MovieChat Forums > Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Discussion > Nick and Honey

Nick and Honey

posted 12 years ago by gbennett5
3 replies | jump to latest

Watched an old interview (1978) on Youtube with Edward Albee, who was
asked what he thought became of George and Martha. He said "if" they
survived after the end of the play (or movie), they would never fall
back into a world of illusions. He said while he didn't think they
would be outrageously happy, they would probably still be together. As
a fan of the piece, I feel the exact same way - that they would've
spent their remaining years together. Theirs was a twisted love.

That said, I've always felt the opposite about Nick and Honey. To
me, I can't even imagine their union lasting longer than two or three
years, if that.

SPOILER ALERT:

Because Nick HAD to marry Honey and because she was clearly alcoholic
and emotionally crippled, I think the marriage was doomed. There was
no real foundation to their union other than the above and her
coming from money. Also, Nick would've clearly strayed and probably
left Honey for one of his prettier students. Of course, these are
just characters and this is only my opinion, but I just don't
seem them surviving.

Thoughts?

[–] LuvvieHowell 11 years ago

Hi! Assuming that Nick and Honey actually existed, and weren't figments of George and Martha's imaginary world, I agree with you.

He married her because he thought she was pregnant. That was what decent folk did 50 years ago.

She may or may not be an alcoholic...if she isn't, she's certainly on her way.

The hysterical pregnancy makes no sense at all. It's a rare and bizarre form of mental illness. The women wants a baby so badly that her mind creates a biological delusion. She stops menstruating, has morning sickness and even retains water over her abdomen. it is normally discovered to be a false pregnancy very early on...urine tests are negative, no fetal heartbeat, no fetal MOVEMENT.

I wish I knew why the author decided to make Honey have a hysterical pregnancy. It would have made more sense, at least to me, that Nick married her because she really WAS pregnant, but she has a miscarriage after they get hitched (this actually happened to Sandy Dennis during the filming.)

Regarding George and Martha's marriage: They have lasted a long time, but I wonder what their marriage would be like now that they don't have the imaginary son. Martha thinks George is a failure in life, a total loser. She has zero respect for him, and isn't above p9inting out his shortcomings to other people. He tries to choke her to death!

George, to me, seems the type to commit suicide.

[–] rmnixon648900 10 years ago

I don't recall if it's in the play, but in the film it's very strongly implied that Honey's hysterical pregnancy was just another lie - afraid that having a baby would destroy her body, she performed an abortion without telling Nick. Meaning that she really was pregnant when she and Nick were married.

Honey: (Very drunk) I don't want any children. I don't want any children, please! I'm afraid. I don't want to be hurt.

George: I should have known. Does that stud you married know about that? How do you make your secret little murders? Pills? You got a secret supply of pills?
Apple jelly? Willpower?

Honey: (Horrified, trying to get away from George) Where is he? I want my husband!

[–] hka-3 10 years ago

He said "if" they survived after the end of the play (or movie), they would never fall back into a world of illusions. He said while he didn't think they would be outrageously happy, they would probably still be together.

Thanks for the info. This is what I hoped for with them, since there already seemed to be a sense of peace and closeness between them at the end. Of course that could've been temporary, but at the same time, getting closure on their story about their son could certainly shake things up enough to help them move forward with their lives.