What is the theme of The Zoo Story by Edward Albee?

The Zoo Story is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks. The play explores themes of isolation, loneliness, miscommunication as anathematization, social disparity and dehumanization in a materialistic world.

What does the zoo represent in The Zoo Story?

The zoo constitutes the central symbol of the play and is an image of human isolation and absence of contact and communication. It is an apt and poignant symbol. The Zoo Story is concerned with human isolation.

How does Edward Albee’s Zoo Story qualify as theater of the absurd?

The Zoo Story is an absurd play. It explores the life situation of the modern man, the pointless and absurdity of human situation. The overall breakdown of values, the other incapacity for creative action and the ennui of routine life are seen as the manifestations of the malaise of the modern man.

How long is The Zoo Story by Edward Albee?

approximately thirty minutes
The play runs approximately thirty minutes. The set is simple, requiring only a park bench; the cast is small, requiring only two men, one younger, one older. The younger man is Jerry, who encounters older man Peter in Central Park. Jerry has just been to the zoo; Peter is reading a book on a park bench.

What is the climax to The Zoo Story?

The climax is reached when Jerry announces that it is feeding time in the lion cage. Jerry wants Peter to move over but Peter refuses to do so because he does not want to give up his bench. A battle for the bench starts. Jerry provokes Peter into fighting for his bench or for everything he is proud of.

What does The Zoo Story say about capitalism?

One such social misfit is Jerry in The Zoo Story. By any measure, he does not conform to the values of capitalist society. Neither a consumer nor an entrepreneur, he doesn’t really belong. Instead, he chooses to do his own thing, living a life that most people wouldn’t dream of leading in a million years.

What is the conflict of The Zoo Story?

The Conflict of the play resolves when Jerry asked something that make Peters uncomfortable and very annoyed him. In the Complication Jerry be persistent want Peters move from the bench that Peters seat first. And the climax began when Peters didnt want to move from the bench and Jerry started to kill him.

How does Jerry free himself as well as Peter at the end of The Zoo Story?

In the end, Jerry resorts to physically attacking Peter so that Peter has to defend himself. Jerry sets it up so that he is able to impale himself on his own knife, while Peter holds it out in self-defense.

Why do Peter and Jerry start fighting in The Zoo Story?

Jerry wants Peter to move over but Peter refuses to do so because he does not want to give up his bench. A battle for the bench starts. Jerry provokes Peter into fighting for his bench or for everything he is proud of.

Why does Jerry pull a knife in The Zoo Story?

Jerry tells Peter that he wants the bench to himself and that he will only tell him “what happened at the zoo” if Peter gives up the bench or fights for it. After Peter agrees to fight Jerry for the bench, Jerry pulls out a knife and throws it at Peter’s feet, to make it a more even fight.

How is The Zoo Story relevant today?

Although the play was written long time ago and also the economy changed a lot, the story has still a meaning in today’s society. Albee’s treated themes like the failure of communication, the isolation of the human beings from each other and social distinction are themes which are still relevant and often discussed.

What is Peter’s annual salary in The Zoo Story?

a $200,000 annual
talk; like to get to know somebody, know all about him.” And so he does, as Peter somewhat reluctantly reveals his life, swaddled in an Upper East Side apartment with his wife and two daughters and two cats and two parakeets, an executive position in a printing house and a $200,000 annual income (up from $18,000 in the …

When was the Zoo Story by Edward Albee written?

The Zoo Story. The Zoo Story is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks.

Is the Zoo Story a professional theatre play?

Today, professional theatre companies can produce The Zoo Story either as a part of Edward Albee’s at Home at the Zoo (originally titled Peter and Jerry ), or as a standalone play. Its prequel, Homelife, written in 2004, however, can only be produced as a part of Edward Albee’s at Home at the Zoo .

Who is Jerry in the zoo by Edward Albee?

Peter, a publishing executive, is reading on his favorite bench in New York City’s Central Park. Suddenly he is approached by a stranger named Jerry, who makes his entrance with the announcement “I’ve been to the zoo!”

Is there a prequel to the Zoo Story?

Albee wrote a prequel to The Zoo Story, titled Homelife. Homelife is written as the first act, with The Zoo Story as the second act, in a new play called Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo (initially titled Peter & Jerry).