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