• Anu Smitha Sebastian

ABSTRACT The Shrewish tendency in womanhood as a universal trait has found expression in many a literary work. The deep insight into character, versatility and psychological grasp of feminine leanings are a hallmark of Shakespearean talent which account for his relevance to all ages and for the capacity of his plays to lend themselves to multi-dimensional interpretations. Intertextuality conveys the presence of motifs, themes, character, structures, word processes, ideas and elements of one work in another belonging to a different age, genre or school. It is possible to identify various stages in the games played by Martha in Absurdist playwright Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf leading to the taming of the shrew in her, by George’s exposure of her most well kept secret, in similarly , the taming of Katherine the Shrew in Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew. This paper explores the Intertextual features of two plays, divided by time, geography and school of thought to relegate to the background absurdist dimensions of Albee’s plays and foreground realistic commonalities of two leading playwrights with a similar output of 37 plays each.

KEY WORDS: - Universal trait- shrewish-versatility – Intertextuality- multidimensional interpretations- Martha- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf- Katherine- The Taming of the Shrew – foreground realistic commonalities – breaking of pride and dominance in both women – relegate absurdist to background.

"“The Taming of the Shrew” in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.669-671, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906H73.pdf

"“The Taming of the Shrew” in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp669-671, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906H73.pdf