Summative paper 2

In what ways is the reader seduced or comforted by the ideas in the works studied and in what ways challenged or alienated? Refer to two literary works you have studied.

'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' is a play written by Edward Ablee, first staged in 1962, which examines the complexities of a middle-aged marriage between George and Martha. It shows a gradual increase of chaos between 2 couples who are having late-night drinks after a party. The book involves personal issues related to parental and marriage issues and the nature of controlling your emotions when under the influence of alcohol. My second work, 'The God of Carnage' is a play about 2 sets of parents who due to a fight that happened between their children meet together, which over time reaches to a personal level of conflict, building the tension and aggression in the characters. The play was published in 2009 in France, and has been translated to English only to become a very popular play. It is set in an apartment in France, where the characters build up conflict through impatience and misunderstanding. Both books have the idea of parenting which is seen through different aspects, yet can both relate in similar ways. Not only that, both books try to convey social status, not only when under the influence or under a lot of stress, but also when all the characters have a sane mind. The idea of parenting and marital issues challenges the reader because the perspective on this for the reader is different than from the characters. Though as the social status evolves, it might be comforting for the reader because we find out the true person behind their so to say "mask of social status". The tension will have dropped then and it could be more comfortable for the reader.

In 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?', the parenting is challenging for the reader, because the characters deal with more than parenting, but mental issues with infertility. The couple George and Martha do not actually have a son, but Martha strongly believes she does. Near the end of the play, George breaks this false reality to Martha by having the son "accidentally killed". This is quite alienating for the reader, because it is not an idea many people can relate with.

For 'The God of Carnage', it is a similar yet different reason for it being challenging for the reader to comprehend. Both couples do have children, yet the challenging part for the reader is that parenting is subjective. The way these parents care for their children and choose to handle the conflict that has happened might be different from the reader, making it less comfortable and more alienated to read.

Status is more comforting for the reader when reading 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'. The characters hold a status related tension for the reason that Martha and George are older than Nick and Honey, the couple invited over. This is possibly more relatable for the reader, making it more comfortable to watch.

In 'The God of Carnage', both couples start quite nice to each other, there is no clear sign of competitive social status. Yet, further through the book it gets worse until the moment where the status left, and everyone seemed equally miserable. In this moment when the competitiveness and the tension between them has faded, this is after the climax, there is a lot of comfort for the reader.

To conclude, Both books have the idea of parenting which is seen through different aspects, yet they can relate in similar ways. Not only that, both books try to convey social status. The idea of parenting and marital issues challenges the reader because the perspective on this for the reader is different than from the characters. Though as the social status evolves, it might be comforting for the reader because we find out their true person behind the competitive status. The tension is low, giving the readers a comfortable read.