Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - Réka Cristian: Edward Albee's Castings

relational function. The tropes used for naming can substitute for different roles, and, as such, they play the role of the name. Some examples of this category are the following: Grandma, Mommy, Daddy in The American Dream (1961) and Sandbox (1960,1, FAM, YAM in Fam and Yam (1960), The Father, The Nurse, The Intern, The Orderly in The Death of Bessie Smith (1960), The Young Man, The Musician in Sandbox

, Woman 1, 2, 3, 4 and Man 1, 2, 3, 4 in Fragments. A Sit Around (1993), the Long-Winded Lady, the Old Woman and the Minister in Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (1968), the Voice in Box (the 1968 "parenthesis" play for Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung), the Cardinal, the Lawyer and the Butler in Tiny Alice (1964), He and She in Counting the Ways (1976), The Woman, The Girl, and The Man in Listening (1976), The Wife, The /dying/ Husband, The Mistress, The Son, The Daughter, The Best Friend, The Doctor, in All Over (1971) and finally the most simplified version of names as A, B, C in Three Tall Women (1991). These names are functional and depict the human relations that are established among them. The names as character forms depict the Albee character as a relational unit (the couple) that hides the blindspot within the onomasticon. Another category of names employed in Edward Albee's dramas is the first name. In contrast to the previous use of indefinite names, the first names designate a definite set of objects/persons. The family name in the Albee oeuvre is excluded. Examples of character names in 1 9 this sense are: Julian and Miss Alice in Tiny Alice " (the characters were created as "creating God in one's own image" as confessed by the playwright in Mel Gussow's biography), Lucinda, Edgar, Carol, Oscar, Elizabeth, Jo, Fred, and Sam in The Lady from Dubuque (1980), Nancy, Charlie, Sarah, and Leslie in Seascape

1

3 (1975), Abigail, Benjamin, Cordelia, Daniel, Edmee, Fergus, Gertrude and Henden in Finding the Sun (1983), Peter and Jerry in The Zoo Story 1

2 ''Tennessee Williams said that Tiny Alice was the Establishment, 'the meaningless, monstrous, outrageously mysterious Mystery that defeats us all' ". In Mel Gussow Edward Albee: A Singular Journey. A Biography (London: Oberon, 1999), 221. 1

1 Originally the title of Seascape was Life and Death. Initially Life and Death were two short plays, conceived as companion pieces. Ibid., 282. 140