A Delicate Balance: A Play | Metaphors of Tobias and His Cat

In this essay, the author examines the character Tobias and the story of his cat and then uses the story as Albee’s metaphor for Tobias’s inability to love or make contact with his wife.

In the book Conversations with Edward Albee (edited by Phillip C. Kolin), Albee articulates one of the motivating forces behind the actions of the characters in his play A Delicate Balance. He states, ‘‘The [delicate balance] is between what we should be doing and what we ultimately decide we need to do to protect ourselves.’’ Throughout A Delicate Balance, Albee demonstrates various ways in which his characters create barriers between themselves and others in order to avoid facing one another and their fears. These fears run a whole gamut of emotions and are...

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