Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Visions of America Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.

Quote #1

Honey: Oh, isn't this lovely.
Nick: Yes indeed…very handsome. (1.176-1.177)

The attractive young couple's over-politeness in the face of their hosts' bitter disputes reveals just how fake they are. They seem to represent the image-obsessed America that came out during the 1950s. Over the course of the play their perfect façade is eroded just as America's image decayed in the 1960s.

Quote #2

George: I read somewhere that science fiction is really not science fiction at all…that you people are rearranging my genes so that everyone will be like everyone else. (1.330)

Throughout the play George equates genetics with the homogenization of culture that was present in America at the time of the play.

Quote #3

George: I will not give up Berlin!(1.600)

At the time of the play, America was in the midst of the Cold War with the U.S.S.R. Berlin was a hot bed of tension. This line draws connections between the characters' conflicts and that of America as a whole.