FAMILY DISINTEGRATION IN EDWARD ALBEE’S SELECTED DRAMAS

Abstract

This research aimed are to identify the kinds of family conflict that appear in Edward Albee’s dramas and to know the causes and impacts of the dramas. The writer chose two dramas to be analyzed; those are The Sandbox and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? dramas. This research is expected to be useful for the further research. The writer used the theory of family conflict by Ursula Lehr to analyzed the data and the structuralism approach to found the data. The writer used the descriptive qualitative method in presenting this research. In The Sandbox drama, the result of the family conflict found were conflict with own parents, conflict with own children, conflict with husband/wife, and self-conflict appear in the drama. The causes and the impacts mostly causes by Mommy’s acted to Grandma that put her into the sandbox in a purpose for Grandma to die. The other causes were because mommy’s selfish characteristic and always wanted to be a dominant person, while grandma was experienced her second childhood phase. The impacts of The Sandbox drama are the fight between the characters in the drama and the loss of harmonization in the family. In the second drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, types of family conflict that revealed were conflict with other person, conflict with husband/wife, and selfconflict appear in the drama. The main causes were in Martha and George as a marriage couple that always wanted to drop down on each other and insulted each other. The impacts are the loss of harmonization in the family, the other couple (Nick and Honey) got into their problem and made the couple fought to each other.