Paper 2 introduction

God of Carnage is a play written by Yasmina Reza in 2006. It is about two couples, who have never met before, coming together to settle a dispute between their sons. Who's Afraid of Virginie Wolf? which was translated by Edward Albee, is also about two couples meeting but for a different occasion. Strangers and strangeness are represented differently and to different extents in the two works. In God of Carnage the element of strangers is much more emphasised than the feeling of strangeness. This element of strangers creates the awkward atmosphere at the beginning and highlights the change in characters. The exact opposite is true for Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? as the feeling of strangeness is much more prominent than the element of the couples being strangers. The strangeness of the mentioned child and the atmosphere that came with it was crucial to build up the suspense in the story.