A Delicate Balance by Edward Albee
"A Delicate Balance" is a drama by Edward Albee that delves into the complexities of familial relationships and existential anxieties within a seemingly affluent suburban setting. The play centers around Agnes and Tobias, an elderly couple who grapple with personal fears and family turmoil, particularly concerning their daughter Julia's tumultuous marital history. As they enjoy an evening at home, unexpected guests, Harry and Edna, arrive, disturbed by an irrational fear that compels them to seek refuge in Agnes and Tobias's home.
The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of these interpersonal dynamics, revealing themes of communication, alcoholism, and the fragility of mental stability. Tensions escalate as characters confront their emotional baggage—Agnes's concern for her mental health, Claire's struggle with alcohol, and Julia's volatile relationships. The play presents a poignant exploration of the delicate balance between maintaining harmony and confronting uncomfortable truths, ultimately reflecting on the nature of companionship and the existential fears that can disrupt it. Through its intricate character interactions and underlying absurdity, Albee's work invites audiences to contemplate the intricacies of human connection in the face of life's uncertainties.
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A Delicate Balance by Edward Albee
First produced: 1966; first published, 1966
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Absurdist
Time of plot: October, in the mid-1960’s
Locale: The living room of a large and well-appointed suburban house
Principal characters
Agnes , a handsome woman in her late fiftiesTobias , her husband, a few years olderClaire , Agnes’s sister, several years youngerJulia , Agnes and Tobias’s daughter, thirty-six years oldEdna andHarry , friends of Agnes and Tobias, very much like them
The Story:
Agnes and Tobias, an affluent elderly couple married for about forty years, sip after-dinner drinks in their living room one autumnal Friday evening. They chat pleasantly about Agnes’s persistent belief that she might one day easily go mad. Agnes’s younger sister Claire comes down from her room to apologize for an embarrassing incident she caused during dinner and is severely rebuked by Agnes for her drunkenness. Agnes then goes to telephone her daughter Julia, who lives some distance away. Left alone with Claire, Tobias inquires about her previous experiences with Alcoholics Anonymous. She explains that she felt alienated at those meetings and, after relating a bitter anecdote about herself, insisted that she was not an alcoholic because she drank willfully. Agnes returns, informing them that Julia is leaving her husband and will come home immediately. She reproaches Tobias for failing to admonish his daughter appropriately following her three previous divorces, and he responds by telling a story about a cat he once owned that stopped liking him for no apparent reason; when his efforts to regain his pet’s affection failed, he had it euthanized.
While Agnes and Claire comfort him, unexpected guests arrive. Harry and Edna, close friends for forty years, felt uneasy and distressed at home alone. Pressed to explain, they relate that after dinner they suddenly became strangely frightened, for no particular reason. They could no longer endure remaining alone in their house. Agnes offers them Julia’s room for the night, and they retire. Claire suggests that she knows exactly what happened.
Saturday evening before dinner, Agnes tries to calm Julia, who is angry about the intruders who remained locked in her former bedroom all day. Agnes casually describes a psychoanalytical study she is reading about the reversal of sex roles in American society. Feigning the attitude of a father when Tobias enters, Agnes leaves Julia to be counseled by Tobias. Father and daughter merely quibble and argue about her three previous marriages until Claire interrupts them to tell about her unsuccessful attempt to buy a topless bathing suit at a local department store. An antagonistic conversation ensues among the three. It continues until Agnes joins them for cocktails and reports that Harry and Edna earlier requested sandwiches to be brought to their room. Julia explains that she left her husband because of his insupportable negative attitudes. Harry and Edna come down, announcing that they are going home to get their things and will return after dinner.
Julia upbraids her mother for prohibiting any discussion of serious matters during dinner. Agnes claims merely to have been keeping the family “in shape” on uneven ground by maintaining a reasonable balance among all the elements. Claire comes in with an accordion but is persuaded not to play it. After the sisters exchange sarcastic remarks concerning their sexual histories, they all discuss whether to permit the unwelcome guests to remain any longer. While Agnes and Tobias greet their returning friends, Claire and Julia discuss this awkward situation. When Edna enters the room, Julia expresses her hostility quite openly, but Edna insists that she has some rights. Julia then blocks access to the sideboard, preventing Harry from mixing drinks. Growing hysterical at the persistence of their demands, she runs screaming from the room. Tobias returns and is giving an account of Julia’s continuing fit of hysteria upstairs when Julia enters with a pistol and orders her father to expel the unwanted guests immediately. Tobias disarms her, and, while Edna is explaining that long-term friendship gives them the right to live there, Agnes leads her daughter up to bed. Harry and Edna retire, along with Claire, leaving Tobias alone in the living room.
Early Sunday morning, as Tobias sits awake, Agnes comes down. They discuss the changes their marriage has undergone over the years. Tobias explains that he thought through their present dilemma during the night but, when pressed by his wife for his decision, he begs her advice. She refuses, insisting that he, firmly supported by his family, should assert his authority. She reminds him of past occasions when he failed to do so. Claire and Julia serve coffee and orange juice, and Claire openly spikes her juice with vodka. They discuss their situation, Agnes pointing out that their guests brought a disease, a plague of sorts, with them. She leaves it to Tobias to decide whether to permit the guests to remain.
Harry and Edna come down. Left alone by the women, Tobias and Harry have drinks. Harry explains that, were their positions reversed, he would not let unwanted guests stay in his house. Tobias, becoming emotional and eventually hysterical, insists that Harry and Edna remain, though he confesses that he does not honestly want them to.
The women return. Overhearing Tobias imploring Harry to stay, Edna requests that their bags be brought down so that they might leave. Julia joins Claire in a drink as the couples say good-bye. After Harry and Edna’s departure, the three women praise Tobias for handling the situation effectively. Agnes pleasantly notes the possible danger of having three early-morning drinkers in the house.
Bibliography
Amacher, Richard E. Edward Albee. Rev. ed. Boston: Twayne, 1982. A fine overview of Albee’s plays and career. Considers the influence of the Theater of the Absurd on Albee’s work.
Bigsby, C. W. E. Albee. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1969. Identifies Albee’s liberal humanistic and existential concerns. An excellent analysis of Albee’s thought, with a perceptive discussion of A Delicate Balance.
Clum, John M. “’Withered Age and Stale Custom’: Marriage, Diminution, and Sex in Tiny Alice, A Delicate Balance, and Finding the Sun.” In The Cambridge Companion to Edward Albee, edited by Stephen Bottoms. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Clum’s analysis of the three plays is included in this collection of essays designed to enhance readers’ and viewers’ understanding of Albee’s work.
Gross, Robert F. “Like Father, Like Son: The Ciphermale in A Delicate Balance and Malcolm.” In Edward Albee: A Casebook, edited by Bruce J. Mann. New York: Routledge, 2003. This study of male characters in the two plays is included in a collection of essays analyzing Albee’s innovations in theatrical form and content.
Kolin, Philip C., and J. Madison Davis, eds. Critical Essays on Edward Albee. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1986. Includes two essays focusing on A Delicate Balance: “Only Time Really Happens to People [A Delicate Balance]” by Walter Kerr and “Toby’s Last Stand: The Evanescence of Commitment in A Delicate Balance” by M. Gilbert Porter.
Paolucci, Anne. From Tension to Tonic: The Plays of Edward Albee. 1972. Reprint. Wilmington, Del.: Griffon House Press, 2000. One of the most insightful studies available. Focuses on Albee’s use of language, especially metaphor and irony. Contains a chapter on A Delicate Balance.
Perry, Virginia I. “Disturbing Our Sense of Well-Being: The ’Uninvited’ in A Delicate Balance.” In Edward Albee: An Interview and Essays, edited by Julian N. Wasserman. Houston: University of St. Thomas Press, 1983. A Delicate Balance is one of the plays analyzed in this collection of essays.
Roudané, Matthew. Understanding Edward Albee. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1987. An excellent starting point for the study of Albee’s work. Traces the development of his affirmative existential vision.
Rutenberg, Michael E. Edward Albee: Playwright in Protest. New York: DBS, 1969. Written with Albee’s cooperation. Concentrates on political and social dimensions of Albee’s work. Contains two interviews and an interesting analysis of A Delicate Balance from a sociological point of view.
Zinman, Toby. “A Delicate Balance.” In Edward Albee. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008. Zinman, an English professor and a drama critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, analyzes the themes in this and other plays by Albee.