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
read as the doubling of the name Ed war cj of the playwright {'Ed'+'me(e)} and the reflexive, narcissistic me e. The couple of the mother and son is the doubling of the name of the implied author, since it clearly identifies with the reflexively named 'Ed' and 'me(e)' (or that of the first two and the last two letters of the name of the playwright: Ed war cj linked with the help of the initial of the mother with Alb e e)' which shows a bond of narcissistic nature, on the one hand on the part of the playwright and, on the other hand, between the mother ('me(e)'} and the son ('Ed') —another narcissistic bond is made explicit in the relation of Daniel and Benjamin, which the son of Edmee indirectly witnesses —. Edmee is wisely questioned in the drama about Fergus and about their relation. Gertrude: Young man. [To Edmee], Is that yours? Edruee: Yes, yes, he is. Gertrude: What is he to you, or I am being nosy?... Edmee: What is he to me?... 7 3 The answer posited in Scene 3 is given in Scene 8 and shows an identification of the son with the mother (who in turn identifies him with her dead husband): Edmee: Well, now, to answer your question —your pry, to be more accurate, about Fergus. What he is to me is too much. He is my son —he is: real mother, real son. And since my husband died —his father —he has been the "man" in my life, so to speak... There is, I think —there may be an —attachment transcends the usual, the socially admitted, that is, by which I mean: given the provocation, Fergus would be me in a moment. A mother knows these things and even admits knowing them... Sometimes. He doesn't know it, or, if he does sense it, is polite or shrewd enough to pretend he does not... (emphasis mine) 7 4 By the depicted excessive identification with his mother, Fergus is the most complex character of the play. Edmee, the mother and Fergus, her son, androgynously counterpoint and take care of each me." In Mel Gussow Edward Albee: A Singular Journey. A Biography (London: Oberon, 1999), 395. 7 3 Edward Albee Finding the Sun (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1994), 7. 7 4 Ibid., 15. 167
