Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story as the Play of Absurd and the Themes of Existentialism

Abstract

This paper investigates the themes of existentialism and absurdity in The Zoo Story, is a master piece play of the absurdity in the mood, where the playwright explores the different themes of existentialism, isolation, loneliness, paradox in communication as anathematization, social disparity and dehumanization in an artificial, produced and materialistic American society. These are some of the features of absurd play that reveal all the elements of absurd and social criticism in the sense of behavior, habits, and customs in the play. Edward Albee applies the absurd techniques to show a real like image of the south-east American multicultural society in the frame of present unreasonable, mental apathetic states, and self-destructive devalues of the generations throughout the play. The point is brought home by a meeting between two characters, Jerry and Peter. The whole action is in the form of a conversation between them until it culminates in the death of Jerry.