The Anatomy of Marriage: The 10 Most Dysfunctional Married Couples in Literature
George and Martha
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albee
“George, my husband… George, who is out somewhere there in the dark, who is good to me – whom I revile, who can keep learning the games we play as quickly as I can change them. Who can make me happy and I do not wish to be happy. Yes, I do wish to be happy.”
So, while not technically literature, it’s sort of impossible to think of fictional dysfunctional marriages without including Albee’s iconic play. But also, George and Martha are important because they represent how twisted true love can be, and how most unhappy marriages were actually built on a foundation of love. But love gets perverted and tragedies happen and mistakes are made and then what are we left with? We’re left with George and Martha. At least they’re entertaining. At least that.
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