Victims and Victimizers in Edward Albee's : The Zoo Story

Edward Albee's first drama, The Zoo Story is a play about two middle-aged American men. Their relationship is rather complex and it ends in tragedy. This thesis examines who is the victim and who is the victimizer in their dyad. I argue that they both are victims and victimizers at the same time but their victim status is only partly similar. I support my arguments with sociological, psychological, cultural and historical facts. I interpret their victimhood with regard to the social circumstances of the 1950s and that of the end of the twentieth century when victimization became a serious social problem in the United States.