Communication and Timidity in The Zoo Story

Abstract

Edward Albee made his debut with The Zoo Story in 1951. There are only two characters in this play: Jerry and Peter. Jerry has a strong eagerness to “really talk; like to get to know somebody, know all about him”（Albee 19）, but he cannot communicate with the others. Jerry attempts to make Peter recognize the problem of superficial or manualized communication, which prevents people from ‘talking’ and makes them lonely, but Peter pretends not to notice it. This shows their different attitudes toward life which is restricted not only physically but also mentally by the biopower in modern society. This paper examines the biopolitical reading of The Zoo Story. The different recognition of life, especially bios and zoé, of Jerry and Peter reveals the loneliness caused by timidity in communicating which is common between Jerry and Peter even though they appear to be in contrast.departmental bulletin pape