Games People Play in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

.GAMES PEOPLE PLAY IN WHO'S· AFRAID OF J71RGINIA WOOLF? Games People Play. BY ERIC BERNE" M.D.,1 was published in July, 1964, and is now in its thirtieth printing. Appealing toman's interest in himself, Bemeelaborates on. a system of. individual and·. social psychiatry based on game analysis and group therapy introduced in a previous volume, Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. The current work shows how people can lead more· constructive lives by analyzing their behavior in terms of games. Whds Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Tony Award as the best play of the 1962-63 season. The screen version won top honors at the 1967 Academy Awards presentations and was paid similar tribute in England. Like all successful drama, it sheds light on human nature, revealing the dark inner recesses of the self. Berne's psychology of human relationships makes an interesting backdrop for Albee's characters, so possessed with problems of a psychological nature. After reading the two works, one can hardly resist playing the game Berne calls "Psychiatry"2 as he considers the "games" people play in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?S According to Berne, when one is a member of a group of two or more people, he structures his time in one of five ways, which he gives in order of complexity: (I) Rituals, (2) Pastimes, (3) Games, (4) Intimacy, and (5) Activity. The forms of social intercourse apropos to this study are Pastimes and Games. Pastimes are "semiritualistic , simple, complementary transactions arranged around a singlefield of material, whose primary object is to structure an interval of time."4 They may take the form of "chit-chat" or may become more serious. They differ from games in that they are candid; they may involve contest but not conflict. Games are defined as "transactions, often repetitious, superficially plausible, with a concealed motivation ."5 They are basically dishonest but their outcomes are dramatic. I Formerly Consultant in Psychiatry to the Surgeon General, U. S. Army, Dr. Berne is now lecturer at the University of California Medical School and Chairman of the San Francisco Social Psychiatry Seminars. 2 Players assume the role of psychiatrist, based on the position "I am a healer." Eric Berne, Games PeoPle Play (New York, 1966), p. 154. 3 The subject of this paper was suggested to the writer by Dr. Clifton Warren , Professor of Humanities, Central State College, Edmund, Oklahoma. 4 Berne, p. 41. 5 Berne, p. 48. 280 1967 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY 281 The word Game} in this sense, does not necessarily imply fun or enjoyment , although the moves are designed to yield the maximum permissible satisfaction at each step. The essential feature of the game is its payoff. Thus, in "Schlemiel" one makes messes and then apologizes, but the payoff or purpose of the game is to obtain the forgiveness which is forced by the apology. Berne designates Games as being of first, second, or third degree in intensity. A First-Degree Game is socially acceptable; a Second-Degree Game does not cause irremediable damage, but the players prefer to conceal it from the public; a Third-Degree Game is played "for keeps" and usually ends in the hospital, courtroom, or morgue.6 In playing games, individuals assume certain positions or roles, which Berne calls Parent, Adult, and Child roles. Each has a legitimate place in a full life, but when one or the other disturbs the healthy balance, analysis and reorganization are needed. Colloquial epithets are used for game titles because they are precise and carry dynamic meaning. Thus, "verbalizing projected anal aggression" is named simply "Ain't It Awful."7 Act I of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is entitled "Fun and Games." Actually, there are few party games in this act; there are, however, many variations of the games described by Berne in his analysis of human relationships. The game entered into most frequently is "Blemish." This is played from the depressive Child position "I am no good" and is protectively transformed into the Parent position "They are no good" in order to gain negative reassurance for the player.s Martha initiates...