A Biblical Archetypal Study On The Zoo Story

As a great successor to Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill, Edward Albee is not only the leading playwright in the history of American literature, but also the representative writer of The Theatre of the Absurd. His works are refreshing for the readers, which uncover serious social problems with the absurdist artistic style. As his first success, The Zoo Story is one of his representative plays as well. Since the publication and performance of The Zoo Story, it has been gaining the various long-lasting criticisms. Critics have interpreted his plays from different views: absurdity, modernity, critical force, ecological features and alienation. However, the researches on The Zoo Story from the perspective of the biblical archetype are much fewer.This thesis, based on the archetypal critical theory, attempts to explore the archetypes of the Bible in The Zoo Story in terms of the plot, characters and images in order to carry on the deep and detailed analysis of Albee’s mater piece, therefore, we can find out that Albee has given serious thinking about the hidden nature, the universal problems and the future of human beings through a seemingly meaningless story.There is an introduction, the three chapters and the conclusion in this thesis. The part of Introduction contains the relative background knowledge of Edward Albee, his The Zoo Story and a critical overview of Albee’s play both at home and abroad. It then presents the possibility of analyzing The Zoo Story by using Frye’s Archetypal Theory.Chapter One analyzes the Biblical archetypal plots in The Zoo Story. With the Garden of Eden as the background, the story of The Zoo Story shows us a U-shaped narrative structure of the tragicomedy, whereby the story develops from the destruction of an ideal country to the reconstruction, which echoes the narrative structure of the Bible.Chapter Two probes into the biblical archetypal characters in The Zoo Story. There are only two characters in this play---Jerry and Peter. Peter considers himself as a successful office worker, while Jerry is a homeless wanderer. Their absurd and ridiculous conversation truly shows the painful stories of Jesus and Peter in the Holy Bible, in which Jerry even loses his precious life. The archetypal characters play a key role in deepening the theme of the play and revealing the embarrassing position of human race.Chapter Three explores the biblical archetypal images in The Zoo Story. The obscure images in the play, in fact, have a close connection with the images in the Bible---the numbers, the direction, New York Central Park, the apartment and the dog, and even Jerry’s hands mentioned repeatedly, which can be traced back to the Bible. These images enhance the understanding of the American people’s social and spiritual lives at his time.In the conclusion, a general summary is given and the importance of Fyre’s archetypal theory in studying The Zoo Story is reaffirmed further. This angle not only adds up to the interests of the story, deepens the contents and enriches the personalities of the characters, but also strengthens the reader and audience’s understanding of the play. It enables the reader and audience to realize the playwright’s sharp criticism and serious thinking about the crisis of human being and the American society, and to grasp the aesthetic significance of the Theater of the Absurd as well.