Dr. Ahmed Nabil Bensedik,
English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hassiba Ben Bouali University of Chlef, Algeria
Since its first publication in 1958, The Zoo Story has significantly marked Edward Albee’s career, solidifying his place in the literary canon. After years of unsuccessful endeavors in writing, he found his niche: theater. This paper argues that Albee’s success was achieved not only through his literary genius but also through an existing internal conflict, represented in the play by his child self, embodied in Peter, who “kills” his young adult self, represented by Jerry. Using biographical criticism to analyse the two male protagonists, this study attempts to investigate the extent to which death acts as a catalyst in both Albee’s life and narrative. The characters reflect distinct aspects of Albee’s biography: Peter’s adoption into a wealthy white Anglo-Saxon Protestant family symbolises his childhood, while Jerry’s struggles in adulthood highlight themes of isolation and identity conflict. Jerry’s death, resulting from his conflict with Peter, signifies a big transition, illustrating death as a driving force in Albee’s first play. Thus, this analysis shows that for Albee to reach his full potential, his child self had to “kill” his young adult self, just as Peter had to “kill” Jerry—albeit unintentionally—to confront the illusion of the American Dream and awaken to the harsh realities of the American nightmare.
Keywords: Edward Albee, The Zoo Story, Peter, Jerry, Death as a Driving Force
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The 11th International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature (WWW.TLLL.IR), 1-2 February 2026, Ahwaz.
