상징과 공간: 에드워드 올비의 『작은 앨리스』

Abstract

When Edward Albee's Tiny Alice premiered in New York in December 1964, its reception was something less than ecstatic. The general impression was that Albee was attempting to visually dramatize some metaphysical concepts that are usually better discussed in a conference, in which he did not seem successful in delivering a clear message to the audience due to the complex entanglement in the form and content of the action. The play is an examination of the role of truth and illusion, and the way in which truth and illusion influence the individual's religious convictions. It concerns Julian, a lay brother, who, upon his cardinal's orders, tries to finalize a multimillion dollar donation to the church from a wealthy lady named Miss Alice. The main purpose of the donation is to destroy Julian's faith in God, who has resisted all his life the idea of God in man's image. On entering Miss Alice's castle Julian finds himself in the library face to face with a miniature model of the whole castle, so meticulously copied that inside the room corresponding to the library is a tiny model of the model, indicating that the castle has the structure of the Chinese box. The model castle is a symbol of the archetype created in accordance with Plato's allegory of the cave in which only shadows on the wall are visible that approximate the true shapes of things in the bright world of ideals. Julian's life of delusion comes to a deadly catastrophe when he is lured into a marriage to Alice(not to Miss Alice), entity, or a god that is supposed to reside in the model castle. When after the wedding Julian refuses to follow their directions, he is shot and left alone to contemplate the nature of true belief.