, so it can be classified in

personality disorder. Personality types can give positive and negative effect toward

the way of thinking and behaving of the individuals. It can give influence to the

individuals’ life. In relation with the study of psychology, the writer will focus on

Martha’s personality disorder. Psychology also has a relation with other studies. We

can study about marriage through the view of psychology. Marriage is the matter of

relationship between husband and wife while psychology is the study of mind. In

abnormal psychology, there is a study of personality disorders. In this study, the

writer will try to analyze how Martha’s personality disorder influences her marriage.
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In Martha’s life there are many problems that she has. One of her problem is

her marriage with her husband named George. Their marriage is unhappy and their

relationship is very rigid. Martha often has an extreme quarrel with George. Martha

and George are often scathing verbal and sometimes physical abuse, even in front of

their guest. Martha is a daughter of the president of the university where George

works as a history professor. Martha always complains about George’s failure to

advance in the college even she accuses George if he takes an advantage as the son in

law of the president in the university. She is never tired of scoffing at George

because of his failure to take over the History Department. Martha lives on her

fantasy of being success. She blames George because of his failure in carrier. She

cannot face the reality of George’s failure. Martha always worships her Daddy and

she is dependent upon her father. Martha and George have a different view of life.

Martha always expects George to be more ambitious and active. They cannot have a

child because one of them is impotent. Mainly, the play tells about Martha’s family

life and the problems in her marriage. It also tells about Martha’s way in facing her

problems.

B. Problem Formulation

Based on the background presented in the preceding paragraphs, there are

three problems, which are going to be analyzed in this thesis. Those problems are:

1. What are the characteristics of Martha?

2. What personality disorder that is suffered by Martha?

3. How does Martha’s personality disorder affect her marriage?

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C. The Objectives of the Study

The objective of the study is to answer the problems formulated above. The first

aim of this study is to identify the character of Martha as the main characters in

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The second is meant to find out the personality

disorders experienced by Martha. The last is to identify the negative effect of

Martha’s personality disorders toward her marriage’s life. The writer wants to show

that the personality disorders which Martha suffered can give negative influence

toward her marriage.

D. Definition of Terms

Psychology

From the book titled Introducing Psychology: An Experimental

Approach, Wright defines the psychology as the study of mind. It is the

application of human behavior, including speech, of the observational and

experimental methods of science; and its aim is to locate the ante-extent

conditions associated with particular forms of behavior, and to explain these

relationships through theories which may or may not take account of what are

ordinarily understood as mental process (1970: 20).

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Personality Disorders

Personality disorder is a problem of personality. Based on

psychological terms, in her book titled Abnormal Psychology, Susan Nolen

and Houksema defines personality as all the ways we have of acting,

thinking, believing, and feeling that make each of us unique, while

personality disorder is a long-standing pattern of maladaptive behaviors,

thoughts, and feelings (2007: 423). While Davidson and Neale state that

personality disorders are a heterogeneous group of disorders regarded as

enduring, inflexible patterns of inner experience and behavior that deviate

from cultural expectations and cause distress or impairment (1996: 263).

Marriage

According the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, the first

meaning of marriage is the mutual relation of husband and wife. Then, the

second meaning shows that marriage is the institution whereby men and

women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the

purpose of founding and maintaining a family (1986: 43). According to Sheri

and Bob Stritof, a general definition of marriage is a social contract between

two individuals that unites their lives legally, economically and emotionally

(http://marriage.about.com/od/historyofmarriage/g/marriage.htm).
 CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

In order to find more information about Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the

writer completes the thesis with some criticisms and opinions from some critics.

Shirley Galloway in her article titled When Loves Hurts focus on Martha’s

relationship with George. She argues that Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by

Edward Albee is a powerful and disturbing works. The reason is because in the play

Martha and George always have quarrel to each other. Like in a cold war, Martha

and George try to hurt each other by some abusive words. Albee wants to reveal that

although Martha and George have problems but there is a feeling in their heart which

can unite them, it is love. Love can bring peace between them. It is the

psychoanalytic jargon that Albee uses in his play.

In this age of psychoanalytic jargon, George and Martha are the

quintessentially dysfunctional couple. Yet, with all their problems, Albee
reveals that there is a positive core of feeling that unites these two troubled
people and that helps them look beyond their self-created hell
(http://www.cyberpat.com/shirlsite/essays/whosafr.html).

Other criticism is stated by Anita M. Stenz in her essay on Martha’s

character. She writes that the failure of Martha’s expectation is because of Martha’s

social condition. The harsh realities make Martha falls into sorrow and

disappointment. Her pain makes her egoistic and cruel. She releases her unused

energies and wasted talents to create an abusive behavior toward her husband.

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Albee’s ability in creating Martha’s character is a proof that he understands about the

problems of unfulfilled people.

The characterization of Martha is certainly proof of the author’s

understanding of the problems of unfulfilled people. The social conditioning
which encouraged Martha’s thwarted expectations, as well as George‘s
idealism and her childlessness are all realities which contributed to her
disappointment and sorrow
(http://pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barons/whoafrd5.asp#crit).

While Ronald Hayman on his essay says that Who’s Afraid of Virginia

Woolf? is a direct dramatization of the way personalities can modify each other

through nervous friction. For a dramatist writing his first full-length play, Albee is so

strange in using each married couple to catalyze the relationship of the other.

According to Hayman, the most important is the way Albee makes the childlessness

work as a symbol of emotional and spiritual sterility. Hayman also discusses about

Martha’s character specifically. Hayman (1971: 30-31) describes Martha as a

sensitive character. She is able to feel pains and fears. She has to be fear of the sado-

masochistic games she plays with George to have their maximum theatrical effects.

He also argues that Martha is a subtler and more realistic creation.

Some critics have maintained that Albee’s handling of George’s and Martha’s

fantasy about their son forms a serious fault in the play especially in act three. But

Hayman (1971:34) argues that George and Martha become a couple who may quite

reasonable have embarked on a fantasy of this sort. Thus fantasy becomes so central

to the action that it is absurd to take the view that it is a good play except for the

fantasy. According to Hayman (1971: 44), Albee is quite clever in building the

fantasy into the fabric of the action. In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, personal

failures are representative of the failures of a whole society or a whole culture.

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While the article titled Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? discusses about the

main theme of the play that is the sadness and difficulties of the adult life. In the

story, George and Martha cannot have a child because they are impotent, so they

make up an imaginary son. Martha's description about the child shows how much she

and her husband care for him and want the real one. Furthermore, Martha and

George constantly fight with each other for trivial subjects even though they really

want to communicate more seriously and understand deeper. The difference between

their views of life also worsens their marriage because Martha always expects

George to be more ambitious while George does not understand why

(http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=16993).

An article titled New Beginnings in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? states

that two people married each other for many other reasons than attraction and love

and, more importantly, each has brought a great deal of unresolved emotional

baggage and anger into their relationship. Neither is in a position to rely aid the other

in unloading this baggage. The result is that they savage each other in two ways: they

hate themselves and therefore cannot accept honestly the love that the other has to

give, and each person's flaws are magnified to be used to indict the other for not

functioning as a savior. Therefore, George's "flaws" are the reason why Martha is not

happy, and vice versa. For both, the idea of their child symbolizes maturity and

adulthood. It represents their desire to grow up and leave behind the painful

memories of their own childhoods' by becoming parents themselves. It is also a

projection of themselves, of the inner child of each, which is still alive, hurting and

trapped (http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=8343).
 9

This similarity of this thesis with other studies is they focus on the same topic

about Martha’s character. While the different is the previous studies mainly focus on

Martha’s characteristic, the relationship of Martha and George, the symbol and the

socio-historical background of the play, but in this study the writer analyzes Martha’s

personality disorder and the effects of it toward her marriage. The writer focuses on

the effects of Martha’s personality disorders toward her marriage that is not

explained yet by those related studies above.

B. Review of Related Theories

To support this analysis the writer presents some theories that will be applied

in this analysis. In this study the writer will apply four theories: theory of character,

theory of characterization, theory of personal disorder and theory of marriage.

1. Theory of Character

According to Abrams (1985: 23) a character is the person in a dramatic or

narrative work who is interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral,

dispositional and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the

dialogue – and by what they do – the action.

Forster (1978: 47-48) states that there are two kinds of characters: flat

character and round character. A flat character is static and never changes. It is

represented as ‘a single ideas or quality’. While a round character is always dynamic

and complex in temperament. It is not easy to classify someone as a round character

because his or her character is never static and is hard to guess.

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Another theory of character is proposed by Ian Milligan (1983: 155). He

defines the character based on their role in a story. They are major and minor

characters. Major characters are those who become the focus of the story from the

beginning to the end. The major characters perform the most important role in

clarifying the theme of the story. Minor or secondary characters are those who

appear in a certain setting, just necessarily to become the background of the major

characters.

2. Theory of Characterization

Holman and Horman (1986: 81) define that characterization is the creation of

the imagery personages who exist for the readers as lifelike. The characterization is

needed to justify the individual’s role and existence in the story.

There are nine ways to make the characters understandable and come alive

for the readers according to Murphy (1972: 161-173) as follow.

a. Personal Description

Knowing a character by his or her physical appearance. The way he or she

wears may also determine his or her character.

b. Character as seen by another

Describing a character through the eyes and opinions of another.

c. Speech

Interpreting a character through what a person says, whenever a person

speaks, whenever he or she is in conversation with another, whenever he or

she puts forward an opinion.

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d. Past Life

Giving a clue to events that happened in a person’s past life to shape a

person’s character.

e. Conversation of Others

Interpreting a character through the conversations of other people and the

things they say about him and her.

f. Reactions

Analyzing a character by knowing how that person reacts to various

situations and events.

g. Direct comment

Knowing a character from the author’s comment on a person’s character

directly.

h. Thoughts

Knowing a character from the author’s direct knowledge of what a person is

thinking about.

i. Mannerism

Giving the description of a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies,

which may also tell the readers something about a person’s character.

3. Theory of Narcissistic Personality Disorder

The word narcissist is derived from the figure Narcissus in Greek mythology,

a handsome young man who fell in love with his own reflection. Terence Wilson et

al. describe the essential features of narcissistic disorders in a book title Abnormal
 12

Psychology: Integrating Perspective as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy

behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy. This grandiosity is often seen in

arrogant, boastful behavior, such as making unnecessary claims of achievement or

intimacy with famous people. In others with this disorder, the grandiosity is

expressed only in fantasy. They have a rich “inner life,” dreaming of how their next

business scheme will lead to wealth or of owning a big house, driving an expensive

car, attracting the ideal mate, and so on. Narcissists have a strong sense of

superiority, which leads naturally to expectations of special treatment, callous use of

other people to further their own ends, and blindness to others’ need and feeling.

Individuals with this disorder often become anxious and/or depressed when their

sense of self-worth is threatened (1996: 386-387).

According to Raymond J. Corsini in the Encyclopedia of Psychology,

narcissistic personality disorder is noted by an air of egocentric self-assurance and a

pretentious superiority, by a tendency kindly to exploit others for one’s own

advantage, and by immature fantasies and a careless disregard for the rights of others

(1994: 50). The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM)

describes this personality as possessing a grandiose sense of self importance. Notable

are the individual’s exhibitionism and desire to gain attention and admiration from

others. Abilities or achievements are unrealistically exaggerated and there is a

tendency toward extreme self-absorption. A sense of entitlement-the expectation that

others will bestow special favors and considerations without assuming reciprocal

responsibilities-is also characteristic of the narcissist. This special status for self is

taken for granted; there is little awareness that exploitative behavior is inconsiderate
 13

and presumptuous. Achievement deficits and social responsibilities are justified by a

boastful arrogance, expansive fantasies, facile rationalization, and frank

prevarications. Marked rebuffs to self-esteem may provoke serious disruptions in the

more characteristic unruffled composure. And despite the insouciant air of

indifference and imperturbability, the individual is often quite preoccupied with how

well he or she is regarded. When faced with criticism or failure, there is either an

attitude of cool disdain or feelings of intense rage, humiliation, or emptiness (1994:

449).

While according to Nolen and Houksema in their book title Abnormal

Psychology, narcissistic personality disorder is included in dramatic, emotional, and

erratic clusters. Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder act in dramatic and

grandiose manner, seek admiration from others, and are shallow in their emotional

expressions and relationships with others. Individuals rely on their own self-

evaluations and see dependency on others as a weak and dangerous. They are

preoccupied with thoughts of their self-importance and with fantasies of power and

success and view themselves as superior than others. Individuals make unreasonable

demands for others to follow their wishes, ignore the needs and wants of others,

exploit others to gain power, and are arrogant and demeaning (2007: 445).

In the same opinion, Davidson and Neale in a book Abnormal Psychology

write that people with narcissistic personality have a grandiose view of their own

uniqueness and abilities; they are preoccupied with fantasies of great success. To say

that, they are self-centered is almost an understatement. They require almost constant

attention and excessive admiration and believe they can only be understood by
 14

special or high status people. Their interpersonal relationships are disturbed by their

lack of empathy; feelings of envy; arrogance; taking advantage of others; and

feelings of entitlement, expecting others to do special, not-to-be reciprocated favors

for them (1996:268).

4. Theory of Marriage and Psychology

In a book titled Psychology and Life, Floyd L Ruch writes his opinion about

marriage. He thinks that the success of a marriage depends upon no single factor; it

results from the interaction of the total personalities of the partners (1948: 585).

Actually, marriage is a give and take situation in which each participant must be

willing to do part of the giving. One study has found that marriages are happiest

when the two partners are about equal in desire to dominate, or when the husband is

slightly more dominant than the wife (1948: 581).

Johnson E. Fairchild writes different topic about marriage in his book The

Way of Woman. He states about the requirements of succeed marriage.

I will preface my comments by briefly indicating a few requirements for a

successful marriage. To begin with, a wife must understand that marriage is
just as important to her husband as it is to her. A second requirement for a
successful marriage is a great desire to make this particular marriage a
success. The financial side of marriage is another thing which is important
but in a way we do not generally consider. A major element of success in
marriage is the ability to give one’s mate, and I mean really to give. Another
element in marriage success is the capacity of a woman to see her mate apart
from her own needs of him. Another element of success in marriage is for
woman to be able to continue loving her husband even though he is critical of
her (1956: 64-66).
 15

From the quotation above we know that there are many requirements for

succeed in marriage. The first requirement is each spouse has to understand that

marriage is just as important to his or her and also the partner. There are some men

who think that marriage is woman’s greatest invention and women feel that marriage

is much important to wife than to husband. This perception is wrong and will destroy

their relationship. So, they need to change their wrong perception and have to think

that marriage is important for both of husband and wife.

The second requirement is a will to make a successful marriage. A successful

marriage can exist without romantic love, but a successful marriage cannot exist

without liking. The important thing is that each member of the marriage team grants

the other one the right to have interest. A successful marriage does not depend on the

amount of money that is coming in, but on the ability to agree on how the money is

to be used.

The third element in marriage success is the ability to give oneself

emotionally to the partner for example gives affection, attention, understanding and

etc. Lack of affection is one of the things that a partner complains about. Another

element of success in marriage is the capacity of a woman to see her mate apart from

her own needs of him. It means that each spouse must respect the partner as an

individual.

The last element, a couple has to continue loving their partner even though he

or she is critical of him or her. When a woman or man marries, they should take unto

herself a real person who is not like anybody else in the world and who has to be

accepted or rejected for what he is.

 16

Fairchild also says that the mature person accepts the responsibility for the

consequences of his decision. He will not indulge in self-pity; or punish himself; or

blame others for his fault (1956: 70). Respect to each other’s personality and

acceptance is the framework in which modifications of personality are made

possible. Only if a woman recognizes that she must understand and accept her

husband, and respect herself as a person, can she and her husband make a good

adjustment in marriage (1956: 84). Much of unhappiness between men and women is

due to the lack of understanding of the relationship of the sexes (1956: 91). A

temporary affair with a married man helps them to forget loneliness and frustration.

These affairs seldom work out very satisfactorily however, because actually these

girls want marriage and they are finding only a temporary adjustment to their

loneliness (1956: 47).

Henry Bowman (1954: 28) in a book Marriage for Moderns Third Edition

explains about many reasons of people to get married such as: love, economic

security, the desire for home and children, emotional security, parents’ wishes,

adventure, money, companionship, sexual attraction, protection, notoriety, social

position and prestige, gratitude, pity, spite, escape from loneliness or from parental

home situation.

Bowman (1954:135-136) also talks about many problems which commonly

appear especially in the early marriage, such as:

a. There is the problem of maturity

b. The earlier the marriage occurs, the more likely is it that there will be an

overemphasis on sex and physical attraction.

c. The readiness of having children

 17

d. The preparation to maintain an acceptable standard of living

e. Adequate time for young persons to make a wise choice of marriage partner.

f. The earlier marriage occurs; the less likely the couples are to have reached a

monogamous attitude.

g. An example opportunity for social development before accepting the

responsibilities of a home and a possible family.

While Drescher (1979: 43), in his book titled When Opposites Attract, talks

the same problem with Bowman. He discuss about some problems in marriage, such

as:

a. Difficult communication

b. Some days we feel like we love and other days we may feel that we never loved

c. Assumption that the other is there

d. Great loneliness

e. Period of grave doubts

f. Sexual problems

g. A very hurting experience

In a book titled When Opposite Attract, a marriage counselor, Ira J. Tanner

argues that:

Any attempt to move one’s mate in an effort to match them to our fantasies is
arrogance on our part and an insult them. It divides, breeds, anger, and causes
even greater loneliness. When there is growing coldness and lack of
communication, we begin to set up secret dream images of the kind of partner
we wish we had. This easily leads to ignoring the partner we do have. It also
leads us to escape coming to grips with life. We fall in love with a fantasy
(1979:31).

In other words, communication is the importance thing in marriage

relationship. Communication is the way to express their feeling and make their

relationship closer to each other. When there is no communication, it will create a

 18

distance between both of them and worse their relationship. A poor pattern of

communication also becomes a problem of marriage. Because there is no

communication, they cannot express their feeling of disappointed to each other.

Then, it leads them to create a fantasy images about their partner that they wish they

had.

C. Theoretical Framework

All theories are used in this study are mainly for gaining a good and deeper

understanding of the play itself. The writer uses theory of character to determine who

can be said as the main character in the play. In this study, the writer will analyze

Martha as one of the female character in the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The next theory is called theory of characterization, used for exploring the

characteristic of Martha as the main character in the play. Theory of narcissistic

personality disorder is applied for analyzing narcissistic personality disorders

suffered by Martha. Theory of marriage and psychology is used to analyze the effects

of Martha’s narcissistic personality disorders toward her marriage.

 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

This study analyzes one of Edward Albee’s plays titled Who’s Afraid of

Virginia Woolf? This play was published in New York, December 1962 by Pocket

Books and consists of 242 pages.

This play was divided into three acts. The three-act structure of this play was

unusual in an era when most plays were written in two acts. It is also uncommon for

a playwright to name his act. All the acts are named after rituals. The first act is

called Fun and Games. In this act, George and the other characters play some games

such as Humiliate the Host, Get the Guests, and Bringing Up Baby. All the games

are ironic twist on a common phrase in a party. The second act is called

Walpurgisnacht, the witches’ night, a legendary rite taking place when witches

gather for the purposes evil and sexual immoral behaviors. Albee names this act

Walpurgisnacht to suggest the wickedness being used by the characters. The last act

is called The Exorcism. Exorcism is a religious rite in which a person is free from a

demon that possesses the soul. Albee names the play’s third act “The Exorcism” to

suggest that Martha and George’s imaginary child was such a demon.

Edward Albee’s play titles Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? caused criticism

from many people because the play used taboo language and full of shocking sexual

activities. Many people debated about this play included the committee that was

selected to choose the play to be awarded by the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1962.

19
 20

The opposition thought that this play was full of explicit language, taboo subject and

became controversial to the public perception. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

failed to receive the Pulitzer Prize because there was one trustee who made the

sexual subject matter in this play became a problem. Fortunately, it received The

Tony Award and New York Drama Critics Circle Award as the best play of the

1962-1963 seasons. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was made into a box-office

movie. It was directed by Edward Albee himself. The film opened on June 22, 1966,

at the Pantages Theatre Hollywood. All the film’s actors were nominated for

Academy Awards. The film also won for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction,

and Best Costume Design (http://pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/whoafrd1.asp).

The story is opened by a couple named Martha and George who come from a

faculty party at two o’clock in the morning. Martha feels disappointed with George.

She always teases and interrupts him because of his failure in replacing Martha’s

father as the president of the university. Their marriage seems unhappy. Moreover,

they do not have any children. Another couple is Nick and Honey. They meet at the

party and Martha invites them to come to her house. They represent a happy couple

but actually they are not happy anymore. They are married by accident because of

Honey’s premarital pregnancy. Then they start to play a game about the kid. This

child game is very strained. It represents George and Martha’s difficulties in facing

the reality because it is too painful to be faced. It also represents the sterility of

American lives. Then, George determines to kill the child. The story is ended by

George who started to sing a joke Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

 21

B. Approach of the Study

A psychological approach is used in this study. It has opened new avenues to

the study of literature. Wellek and Waren (1956: 81) in a book Theory of Literature

writes that psychology of literature means the psychological study of the writer as

type of individual; the study of the creative process of the writer; the study of the

psychological types and laws present within works of psychology; and the effects of

literature upon its readers.

Wellek and Warren also write about Freud’s opinion that an author is rather

like a child at play. The author creates a world of fantasy which he himself takes very

seriously. He disguises it so the reader can enjoy his own fantasy without guilt,

reproach or shame (1956: 82). Freud suggests that recurrent themes of great novels

and drama are often the expression of fundamental human conflict which is reflected

unconsciously in the author’s mind (1956: 88). The psychologist’s manner of

conceiving and representing the personality is supported by the intuitive

representations made by novelists, dramatists and other creative writers. The creative

writer’s intuitions about the structure of personality and the patterns of experience

are paralleled and given a systematic form in the theoretical representations of

topological psychology. Topological psychology may one day inspire another

creative mind to express in the language of space as in the language of time.

In addition, Selden, Widdowson, and Brooker (1997:161) in a book titled A

Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory write about Freud and Jung’s

opinion. Freud says that the analysis of the literary works as a symptom of the artist,

where the relationship between author and text is analogous to dreamers and their
 22

text. On the contrary, Carl Jung states that the literary works is not a focus for the

writer’s or reader’s personal psychology but a representation of the relationship

between the personal and the collective unconscious, the images, myths, symbols,

archetypes’ of past cultures.

While Dainches (1981: 329) in his book Critical Approaches to Literature

states that psychology comes into criticism in two ways, in this investigation of the

act of creation and in the psychological study of particular authors to show the

relation between their attitudes and states of mind and the special qualities of their

work. Wordsworth is trying to derive a normative notion from a psychological

description of the way the poet works (1981: 331). In other words, a literary work is

the result of the author creation process.

The reason why the writer chooses this approach in analyzing this topic is

because the writer studies the negative effects of Martha’s narcissistic personality

disorders toward her marriage. This approach is used to reveal Martha’s

characterization to analyze the narcissistic personality disorders which are faced by

Martha, then to find out the negative effects of Martha’s narcissistic personality

disorders toward her marriage. Thus, from the information the writer can reveal the

effects of her narcissistic personality disorders toward her marriage.

C. Method of the Study

The study used library research which is taken from Edward Albee’s play

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woof? as the main source. Other sources were taken from

books and articles from the internet.

 23

There were some procedures taken in order to answer the problems. The

procedures itself consist of six stages. First, the writer read the play several times in

order to comprehend the story and to find some interesting points such as the

elements of the play and the essence of the play.

Second, the writer looked for the information related to the author and the

play. The information and references were from books, references in the library and

internet.

Third, the writer chose some problem formulation to be analyzed. The writer

adopted some references to collect data related to the topic analyzed. The writer used

theory of character and characterization, theory of marriage and theory of human

psychology. The writer adopted other data about the play in order to get the best

answer of the problem formulation.

Forth, the writer analyzed the character related to the problem to get a better

understanding about the character. The writer applied theory of character and

characterization from Stanton and Baldick.

Fifth, the writer analyzed the second problem about Martha’s narcissistic

personality disorders. The writer used theory of narcissistic personality disorder from

many sources to analyze narcissistic personality disorders that Martha suffers.

Sixth, the writer analyzed the last problem in the problem formulation. It was

about the negative effects of Martha’s narcissistic personality disorder toward her

marriage. The writer applied theory of marriage and psychology to find out the

effects of Martha’s narcissistic personality disorders toward her marriage.

The last, the writer drew conclusions of the thesis. The conclusion consisted

of the summary of the answers to the problems.

 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

A. The Description of Martha as the Main Character

Martha is a very talkative woman; she never feels bored and tired of talking

words aimlessly all the time. She is very fussy and superior in her family. She thinks

that she is very important and very special. She also thinks that she plays a very vital

role in her family. In her marriage life, Martha never communicates with her husband

tenderly. She does not care about her family’s life. She judges her husband of not

having the ability as a good husband.

George: I wish you’d tell me about something sometimes……..I wish you’d

stop springing things on me all the time.
Martha: I don’t springing things on you all the time.
George:Yes, you do………you really do……..you’re always springing things
on me.
Martha :Oh George!
George :Always (1962: 11).

The single reason of her hostility towards George is that her marriage life has

been nothing but years of lack of expectation and frustration. She cannot manage her

life because influenced by her personality disorder that she has. Her emotion seems

to fluctuate between happiness and despair. She feels that she has spent years

lamenting the fact that George has failed miserably to fulfill the expectations that she

holds for him. Martha is a desperate self-pity woman. Martha expresses her

loneliness; she wants to show that she has been abandoned and left out in the cold by

George. Martha is a woman who is starved of affection. She always demands her

husband to give extra attention. She expects George to give special favor to her.

24
 25

Martha is dominant in her marriage. She monopolizes her household. She

often asks George and abused him as her please. Martha often blames George about

her unhappy marriage. It can be seen when Martha insulted George when she talks

with the guests. She besmirches George and compares him with Nick, one of the

guests, who works on the mathematic department (1962: 63). Martha’s reason is

because she is very disappointed with George who fails to be the president of the

history department. Her feeling of disappointment is released by trying to humiliate

George in front of the guests. When Martha is getting angry, George cannot do

anything. Martha treats to divorce him (1962: 16). Martha also insults George that

his motivation to marry her because he wants to take advantage of Martha’s status as

the daughter of the president of the university. Martha thinks that she is superior, so

she threats others as inferior. She is very firm and she does not want to give in to her

husband.

Martha is superior to her husband. Martha’s superiority can be seen from her

behavior toward her husband. She wants her husband to serve her. She always orders

her husband to do all what she wants. For example when her guests come to their

house, Martha orders George to open the door for the guests. At first George does not

move from his seat. But Martha forces him with a loud voice to do that by

threatening him. She says to George that she would fix him if he did not do her

request.

Martha : (Same) Go answer the door.

George : (Not moving) You answer it.
Martha : Get to that door you. (He does not move) I’ll fix you, `
you…
George : (Fake-spits)…to you…. (Door chime again)
Martha : (Shouting…..to the door) C’MON IN! (To George,
between her teeth) I said, get over there! (1962: 18).
 26

Martha always forces her desire to George. She is spoiled and childish; she will get

angry if George does not do what she wants. Although Martha is fifty two years old,

her characteristic is like a little child.

Other example is when they were returning from a faculty party; Martha has a

small talk with George in the living room. Martha orders George to make a drink for

her. George does it without any complaints. It can be seen from the quotation below.

Martha : (Pouting) Make me a drink.

George : What?
Martha : (Still softly) I said, make me a drink.
George : (Moving to the portable bar) Well, I don’t suppose a
nightcap’d kill either one of us…(1962: 8).

Martha has spoiled characteristic which is same as a little girl, it makes George is

like her servant who is ready all the time to serve her. In a normal household, a wife

adjusts to her husband’s wishes. But in Martha’s household the situation is very

ironic. As a wife, Martha does not adjust to her husband wishes. On the contrary, she

asks her husband to serve her. Martha’s spoiled characteristic is influenced by her

childhood, in her past life she is very attached to her father. Martha is like the apple

of her father’s eyes. Her beloved father spoils her very much.

Martha’s superiority makes her become a spoiled wife. She rarely cleans the

house. She does not care with orderliness and neatness. When the guests came, she

asks them to put their stuff somewhere in the house. Although the guests put their

stuff somewhere, it will not influence the condition of the house because it is already

in a mess.

Nick : (Without expression) Well, now, perhaps we

shouldn’t have come....
Honey : Yes....it is late, and....
 27

Martha : Late! Are you kidding? Throw your stuff down

anywhere and c’mon in.
George : (Vaguely…walking away) Anywhere…furniture,
floor…doesn’t make any difference around this place
(1962: 20).

After drinking, Martha never cleans up her glass. Even she only puts it

everywhere in the house and just leaves them until she forgets to clean them up. She

often puts it in the linen closet, on the edge of the bath-up and even on the freezer.

So, George permits Nick to leave his glass on a side table near the hall because in the

house are already half-filled glasses everywhere.

Nick : (Smiles at Martha. Then, to George, indicating a side table

near the hall) May I leave my drink here?
George : (As Nick exists without waiting for a reply)
Yeah…sure…why not? We’ve got half-filled glasses everywhere in
the house, wherever Martha forgets she’s left them…in the linen
closet, on the edge of the bath-tub…even found one in the freezer,
once (1962: 61).

It is not only George that she orders to open the door. It seems that Martha

has habit to exploit others by ordering them to do what she wants. Even, Martha also

orders her guest, Nick, to open the door when the bell is ringing. It is as the evidence

of her superiority. At that time, George is not together with Martha. It is only Nick

who stays together and has a chat with her in the living room. Martha is drunk, so she

orders Nick to open the door. Moreover, Martha impolitely asks Nick to open the

door. She mocks him as a houseboy. When Nick rejects her request to open the door,

Martha shouts at him and says that he is deaf. Nick shocks when Martha orders him

and shouts at him. Nick thinks that Martha does not regard Nick as her guest.

Martha : (The door chimes chime) Go answer the door.

Nick : (Amazed) What did you say?
Martha : I said, go answer the door. What are you, deaf?
Nick : (Trying to get it straight) You…want me…to go answer the door?
 28

Martha : That’s right, lunk-head; answer the door….

(Shouting) Answer it! (Softer) You can be houseboy around here for
a while.
Nick : Look, lady, I’m no flunky to you (1962: 193-194).

Though Martha is the dominant figure in the family unit, she is the most

vulnerable of all the characters. She is superior to her husband. Nevertheless, she

needs great appreciation from others to conceal her lack self-confidence. She needs a

great support from others to still her fear in facing the harsh life. If there is no

support from others, she will loose of self confidence. She feels weak to face the

difficult problem in her life, so she has lost sight of reality or more accurately she is

unwilling to face the reality. She does not want to accept the fact that her life is

empty without having any children. Then, she builds a life around the grand illusion

of the make believe son. The reality that she hides is not only the disappointment in

George, but also the emptiness of her life without having children. The illusion is an

escapee in facing those problems.

Martha is a liquor-ridden. She likes drinking a lot. In her house, there is a

portable bar where she puts some liquor such as brandy. Martha’s favorite alcoholic

drink is pure and simple rubbing alcohol. Her taste in liquor has come down and

simplified over the years. When she is young, she likes to hang out in a night club.

She likes brandy Alexander, crème de cacao frappes, gimlets, flaming punch bowls,

etc (1962: 24). But she just wants to drink unmixed rubbing alcohol now. Martha

often orders her husband to make a drink for her. Although her husband has given

advice to swill down her hobby in drinking alcohol, she ignores it. It is as if she

cannot be separated from liquor. She has become addicted to liquor. It can be seen in

the quotation below.

 29

Martha : Ha, ha, ha, HA! Make me another drink...lover.

George : (Taking her glass) My God, you can swill it down, can’t you?
Martha : (Imitating a tiny child) I’m thirsty.
George: Jesus
Martha : Loo, sweetheart, I can drink you under any goddamn table you
want…..so don’t worry about me!
George : …if you pass out, or throw up, or something…(1962: 16).

Martha is hypersexual and vulgar in her attitude, speaking and appearance. In

her old age, she still has a great sexual desire. Her libido is higher than George’s

libido. She often forces George to do a filthy act. Martha seems to try to gain power

through sexuality. She thinks that she can control man. The proof that Martha is

hypersexual can be seen when Martha asks George to kiss her in front of their guests.

Martha : yeah…that was pretty good. (Softer) C’mon….give me a kiss.

George : (Indicating Nick and Honey) Later, sweetie. (But Martha will not
be dissuaded. They kiss, George standing, leaning over Martha’s
chair. She takes his hand, places it on her stage-side breast. He
breaks away) Oh-ho! That’s what you’re after, is it? What are we going to
have…blue games for the guests? Hunh? Hunh?
Martha: (Angry-hurt) You…prick! (1962: 58).

Martha’s vulgar attitude shows that she is hypersexual and she wants to be superior

from man. She wants to gain authority by dominating her sexual activity with her

partner. When Martha asks him to kiss her, George rejects her request. Actually,

George does not want to make Martha disappointed. Because of Martha’s

compulsion, finally they are having a kiss. Martha has a higher sexual desire than

George, so Martha wants to do more than just kissing. George, who feels shy and

respectful toward the guests, rejects Martha’s request to do the immoral act in front

of them. Martha is very aggressive in sexual activity. Other example of Martha’s

vulgar appearance is when she changes her clothes. She wears knickers when she

meets their guests. She thinks that she will look more sexy wear that dress. Martha
 30

wants to be the center of attention. She searches attention by using her sexy dress.

George calls it Sunday chapel dress. George does not really like Martha’s appearance

but Martha looks more comfortable with her dress. Martha is angry when George

criticizes her new appearance.

Martha : (Entering) What sort of talk? (Martha has changed her clothes, and
she looks, now more comfortable and…and this is most
important…most voluptuous)
George: There you are, my pet.
Nick : (Impressed; rising) Well, now…
George : Why, Martha…your Sunday chapel dress!
Honey : (Slightly disapproving) Oh, that’s most attractive
(1962: 47).

Other evidence of Martha’s impoliteness and vulgar attitude is when Martha

asks Nick, one of her guests, to kiss her. Nick is younger than Martha. At first Nick

rejects her request because he does not want something happen to Martha’s

household. Nick is so afraid if George sees what they do and then becomes angry.

Finally, George is seduced by Martha’s flattering words. Although she is not young

anymore, she has an ability to persuade Nick. By her spoiled character and her

flattery, it is sure that there is nobody who is able to reject what she wants.

Moreover, Nick is very timid and innocent. He feels reluctant to reject Martha’s

request.

Martha : Hey…hand me a cigarette…lover. (Nick fishes in his pocket)

That’s a good boy. (He gives her one) Unh…(He lights it for her. As
he does, she slips her hand between his legs, somewhere between
the knee and crotch, bringing her hand around to the outside of
his leg). Ummmmmmmm. (He seems uncertain, but does not move.
She smiles, moves her hand little) Now, for being such a good boy,
you can give me a kiss. C’mon.
Nick : (Nervously) Look…I don’t think we should….
Martha : C’mon, baby…a friendly kiss (1962: 163).
 31

Martha makes an affair with Nick for many reasons. The first reason is because she

wants to show her authority to George. By making an affair with nick in front of

George, Martha shows that she wants to be superior to George. The second reason is

she is disappointed with George. She expects an ideal partner like Nick. She thinks

that Nick is perfect because he has all the things that she searches for. The second

reason is to fulfill her great sexual desire. The last reason is to get an attention from

George. Martha does not cover her affair with Nick from George. She is not shy to

kiss Nick in front of George. She does not respect her husband. Martha often says

something directly and openly without good manners towards George. Without

feeling guilty, she says to George that she is necking with Nick, one of her guests.

George is not angry with Martha’s action. He pretends not to know about it. He is so

relaxed when Martha tells him.

George : Yes you are, Martha. (Nick takes Martha’s hand, pulls her to
him. They stop for a moment, then kiss, not briefly)
Martha : (After) you know what I’m doing George?
George : No, Martha…what are you doing?
Martha : I’m entertaining. I’m entertaining one of the guests. I’m necking
with one of the guests.
George : (Seemingly relaxed and preoccupied, never looking) Oh, that’s
nice. Which one? (1962: 171-172).

Martha has her own aim to do that. As Martha puts on a sexy dress, flirts with Nick,

and reveals secrets from her sexual past, she is attempting to gain some authority.

She insists, through this behavior, that she made her own decision and that she can

control men. Finally, she realizes that she cannot be far from George. She does not

have much power, because her fate is so tied up in the men around her. She is very

angry when George does not pay attention to her. It is as a proof that she still wants

George. She tries to get attention from George by making him jealous. She fails to
 32

burn George’s heart by kissing Nick who is so handsome and younger than George.

George pretends not to see what they have done. When Martha tells him that she has

made a big sloppy kiss with Nick, George still stays cool and he does not feel jealous

or angry to them. Martha is getting angry because there is no response from George.

Martha’s attitude shows that she is very foolish and childish. Actually, Martha wants

to be cared by George. Martha thinks that George does not love her again when

George does not pay attention to Martha. George’s attitude makes Martha very sad.

She does not want to loose George’s love. She is also afraid if George leaves her.

Martha faces many difficult problems in her life. It makes her become very

egoistic. She also lacks empathy. She is not sensitive to other’s feeling. She threats

others as what she wants. She thinks that she has a right over George; it is the reason

that makes her can exploit others. She often tries to take opportunities to ruin her

husband. Martha feels happy and satisfied if she is successful to make George feels

shy in front of their guests. She is always satisfied with what she has done and she

does not give respect to what has been done by George. She judges George if his

career as a university professor in the History Department because of Martha’s father

merit and George marries her because of money (1962: 152). Martha is also vulgar in

speaking. Martha always mocks George by saying some abusive words in front of

the guests. She ignores George’s feeling. She does not care if her words will hurt

George. Martha says that George is like an old sour-puss. He is mock mouth (1962:

21), goddamn, bog, fen, swamp (1962: 50), prick (1962: 59), old floozy (1962: 73),

coward (1962: 75), bastard, nuts, lunk-head, sun of a bitch (1962: 128), George has

flat bellies, pectorals (1962: 53), etc.

 33

Martha is a fussy woman. Her voice is very loud when she is speaking. She is

very easy to be angry. She cannot handle her emotion. When something happen but

she does not expect, Martha will get into rage. Moreover, when she gets angry, she is

very fierce. She always grumbles about something that she does not expect. She is

very emotional and stubborn. Martha dares to snap at George in front of their guests.

Martha and George often have a quarrel. Actually, the causes of their quarrel are just

so simple. It can be seen from the quotation below. Martha and George have a

quarrel in front of Nick and Honey. Martha does not want to tell a story of imaginary

son that they create in a game, but George persists to talk about it. Then, they argue

about who makes their son runs away from home and blames each other.

Martha : I don’t want to talk about it!

George : (Falsely innocent) But Martha....
Martha : I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!
George : (Also to the guests) Our son run away from home all the time
because Martha here used to corner him.
Martha : (Braying) I NEVER CORNERED THE SON OF A BITCH IN MY LIFE!
(1962: 70).

Martha is very willful and optimistic. She always supports her husband to be

a hard worker. She wants her husband to be success like her father. She wants him to

be the president of the faculty. If George success their life will be pleasure and their

marriage will be happier than before. She wants him to have a firm and muscled

body (1962: 53). Martha has a great optimism, and then her optimism changes into a

big ambition. It makes her becomes a demanding wife. She always forces her desire

to George. She claims George to do what she wants. Moreover, she demands George

to be like what she wants.

 34

Martha does want to accept and tolerate the failure happens in her life. She

becomes very sad if she faces the failure. Moreover, she feels worthless because of

failure. She is influenced by the idea of success. She thinks that success is the key of

happiness. When she knows that George cannot be like what she wants, Martha is

very disappointed and blames George. She expects that George will be the president

of the History Department. She wants him to success like his father who becomes the

president of the university. In fact, George fails to fulfill Martha’s desire. He fails to

be the president of History Department. She feels shy if George fails to be success.

She cannot receive the reality that George is not success. Martha is unwilling to face

the reality and choose to hide in her illusion.

Martha is a perfectionist woman. She wants to be perfect in everything,

includes her appearance. She changes her dress to search for attention from the

guests. She wants to get praise to support her self-confidence. She wants to be

superior. She is difficult to admit her fault in front of public. She often criticizes

others, but she will get angry if others criticize her. She often criticizes George but

she will get angry when George criticizes her back. She is obsessed with success.

Her obsession is George becomes successful person. She has a dream, but she does

not think about her ability. Sometimes her obsession is unrealistic. She is very

ambitious to realize her dream. She forces herself to realize what she wants, although

it is out of her ability. It makes her becomes very emotional and egoistic. She is

difficult to trust others’ ability and sometimes disparage the ability of others. She is

easy to be disappointed when experiencing a little failure. Her life is unhappy

because her obsession burdens her thought and feeling. She looks arrogant toward
 35

others. She is too much in reflecting the glamorous lifestyle and she likes to boast

others’ weakness to convince that she is the best. Because of her perfectionism, it

makes her husband oppressed and becomes a victim of Martha’s egoism.

Although Martha is very difficult to face the reality of life, she can get out

from her fantasy at the end. Because of George, she realizes that her marriage

problems can be solved together. She tries to forgive and forget her past. In the end

of the play she confesses that she is afraid of Virginia Woolf. It means that she is

afraid of the harsh reality of life. It can be seen from the quotation below.

George : Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Martha : I...am...George...I...am.... (George nods, slowly) (1962: 242).

From the quotation we know that Martha is more honest and brave enough than

George. She is very honest to George and especially to herself. Her confession is so

significant because it is as a sign that she is no longer hide behind her fantasy. She

tries to gather her courage to face her marriage problems. She realizes that her real

love is George and the only one whom she loves is her husband, George.

B. The Analysis of Martha’s Personality Disorder

As stated in the analysis above, Martha is the main character of the play. She

has unique characteristics. Her clumsiness makes her cannot adapt with the condition

around her. The inability to adapt with the condition around is because she suffers

personality disorder. Martha suffers from narcissistic personality disorder.

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder are noted by having a

desire to gain attention and admiration from others (Corsini 1994: 449). Individual

needs for admiration (Wilson 1996: 386). Individual seeks admiration from others
 36

(Nolen and Houksema 2007: 445). They require almost constant attention and

excessive admiration (Davidson and Neale1996: 268). It is the same as Martha who

suffers from narcissistic personality disorder. She has a great self-love. She also has a

great conviction of her capability. Even, she considers herself as a special person and

there is no match for her. So, she always searches for regard of her ability that cannot

be compared with anyone. She always searches admiration from others. She needs

praises to keep her self-esteem. Praise as a motivator to sustain her self esteem. If

there is none who gives a praise of what she has done, she will lose her self-esteem.

In the analysis above, it is stated that Martha is starved for affection. Martha always

searches attention from George by making surprising and unpredictable acts. One of

her acts as an effort to draw attention is by using her physical appearance. She wears

feminine and sexy clothes. She wants to look more beautiful and attractive. She

always tries to improve her self-worth and gives impression to others. She wants

others to respect what she has done. Martha is interested in fashion. She dresses up

her body to make her pretty. She wants to be more conspicuous in her appearance.

Stylish appearance will show her enchantment and make others pay attention to her.

So, she changes her dress with the sexy one. Although Martha is more than fifty

years old, she does not want to be inferior to Honey, Nick’s wife who is younger

than Martha. George does not believe when Honey tells him about Martha’s new

appearance. It can be seen from the quotation below.

Honey : (To George) She’ll be right down…she’s changing.

George : (Incredulous) She’s what? She’s changing?
Honey : Yes
George : Her clothes?
Honey : Her dress (1962: 43).
 37

When Martha enters the living room with her new style, they are startled to see her

appearance after changing her dress. Nick admires Martha’s new appearance. Martha

is sexually attractive and looks more comfortable after she changes her clothes.

Martha who always wants to be the centre of attention is the sign of her narcissistic

personality disorder.

Martha gets bored with George who lacks care and is very passive. So, she

has an affair with Nick to make George jealous. George who unintentionally watches

them only smiles and then exits. Actually, he is very sad but he does not want show

his sadness to Martha.

Martha : Well, nobody else’s going to know, either. (They come together.
What might have been a joke rapidly becomes serious, with Martha
urging it in that direction. There is no frenetic quality, but rather a
slow, continually involving intertwining. Perhaps Martha is still
more or less in her chair, and Nick is sort of besides and on the
chair).
(George enters…stops…watches a moment…smiles…laughs
silently, nods his head, turns, exits, without being noticed)
(Nick, who had already had his hand on Martha’s breast, now his
hand inside her dress)(1962: 165).

Martha is angry when others do not give attention to her. For example when George

ignores her, Martha becomes very angry and hurt. Martha thinks that George is not

jealous when he knows that Martha is having an affair with Nick. Actually, it really

hurts George’s feeling. She feels lonely and abandoned. She looses her self-esteem if

she does not get support from others. Individuals who suffer from narcissistic

personality disorders always need support from others to keep their self-confidence.

It is similar to Martha; she needs someone who always motivates her. She feels

comfortable when others give her support continuously. Finally, she warns George

that she will make love with Nick if George does not pay attention to her.
 38

Martha : (Martha swings around to George) Now you listen to me…

George : I’d rather read, Martha, if you don’t mind…
Martha: (Her anger has her close to tears, her frustration to fury) Well, I do
mind. Now, you pay attention to me! You come off this kick you’re
on, or I swear to God I’ll do it (1962: 173).

From the quotation above, we know that Martha is angry with George because he

ignores her. When Martha talks to him, George does not really pay attention. He

really enjoys his newspaper. Martha is very irritated with George’s attitude. Then,

she threats him that she will make love with Nick if he still ignores her. She is very

frustrated because her effort to gain attention from George does not make any result.

It makes her angry. She cannot stand George’s attitude.

Martha is too obsessed with the idea of success, so she is pleased to tell her

relationship or propinquity with famous and successful persons. This grandiosity is

often seen in arrogant, boastful behavior, such as making unwarranted claims of

achievement or intimacy with famous people (Wilson 1996: 386). In the play,

Martha is very enthusiastic to tell story about her father. Martha’s father is the

university president where George and Nick work. When Nick and Honey come to

her house, proudly she tells about her father’s success. She praises her father in front

of Nick and Honey. She says that her father is a strong man (1962: 55) and

wonderful man (1962: 26). Martha also worships her father (1962: 77). She does not

realize that she is very arrogant toward the guests. She is proud of her father’s efforts

until he becomes the president of the university (1962: 77-79). She is very happy

when Nick and Honey give praise. Honey gives a comment that Martha’s father is so

marvelous (1962: 26) and Nick says that Martha’s father is a remarkable man (1962:

27).
 39

A person who suffers from narcissistic personality disorder is stuck on the

fantasy of success and power so that the person becomes demanding individual and

lack of empathy. The individual does not care other’s need and feeling; exploits

others until get satisfaction. They are preoccupied with fantasies of great success

(Davidson and Neale 1996: 268). Narcissists have a strong sense of superiority which

leads naturally to expectations of special treatment, callous use of other people to

further their own ends, and blindness to others’ need and feeling (Wilson 1996: 386-

387). Narcissistic personality disorder is noted by an air of egocentric self-assurance

and a pretentious superiority, by a tendency benignly to exploit others for one’s own

advantage, and by immature fantasies and a careless disregard for the rights of others

(Corsini 1994: 50). Individuals make unreasonable demands for others to follow their

wishes, ignore the needs and wants of others, exploit others to gain power, and are

arrogant and demeaning (Nolen and Houksema 2007: 445). From the analysis above,

it is stated that Martha always forces her desire o George. She is very dominant in

her family and always exploits George to do what she wants. She lacks empathy and

cannot handle her emotion. It is as the sign of narcissistic personality disorders. In

the play, Martha becomes a demanded wife and very egoistic. She is stuck on the

idea of success. She marries George in a hope that George will become success like

his father. She wants George to succeed. Martha thinks if George is successful in his

career, her marriage also will succeed. She demands her husband to have a high

position in the university like her father. She is ambitious and expects that George

will be the president of the History Department. Her great ambition of success makes

her very egoistic. She only demands and never thinks of her husband’s feeling. She
 40

only thinks of her own business. Moreover, she thinks that she has a right which

makes her to exploit others. As a wife, she is superior than her husband. She exploits

her husband to reach what she wants. Martha’s ambition can be seen from the

quotation below.

Martha : George is not preoccupied with history…George is preoccupied with

the History Department. George is preoccupied with the History
Department because…
George : …because he is not the History Department, but is only in the
History Department. We know, Martha…we went all through it
while you were upstairs…getting up. There’s no need to go through
it again (1962: 50).

Martha will conceal everything that will cause criticism. Individuals with

narcissistic personality disorder do not want to tolerate the failure and criticism

because those matters will hurt their feeling. Individuals with narcissistic personality

disorder will be shy and feel worthless after experience the failure. When faced with

criticism or failure, there is either an attitude of cool disdain or feelings of intense

rage, humiliation, or emptiness (Corsini 1994: 449). The analysis above stated that

Martha is unwilling to accept and tolerate the failure on her life. Martha is very

disappointed when she realizes that her husband, George, fail to become the

President of the History Faculty. As the result of her disappointment, Martha blames

George. She blames her husband as the cause of their unhappy marriage. She mocks

him in front of the guests and showers all mistakes on him. She is unwilling to

receive her husband who is very passive. She says that George does not have much

push and he is not particularly aggressive (1962: 84). George is not man enough and

he does not have the guts (1962: 158). It means that George is not brave enough like

a gentleman. She also says that George has lost his ambition (1962: 133). As a man,
 41

he is very passive and easy to give up. Even, she threatens George to divorce him

(1962: 16). Martha’s disappointment can be proven when George fails to be the

president of the university. It can be seen when she has a talk with Nick and Honey.

She mocks George in front of them.

Martha : That’s right baby…….keep it clean. (To the others) George is

bogged down in the History Department. He’s an old bog in the
History Department, that’s what George is. A bog…………A
fen…………A G.D. swamp. Ha, ha, ha, HA! A SWAMP! Hey
swamp! Hey swampy! (1962: 50).

A person who suffers from narcissistic personality disorder cannot accept the sign of

criticism, like Martha. Martha is very willful and ambitious. So, she cannot tolerate

the criticism on her life. The criticism is like a knife that will hurt her feeling. She

can be very angry by a criticism and falls into sadness of life deeply. For example,

Martha wears pants in her house whereas there are the guests who come. The reason

why Martha wears pant is to makes her comfortable and draws attention from others.

After seeing Martha’s appearance, George does not give praise but a critique. He

calls Martha’s dress as a Sunday chapel dress (1962: 47). Martha is very angry and

sad when George criticizes her new appearance. George feels that Martha’s new

appearance is impolite and too vulgar. Individuals with narcissistic personality

disorder will response disagreement or criticism by the lost of her self-esteem.

Individuals with this disorder often become anxious and/or depressed when their

sense of self-worth is threatened (Wilson 1996: 387). Marked rebuffs to self-esteem

may provoke serious disruptions in the more characteristic unruffled composure

(Corsini 1994: 449).

 42

Besides the fantasy of success, Martha is also obsessed by the fantasy of an

ideal lover. Individuals have a rich “inner life,” dreaming of attracting the ideal mate

(Wilson 1996: 387). Martha always invents her own idea about an ideal husband. She

looks for a mate who is an ideal lover, not found outside romantic novels and

movies. Martha is like teenager, she wants a partner who is good looking, smart, and

has an ideal body shape. Martha really admires young George who is intelligent,

bushy-tailed, and cute. Even, George is her love at the first sight. Then, she decides

to marry George.

Martha : Oh yeah. And along came George. That’s right. Who was
young…intelligent…and …bushy-tailed, and…sort of cute…if you
can imagine it…(1962: 81).
Martha : …by six years…It doesn’t bother me, George…And along he came,
bright-eyed, into the History Department. And you know what I did,
dumb cluck that I am? You know what I did? I fell for him
(1962: 81).

Martha’s thinking shows that she is immature. She still lives in her day-dream. She is

unrealistic. She cannot live in a world of reality. At first, Martha is happy to find

George and get married with him. After marriage, she finds his gentleness,

unassertiveness and passivity in certain areas a little irksome. She cannot accept

George as what he is. Because George is not the man that she imagined to be, she is

disappointed and does not want to accept her husband’s lack. She always lets herself

fall deeper and deeper into her imagination then she is comparing him with the ideal

lover. Martha compares George with her father and Nick. In the play, physically

Nick described as a young man, good looking, smart, and has a firm body (1962: 9).

Martha admires Nick’s appearance (1962: 52). All this time, Martha wants a perfect

partner like Nick. Nick is younger than George, he is good looking, and he has a firm
 43

body. After marriage, Martha cannot accept the responsibility for the consequences

of her decision to get married with George. Martha cannot accept George’s lack. She

demands her husband to be like what she wants. She wants George to be like Nick

who is good looking, smart and has an ideal body shape. So, she tries to change

George. She asks George to join physical fitness so that her body get muscle and

strong. Martha also blames George because she cannot accept George as what he is.

She indulges in self-pity or punishes herself or blames others for her faults. She

always tells other people about her husband’s lack. Martha always disparages and

humiliates George in front of their guests, Nick and Honey. She says that George is

lazy to go fitness. He does not keep her body to get muscle as well as Nick or her

father. Her father always admires physical fitness and he has a body, too, same as

Nick.

Martha : George, here, doesn’t cotton much to body talk…….do

you sweetheart? (No reply) George isn’t too happy when
we get to muscle. You know……..flat bellies,
pectorals……(1962: 53).

Individuals who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder think that they

are special. So, they feel deserve to get special treatment and will be angry if others

treat them in common way. Narcissists have a strong sense of superiority, which lead

naturally to expectations of special treatment (Wilson 1996: 387). The expectation

that others will bestow special favors (1994: 449). They are expecting others to do

special, not-to-be reciprocated favors for them (Davidson and Neal 1996:268). As

stated in the analysis above, Martha is very lazy and spoiled. She always wants to be

served by others. Martha wants to get special treatment from others. She wants others

to serve her like a queen and asks them to do everything that she wants. She always
 44

asks George to make her a drink (1962: 8). She orders him to open the door (1962:

18). She also demands George to give enough attention and care. She asks him to

give a kiss (1962: 15). Even, she ever asks Nick, her guests, to open the door (1962:

193). Martha has a great self-love. She thinks that she is very special, so she deserves

to get special treatment.

Individuals who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder lack empathy to

others. The essential feature of narcissistic disorders is the lack of empathy (Wilson

1996: 386). They are difficult to manage their emotion and easily to have a quarrel. If

they get bad mood, they become very sensitive and emotional. They become very

cruel when get angry. They will mock person whom they hate. They always do

something base on impulse. They are not sensitive to others need or feelings. They

think they have a right over others, so it makes them to exploit others. Individuals

exploit others to gain power (Nolen and Houksema 2007: 445). Narcissistic

personality disorder is noted by…a tendency benignly to exploit others for one’s own

advantage (Corsini 1994: 449). As an example is when Martha tells the guests about

George’s novel. The novel is about a boy who murders his mother and kills his

father, and pretends it is all as an accident. Martha’s father considers that it is not a

novel, so it is not published. Martha embarrasses George in front of the guests by

disparaging his ability in writing a novel (1962: 137). She does not care on George’s

feeling. She only thinks about herself. She is very satisfied when she makes George

shy. Martha hates George because of George’s failure to take the History

Department. So, she releases her frustration and disappointment by mocking George

in front of the guests. George has warned Martha, but she does not care. Finally,
 45

George becomes fed up and hurt. When Martha does not like something, she always

says it directly. She never thinks first about the words that she wants to say. She does

not care whether her statement will hurt other’s feeling or not.

Narcissistics seek companionship with their worshiper. In front of others,

they look very friendly, attractive, and full of charisma. They always appear in a

perfect way to draw attention from others. Actually, their friendliness and charisma

are only for praise. Their interest to built relationship with others is only for one

thing; they look for someone who can serve their interest and someone who can keep

their self-importance. Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder are shallow in

their emotional expressions and relationships with others (Nolen and Houksema

2007: 445). From the analysis above, it is stated that Martha is very fussy. She

concerns on the unimportant details of the topic that she talks. Her voice is very loud

when she is speaking. She says something directly, no matter that her words will hurt

other’s feeling or not. It seems that she never thinks about what she will say. Martha

looks very friendly to her guests. She has a sense of humor to attract the guests

(1962: 25). She is boasting about her relationship with George and her father. She is

difficult to have new friends. She only makes a friendship with people who can make

her comfortable. She wants to be praised by others. She thinks that the younger will

regard the older, so she makes a friendship with people that are younger than her.

She invites Nick and Honey to come to her house after party (1962: 8). Martha also

takes an advantage from Nick. She exploits Nick as equipment to make her husband

jealous (1962: 173). After gets what she wants, Martha throws him out. She mocks

him as a houseboy and a gigolo (1962: 194-195).

 46

C. The Influence of Martha’s Personality Disorder towards Her Marriage

Personality disorder which is suffered by Martha is narcissistic personality

disorder. Her narcissistic personality disorder gives some effects towards her

marriage with George. The worst effect is their marriage becomes unhappy. Martha

and George almost end in divorce because of their unhappy marriage. The individual

who suffers from narcissistic personality disorder is obsessed by the fantasy of an

ideal lover. As the consequence, the fantasy of an ideal lover makes Martha cannot

accept George’s lack. She is never tired to search a perfect partner. It motivates

Martha to have an affair with Nick. Any attempt to move one’s mate in an effort to

match them to our fantasies is arrogance on our part and an insult them. It divides,

breeds, anger, and causes even greater loneliness (Drescher 1979:31). Respect for

each other’s personality and acceptance is the framework in which modifications of

personality are made possible. Only if a woman recognizes that she must understand

and accept her husband, and respect herself as a person, can she and her husband

make a good adjustment in marriage (Fairchild 1956: 84). The success of a marriage

depends upon no single factor; it results from the interaction of the total personalities

of the partners (Ruch 1948: 585). Martha looks for a mate who is an ideal lover, not

found outside romantic novels and movies. Martha loves George’s but she does not

want to accept her husband’s lack. She is unwilling to accept George as what he is.

Martha also wants George to be more active, but he does not want to. As a

consequent, she becomes disappointed and angry to George’s passiveness. It leads

her to great loneliness. Martha wants to get married with George because he is good

looking and intelligent. After marriage, George is getting older and Martha is
 47

unwilling to accept the fact that George is not handsome as before. Her love to

George gets fade. Moreover, Martha’s marriage is arranged by his father. She

marries George to please her father. Martha does not want to accept the consequence

of her marriage. So, Martha tries to compare George with another man to satisfy her

feeling. Martha praises Nick who is younger, good looking, and smart. Martha

praises nick and humiliate George in front of Nick and Honey. Martha says that Nick

is still having a pretty good body and says that George is having flat bellies and

pectorals (1962: 52-53). Martha lives in the fantasy of ideal lover, so she is difficult

to accept the reality that her husband is not the man she imagined to be. Martha

demands George to have fitness so that his body will have a muscle and proportional

like Nick. Martha’s attitude is as the sign that she is immature. Another element of

marriage is maturity. Maturity is the ability to be guided by facts instead of wishes or

day-dreams. Human beings lead double lives, one in the world that they actually find

outside of them and the other in a world as they would like to have it. Martha lives in

her own fantasy. George says that Martha has moved bag and baggage into her own

fantasy world, and she has started playing variations on her own distortions (1962:

155). He states that he worries about Martha’s mind (1962: 156). When a woman

marries, she should take unto herself a real person who is not like anybody else in the

world and who has to be accepted or rejected for what he is (Fairchild 1956: 66).

After marriage she gets angry with her husband, herself, and with life. Martha often

needles her husband because he has changed from what he had been. But often he

never was the man Martha imagined to be. She spends her entire marriage comparing

their husband with the ideal lover. Martha compares George with Nick. As the
 48

consequence of her inability to accept George’s lack, Martha searches for an escapee

by making an affair with Nick. A temporary affair with a married man helps them to

forget loneliness and frustration. These affairs seldom work out very satisfactorily

however, because actually these girls want marriage and they are finding only a

temporary adjustment to their loneliness (Fairchild 1956: 47). Martha needs an

escapee to forget her loneliness and frustration because of her marriage problems.

Martha’s affair makes George so hurt. Then, the marriage between George and

Martha become further from happiness.

The individual who suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, like

Martha, has a great self love. She is very happy when others give praise to her. When

there is nobody who gives praise, she will be arrogant by boasting her good aspects

in order to get praises. She believes that she is better than others. She always makes

serious effort to get honor and attention from others. Martha is very proud of herself.

She thinks that she is special and better than others. She likes to be the center of

attention. She is often boasting too much about a famous person who is close to her.

She is boasting about her father who becomes the president of the university (1962:

77). Moreover, she was born from the rich and privileged family because her father

is the president of the university. Even, Martha thinks that George is lucky to get

married with her and has a wife like her (1962: 78). As a consequence, Martha

becomes an arrogant, dominant, and egoistic wife. She exploits others to keep them

proud and admire her. She tends to accept rather than give. Marriage is a give and

take situation in which each participant must be willing to do part of the giving

(Ruch 1948: 581). When Martha gives to others, it is only to get praises and
 49

worships. It means that she will do everything to satisfy herself although it will

sacrifice the people around her. She has a perfect manner in front of others, but she

becomes very cruel towards her family. Martha is very friendly to Nick and Honey,

but she is cruel to George, her husband. She tries to search for attention to the guests

by changing her dress. She wants to show her perfect appearance in front of the

guests. She changes her dress to show of to Honey and Nick about her new

appearance. She is very proud when Nick and Honey praise her new appearance

(1962: 47). George is very annoyed by Martha’s behavior who likes to show off and

arrogant. George also gets bored with the way of Martha in treating him. He does not

like Martha’s bad habits and Martha’s characteristic. He does not like Martha who is

spoiled, self-indulgent, willful, dirty-minded and liquor ridden. He is very irritated

with Martha. Even, he calls Martha as a monster (1962: 157). Martha cannot admit

George’s humiliation. It hurts Martha’s feeling. Finally, both of them have a big

quarrel and blame each other.

In the play, Martha can behave nicely in front of her guests to show a good

impression. But she always disparages her husband. She only thinks about herself

and does not care about her husband’s feeling. She cannot show her empathy and

pretends to show her sympathy to reach her goal. She has low self esteem, so she

needs an outsider to be disparaged until her feeling gets better. She exploits others to

make them proud of her and like her. She seduces Nick to kiss her. She exploits Nick

to make George jealous (1962: 164). When George begins to ignore Martha and he

does not interest to her, soon she will seek another victims who praises her. Because

of that, the inner relationship will be obstructed. Actually, the important thing in
 50

marriage is not egoistic but understanding. Much of unhappiness between men and

women is due to the lack of understanding of the relationship of the sexes (Fairchild

1956: 91). Every couple should understand the characteristic and accept the lack of

each. One of the elements in marriage is the ability to give oneself emotionally to the

partner for example gives affection, attention, understanding and etc. Another

element in marriage success is the capacity of a woman to see her mate apart from

her own needs of him (Fairchild 1956: 64). It means that each spouse must respect

the partner as an individual. They should love their partner as they love their self.

When her marriage is not harmonious, Martha seeks a man as an escapee. She is

bored with George and she thinks that George does not care about her. So, Martha

seeks for a man as an object to release her disappointment and annoyance to George.

She exploits Nick to satisfy her ego. Martha openly says to George that she has affair

with Nick (1962: 171). She is kissing with Nick in front of George. George is very

disappointed with Martha’s attitude. He thinks that Martha is very excessive. Martha

is also very disappointed with George’s passivity and all of his weakness. Thus,

make their marriage becomes not harmonious. Martha and George have

misunderstanding. Martha and George never communicate their problems to their

partner. The also do not listen to each other. They only blame each other when their

marriage is getting crushed. When there is no communication it will create a distance

between both of them and worse their relationship. A poor pattern of communication

also becomes a problem of marriage. Because there is no communication, they

cannot express their feeling of disappointment to each other (Drescher 1979:31).

Martha is very frustrated with George’s attitude. She needs a lot of attention from
 51

George, but George does not give it (1962: 173). In the play, Martha often insults her

husband, especially when her husband rejects Martha’s request. She thinks that she is

important and superior to others. So, she has a right to treat them as she likes. She

needs an outsider to be humiliated so that her feeling will be better. The goal is to

return her self confidence. As the evidence, Martha is always boasting about her

husband’s laxity to Nick and Honey. Martha says that George is like an old sour-

puss. He is mock mouth (1962: 21), goddamn, bog, fen, swamp (1962: 50), prick

(1962: 59), old floozy (1962: 73), coward (1962: 75), bastard, nuts, lunk-head, sun of

a bitch (1962: 128), George has flat bellies, pectorals (1962: 53). It is the cause of

Martha and George’s quarrel, so their relationship is not harmonious. Actually, the

third element in marriage success is the ability to give oneself emotionally to the

partner for example giving affection, attention, and understanding. The lack of

affection is one of the things that a partner complains about (Fairchild 1956: 66). A

marriage needs understanding, attention, and affection. If there is no understanding,

attention, and affection between the husband and wife, the marriage will be

disturbed. However, if there are a lot of demands it will make the relationship worse.

Demanding behavior will create uncomfortable feeling. It will make each spouse feel

so depressed and finally leave each other. The unhappy marriage makes Martha feels

abandoned, frustrated, and lonely. Even, Nick thinks that Martha is getting mad

because he finds Martha is talking to herself in the living room.

Nick : (enters while Martha is clinking; he stands in the hall entrance and
watches her; finally he comes in) My God, you’ve gone crazy too.
Martha : Clink?
Nick : I said you’ve gone crazy too.
Martha : (Considers it) Probably…probably (1962: 186).
 52

Martha becomes disappointed and angry to her husband. The individuals who

suffer from the narcissistic personality disorder will think that the success is because

of their own effort, not because of others. Then, when they face the failure, they will

accuse others as the cause of their failure. It is similar to Martha; she thinks that her

husband is the single cause of her unhappy marriage (1962: 173). She releases her

disappointment to George by insulting him as she could. She is hopeless and says

that she is not going to try to get through to George anymore (1962: 157). Their

relationship is very apprehensive.

Martha is also superior and dominant in her family. Because of that, Martha

becomes a demanded wife. She exploits others to reach her goal. In the play, Martha

always orders George to make her drink, whereas she can do it by her self (1962: 8,

16). She also orders him by force to open the door when the door bell chimes (1962:

93). She really treats her husband badly, just like her servant. It seems that Martha

does not love him anymore. She does not give him affection, but she always

demands a lot of attention from him. However, affection and understanding is

important in marriage relationship. Each spouse should have an equal position in a

family because their position is as important as others. The wife should not disparage

her husband, and the husband should give respect to his wife. One study has found

that marriages are happiest when the two partners are about equal in desire to

dominate, or when the husband is slightly more dominant than the wife (Ruch 1948:

581). But, in Martha’s marriage there is no equal position. As a wife, Martha is more

superior to her husband. She dominates the household. It makes George feels inferior

and loses of his right as a husband. It makes her marriage becomes unhappy.
 53

Other thing that is also very important from a person who suffers from

narcissistic personality disorder is the idea of success. As stated in the analysis

before, the individuals who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder are stuck to

the fantasy of success. Then, the individuals become demanded and lack empathy

and they are also having inability to manage the emotion. They always try to be

perfect, but they do not realize that their ability to reach their goal is limited. It needs

a long time and hard work to reach that perfection. Martha is a perfectionist woman,

it makes Martha is obsessed with the idea of success. Whereas in fact, it is not sure

Martha can reach success or not. It is not easy to reach success. Even, it can cause

stress and anxiety. The great obsession to reach success makes her become a

demanded wife. She thinks that if she is successful, her life also will be joyful. She

thinks that a successful person can be seen from the wealth or status that is owned.

She believes that by having the wealth and high position, others will give respect to

her. She will be happy if others give praises. So, she demands her husband to be

success like her father. Martha’s obsession is George who will be the president of

the history department, and then who will take position of the university president

like her father (1962: 84). She demands a lot of things from her husband. She wants

George to be the man that she imagined, but her ambition leads her marriage into

unhappiness. When George fails to be the president of the history department,

Martha becomes very disappointed. She is unwilling to accept George’s failure. She

tells about George’s failure to Nick and Honey. She is very happy to make George

shy (1962: 76). Martha often has quarrel with George because she forces her wish to

George. She always humiliates and insults George. She says that George does not
 54

have much push, he is not particularly aggressive, and he is sort of a flop (1962: 84).

Martha also says that George is somebody who does not have any personality,

somebody who is so damn and contemplative, somebody without the guts to make

anybody proud of him (1962: 85). Martha does not care about George’s feeling. She

does not care that George is almost crying because Martha humiliates him in front of

Nick and Honey. She has no understanding to her husband.

A person who suffers from narcissistic personality disorder finds a difficult to

accept criticism and failure. When facing the criticism or failure, there is either an

attitude of cool disdain or feelings of intense rage, humiliation, or emptiness (1994:

449). Individuals who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder are thirst for

praises and worships to strengthen their self-worth. As the consequence, they are

very sensitive to many kinds of criticism. Moreover, they often deem criticism as an

effort to ruin and attack them. Martha perceives criticism in a wrong perception and

becomes angry when others criticize her or even she ignores that criticism. When she

faces the criticism or failure she will feel threatened. Then, she will respond it by

anger no matter it is consciously or unconsciously. The element of success in

marriage is for a woman to be able to continue loving her husband even though he is

critical of her (Fairchild 1956: 66). A wife should continue to love her partner

although sometimes his attitude is very annoying. She has to accept her husband as

what he is, includes his annoyance attitude. She has to understand and accept all of

his lack. In the play, Martha often gets angry to her husband. She cannot accept her

husband’s criticism. She deems her husband’s criticism as a sign of rejection. She

thinks that George does not love her again. When Martha changes her appearance by
 55

wearing sexy cloth, George teases her. He says it is the Sunday chapel dress (1962:

47). Martha pretends to ignore George’s criticism. Actually, Martha’s feeling is very

hurt. She is very disappointed and angry to George. She disagrees when her husband

gives criticism to her. The purpose she changes her dress is to get praise, but it

causes a severe criticism from her husband. Finally, Martha is angry with George.

Then, she takes revenge to George by telling Nick and Honey about his failure to

take the History Department (1962: 50). It seems that between George and Martha,

there is nobody who wants to give in. They still follow their ego. It triggers a big

quarrel between both of them. Martha is also unwilling to accept failure happen in

her life. Her perfectionism and arrogant behavior makes her life is controlled by the

fantasy of success and power. Martha is the daughter of the university president. Her

father is success in his carrier, so her life is prosperous. She can get everything that

she wants. She thinks that money can buy everything and can bring happiness. She

has an opinion that success can be seen from the wealth and high position that is

owned. So, she gets married with George because he is a teacher in the History

Department. Martha thinks that George can be successful like her father. She gets

married with George in hope that George will become a university president like her

father. She believes if George is successful, her marriage will be happy too. Martha

is obsessed by the idea of success, but she does not realize the ability of her husband.

Because of that, Martha becomes very disappointed when George cannot fulfill her

wish. The mature person accepts the responsibility for the consequences of his

decisions. He will not indulge in self-pity; or punish himself; or blame others for his

fault (Fairchild 1956: 70). Martha also blames George because he does not try hard
 56

and he does not have great work ethic to be successful. She blames George on his

failure to be the president of the history department. Martha cannot accept the

consequences of her decision in getting married with George. From the theory, it can

be said that Martha is immature, whereas maturity is an important thing in marriage.

There is a problem of maturity which commonly appears in marriage (Bowman

1954: 135). The problem of Martha’s emotional maturity makes their marriage

problem becomes sharper and more complicated. .

 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

From the analysis, it is concluded that Martha is perfectionist. She wants to

be perfect in everything. Martha is fussy and superior in the family. She thinks that

she is very important and very special. She also thinks that she plays very vital role

in her family. Martha is starved of affection. She always demands her husband to

give extra attention. She needs support from others to still her fear in facing the harsh

life. Martha thinks that she is special, so she demands to get special treatment.

Because she is spoiled and lazy woman, she always demands her husband to serve

her. She will get angry when George does not fulfill what she wants. Martha is hyper

sexual. She has a great sexual desire. She is very aggressive in sexual activity. She is

also vulgar in her attitudes. She rejects to obey a conventional regulation. Martha is

fussy woman. She is talk active and loud when she is speaking. She is arrogant. She

likes to boast about the success person who relates to her, for example her father. She

becomes very cruel toward her husband who makes her disappointed. She likes to

speak about her husband’s failure and lack. She cannot handle her emotion. She lacks

empathy and she is not sensitive to other’s feeling. She exploits others to get what

she wants. Martha is also willful and ambitious. What she wants must be realized. It

makes her becomes demanding wife. She always forces her desire to George. Martha

is influenced by the idea of success. Martha is very difficult to tolerate the failure

happened in her life. When George fails to be the president of the history faculty, she

becomes very frustrated and depressed.

57
 58

The analysis shows that Martha suffers from narcissistic personality disorder.

It can be seen from her characteristics. Martha has a great self-love. She always

wants to be the center of attention. She will be angry when others do not give

attention to her. She needs support from other to keep her self-esteem. She thinks

that she is special and wants to get special treatments. She is stuck on the idea of

success. She demands her husband to be success as her father. She will do everything

to get what she wants. She lacks empathy. She exploits her husbands to satisfy her

desire. Even, she does not care about her husband’s feeling. She also exploits Nick to

make George jealous. She is difficult to tolerate the failure and criticism. She is

obsessed by the fantasy of an ideal lover. She is immature and unrealistic. She is

unwilling to accept George’s failure and weakness. She is very fussy. She is often

boasting about her great achievements.

Martha’s narcissistic personality disorder influences her marriage with

George. Because she suffers from narcissistic personality disorders, her marriage

becomes unhappy. Martha and George often have a quarrel when they have a

different opinion about something. Martha has a great self-love. She is egoistic and

only thinks about her self. She often forces her desire to George. She does not care

about George’s feeling. She only demands everything from George, but she does not

understand him. She is immature. She has unrealistic expectation to George but

George cannot fulfill her wish. Consequently, she is very disappointed and angry to

George. Then, she searches for an escapee by making an affair with Nick. George

becomes angry with Martha because she always humiliates and blames him. George

cannot tolerate Martha who has an affair with Nick. It can cause significant

dissatisfaction for both partners. Then, they blame each other for the cause of their

unhappy marriage. They are almost getting divorce because of Martha’s narcissistic

personality disorder.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Holt, Rineheart and
Winston, 1981.
Albee, Edward. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. New York: Pocket Books, Inc.,
1962.
Barnet, Sylvan, and Morton Breman. An Introduction to Literature: Fiction, Poetry,
Drama. New York: Harper Collins College, 1994.
Bowman, Henry A. Marriage for Moderns Third Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill
Book Company Inc., 1954.
Chiaromonte, Nicola. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee.
<http://www.nybooks.com/articles/137520> (11 October 2007).
Corsini, Raymon J. Encyclopedia of Psychology Second Edition Volume Three.
Toronto: John Wiley & Son, Inc., 1994.
Dainches, David. Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Longman, Inc.,
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Drescher, John M. When Opposites Attract. St. Meinrad: Abbey Press, 1979.
Fairchild. The Way of Woman: Women, Society & Sex. New York: A Primeer Book,
1956.
Foster, E. M. Aspects of Novel. London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 1978.

Galloway, Shirley. “When Love Hurts”

<http://www.cyberpat.com/shirlsite/essays/whosafr.html> (25 November
2007).
Hayman, Ronald. Contemporary Playwrights Edward Albee. London: Heinemann,
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Holman, Hugh, and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature. London: George G.
Harrap and Co Ltd., 1986

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Milligan, Ian. The Novel in English: An Introduction. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.,
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Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the
English Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.,
1972.
Nolen, Susan and Hoeksema. Abnormal Psychology 4th Edition. New York: The
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2007.
Ruch, Floyd L. Psychology and Life. New York: Scott Foresman and Company,
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Contemporary Literary Theory. London: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Sheri & Bob Stritof. “Marriage”. About.com. 2009.
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(2 February 2009).
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 APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Summary of the Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

At two o'clock in the morning, George and Martha return from a faculty party

at Martha's father's house. Martha seems drunk and George teases her about being

loud and old. As George suggests a nightcap, however, Martha reveals that she

invites the new man in the math department and his wife. Though George does not

remember, Martha insists that George met them; she describes them as the good-

looking blonde man and his mousy wife without any hips. As George is moping,

Martha reminds him of a joke that apparently occurred earlier in the evening. George

insists that he did not find the joke particularly amusing. Martha gets annoyed at

George, but as they tease each other, she also asks him to kiss her, which he refuses.

Martha asks for another drink.

The doorbell rings, Martha asks George to open the door to reveal Nick and

Honey. George then pours the first of many drinks for Nick and Honey. George

implies that Martha is an alcoholic. George begins to insult Martha’s father and

declare that it is difficult to be married to the daughter of his boss. In the middle of

this, George also lets slip that Martha would like him to be the head of the history

department, not merely a member of the history faculty. George says that he did run

the history department during the war, but that the job was taken away from him

when everyone returned.

George begins to call for Martha, but only Honey returns. Honey says that

Martha is changing her dress. Martha returns in a sexier dress. The conversation

61
 62

turns to praising Nick, who is something of a young genius and an athlete. Martha

insults George for being stuck, unsuccessfully, in the history department; she praises

Nick's body, among other things. George begins insulting the field of genetic biology

again, but Martha defends it. They fight with each other, partly about the colour of

their son's eyes. George says that Martha's father's eyes are red because he is a little

mouse. Martha claims that George hates her father because of George's own

insecurities. George leaves the room, and Martha tells the story about how they met

and were married.

Martha's mother died young, she says, and Martha was raised by her father.

She enjoyed being important at the University and decided that she wanted to marry

someone at the college and continue the family tradition there. She met George and

fell for him when he was new, even though he was much younger than she. But, she

continues, he let her down because he was not good enough to take over running the

University. As Martha talks about what a "flop" he is, George breaks a bottle against

a wall. George comments that he and Martha were needling each other.

Martha and Honey return. Martha asks whether George has told Nick his side

of the story. Nick says no. George tells Martha that he has to find a new way to fight

her. Honey decides that she wants to dance. They put on music, but only Martha and

Nick dance. They dance together in a sexual manner. Honey and George watch them.

Martha tells Honey and Nick about the novel that George tried to publish. George

gets so mad that he attacks Martha. Nick tries to defend her, and they all struggle on

the floor. Martha says that George is going too far, but he responds that she

constantly goes after him like that. He warns her that she has been going too far
 63

herself, and that he is really going to get at her soon. He feels numbed by their

fantasy life and how she reveals their life to the world. Martha says that the problem

is that their life has snapped. She used to try but she won't anymore. They agree that

they will wage "total war" on each other.

Martha starts trying to seduce Nick. He gives in. George walks in on them

kissing and touching each other. He turns around, though, and re-enters singing

"Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" He fixes drinks and sits in a chair where he cannot

see Martha and Nick on the sofa. Martha and Nick start kissing again and hit chimes,

making bells sound. George tells them to get back to their "necking." Martha

becomes angry when she realizes that George feels in control of the situation. George

tells Nick that he can have Martha. Nick and Martha go into the kitchen to continue.

As the act ends, he is laughing and crying, looking forward to telling Martha about

this development.

Martha enters, by herself. She talks in baby-talk to herself and plays with the

ice in her glass. Nick comes in. Martha says that it is frustrating to be ready for sex

all the time and to have all of her men fail to follow through. She begins to talk about

George and is nice, for once. She says that she loved him and that their relationship

now is sad. She thinks that he has had his back broken by her and by the forces

around them. The doorbell rings. It is George, with snapdragons flowers. George

begins talking about their child. Finally, as the tension mounts, he announces that

someone has come by to tell them that their son died in a car accident, when he

swerved to miss a porcupine. Martha becomes livid, telling him that he does not get

to decide these things. Then, Nick catches on that their son is an invention.
 64

Finally, Nick and Honey can go home. When Nick and Honey have gone,

George and Martha have a tense conversation. George tells her that it will be better

this way. He sings "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" one last time, and Martha

responds, "I am."