History YMMV / WhosAfraidOfVirginiaWoolf

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Though the dialogue is still quite hard hitting, the language is not nearly as shocking now as it was when the play premiered.

* HarsherInHindsight: The relationship between George and Martha is extremely dark as it is, but it's even more disturbing when their married cinematic actors' marriage was famously revealed to be enormously dysfunctional in its own fight.

* {{Tearjerker}}: Martha's freak out towards the end when her and George's "son" has been killed off, the pain emphasized further with Elizabeth Taylor's excellent acting in the 1966 film adaptation.

** Honey's lost baby. [[spoiler: Did she fake her pregnancy, did she suffer a miscarriage, or did she gave an abortion? Nick thinks it was a FakePregnancy and she just had a medical condition that made her seem pregnant for a time; while that is certainly a possibility, he never learns that she has secretly been taking birth control pills throughout their marriage because she fears getting pregnant at all, which leaves open the chance that Honey actually had an abortion (and a late-term abortion at that)]].

** Honey's lost baby. [[spoiler: Nick thinks it was a FakePregnancy and she just had a medical condition that made her seem pregnant for a time; while that is certainly a possibility, he never learns that she has secretly been taking birth control pills throughout their marriage because she fears getting pregnant at all, which leaves open the chance that Honey actually had an abortion (and a late-term abortion at that)]].

** The film lost most of the big awards to ''Film/AManForAllSeasons''. A fine film in its own right, but about as safe an Oscar choice (a British-set historical drama based on an acclaimed play) as one can imagine, especially next to ''Woolf'' which has emerged as the more timeless and acclaimed piece.

** Some consider the movie a minor example for losing most of the big awards to ''Film/AManForAllSeasons''. A fine film in its own right, but about as safe an Oscar choice (a British-set historical drama based on an acclaimed play) as one can imagine, especially next to ''Woolf''. Richard Burton was upset that he didn't win Best Actor for playing George, but said that if he ''had'' to lose he didn't mind losing to Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More.

* NightmareFuel: This first came out during ''the Cuban Missile Crisis''. People expecting to escape from the most terrifying two weeks in history instead found themselves confronted by (then) shocking language and one of the most depressing depictions of marriage ''ever''.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: George and Martha have an awful, bitter, abusive marriage scarred by infidelity and madness...but George cares about his wife enough to give her the one thing she always wanted--a child--in the only way he can. [[spoiler: It's even implied that they only couldn't have a child ''with each other'' ("''We'' couldn't.") and that if they had divorced and married other people, at least one of them could have had children.]]

* AwwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: George and Martha have an awful, bitter, abusive marriage scarred by infidelity and madness...but George cares about his wife enough to give her the one thing she always wanted--a child--in the only way he can. [[spoiler: It's even implied that they only couldn't have a child ''with each other'' ("''We'' couldn't.") and that if they had divorced and married other people, at least one of them could have had children.]]

** Some consider the movie a minor example for losing most of the big awards to ''Film/AManForAllSeasons''. A fine film in its own right, but about as safe an Oscar choice (British-set period piece based on an acclaimed play) as one can imagine, especially next to ''Woolf''.

** Honeys lost baby. [[spoiler: Nick thinks it was a FakePregnancy and she just had a medical condition that made her seem pregnant for a time; while that is certainly a possibility, he never learns that she has secretly been taking birth control pills throughout their marriage because she fears getting pregnant at all, which leaves open the chance that Honey actually had an abortion (and a late-term abortion at that)]].

** Honeys lost baby. [[spoiler: Nick thinks it was a FakePregnancy and she just had a medical condition that made her seem pregnant for a time; while that is certainly a possibility, he never learns that she has secretly been taking birth control pills throughout their marriage because she fears getting pregnant at all, which leaves open the possibility that Honey actually had an abortion (and possibly a late-term abortion at that)]].

* HoYay: It's possible to read subtext between George and Nick, as well as between Martha and Honey. Playwright Edward Albee himself was gay, though [[WordOfGod he himself said]] the play was primarily an examination of heterosexual relationships.

** A rare example of it being done after getting awarded: It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but was revoked by the MoralGuardians on the advisory board. The film, on the other hand, was showered with 13 Oscar nominations, winning 5 - one of only two films that got nominated for every Oscar category it was eligible for (the other being ''Film/Cimarron'').

** A rare example of it being done after getting awarded: It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but was revoked by the MoralGuardians on the advisory board. The film, on the other hand, was showered with 13 Oscar nominations, winning 5 - one of only two films that got nominated for every Oscar category.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

** A rare example of it being done after getting awarded: It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but was revoked by the MoralGuardians on the advisory board. The film, on the other hand, was showered with 13 Oscar nominations.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Various theories, a popular one is that Martha is the only true person in the play, she's imagining all the others
** There's evidence that George is gay, having married Martha to try to advance himself. There are subtle moments when it seems George is hitting on Nick.
*** Then again, just about everyone has a moment together at some point.
* AwardSnub: A rare example of it being done after getting awarded: It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but was revoked by the MoralGuardians on the advisory board. The film, on the other hand, was showered with 13 Oscar nominations.

* AwardSnub: A rare example of it being done after getting awarded: It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but was revoked by the MoralGuardians on the advisory board.

*** Then again, just about everyone has a [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean moment]] together at some point.