This book is an attempt to study the patterns of illusion in the major plays of Harold Pinter and Edward Albee - two important living contemporary dramatists of England and America respectively . Pinter's plays from The Room to Celebration embody multiple patterns of illusion in realtion to reality . Similarly Albee's plays from The Zoo Story to A Lady from Dubuque exhibit a growing awareness of the dramatist's preoccupation with illusion . While Pinter's plays embody an attitude of ambivalence in terms of illusion and reality , Albee's plays seem to plead for breaking down illusion and confronting reality. Their common concerns, differing approaches and modes are the focus of the present study