Who's Afraid Of The Barrier?

Storytelling, repetition and unseen characters are the three dramatic techniques that frequently appear in Edward Albee's dramas. This thesis examines how the three dramatic techniques function in the selected plays of Albee, namely The Zoo Story, The American Dream, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Tiny Alice, A Delicate Balance, All Over, and The Lady from Dubuque.The thesis consists of five parts. In Introduction, I discuss Albee's contribution to the American theatre and generally introduce the dramatic techniques he uses in his plays.Chapter One deals with the technique of storytelling, mainly in The Zoo Story and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? because these two plays present his manipulation of stories at best. The technique of storytelling not only helps characters achieve their goals, but also assist Albee to communicate with his audiences/readers. The focus of the second chapter is on the technique of repetition. Albee's use of repetition is influenced by European absurdist playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, etc. This technique is examined on two levels– the micro one and the macro one. On both levels, it brings harmony and disharmony.Chapter Three explores how Albee makes good use of the technique of unseen characters. Albee's use of the unseen characters has much to do with his own experience of being an adopted child, which is reflected in his plays by the recurred unseen child as a victim in a family. The unseen character helps Albee to present a powerful offstage world that contrasts the onstage world, and thus makes his plays multi-dimensional.At the end of this thesis, I make the conclusion that Albee uses the three dramatic techniques to break down the actor/audience or character/reader barrier, or in other words to communicate with audiences/readers so that they can experience the play rather than merely watch it or read it.