The use of barriers and their significant effect on the progress and impact of "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" Arianne Flit 12th Grade

In many dramatic works, the use of barriers is crucial - they determine the play’s developments and how much it will affect the audience. This is certainly the case of “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”. The former, written by Tennessee Williams, is about the events that ensue after Stella’s older sister, Southern belle Blanche, makes a surprise visit in the New Orleans home Stella shares with her husband Stanley. The latter was written by Edward Albee and deals with the disputes that emerge in a chaotic night after Martha invites a young couple, Nick and Honey, over, displeasing her husband George. In both plays, physical, emotional, and symbolic barriers help the playwright to reveal more about the characters, to help the audience comprehend the situations they find themselves in, and to advance the play’s action. They have a significant effect on the progress and impact of the drama as it is thanks to them that the playwrights can effectively control the audience’s focus and communicate the underlying messages of the work.

Firstly, the implementation of barriers allows Williams and Albee to make the true nature of the characters. In both plays, at very different moments, stairs and closed doors...