Read the Study Guide for The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?…, View Wikipedia Entries for The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?…. [26] Zinman 140. 16. As much as I do.”[10] Billy calls out again in confusion, ending the play. will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback. [19] Zinman 144. According to Aristotle, he must then “‘fall from a great height,’” which Martin does; he is reduced from an award-winning architect to a mere sexual deviant. [21] Solomon 259. 17. Bestiality is considered taboo in contemporary society. The original Greek meaning of the word tragedy is "goat-song". The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? An editor Tony Award for Best Play, 2002. Before the interview starts, Ross hears "a kind of...rushing sound...wings, or something,"[4] to which Martin replies, "It's probably the Eumenides. With the mention of one of the group participant’s sexual relationship with a pig, Stevie stands, picks up a plate, and smashes it on the floor before calmly continuing her conversation with Martin. As the god of ritual madness, he inspires ecstasy that frees his followers from fears and subverts hegemony. Most people would certainly place bestiality and incest outside the mainstream. ” Ever since his career-making theatrical debut with the explosive one-act The Zoo Story She has killed Sylvia because she could not stand the idea that Sylvia loved Martin as much as she (Stevie) did. The Cambridge Companion to Edward Albee. So fucking what?! It is Martin's 50th birthday. New York: Overlook, 2000. The card belongs to a member of a support group for bestiality. [10] Albee, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? Martin resumes his story with Stevie punctuating each detail with the smashing of various items adorning their home. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Albee places parentheses around the play's subtitle: "Notes toward a definition of tragedy". Ross begins interviewing Martin, congratulating him for being the youngest man ever to win the Pritzker Prize and recently being chosen to design a multi-billion-dollar city. [4] Albee, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008. Ross freezes, Billy cries, and Martin breaks down. Marriage has been deemed so sacrosanct throughout history that—even in the 21st century—the rights it guarantees are arbitrarily denied to some based on the kind of moral outrage and judgmental perspective occupied by the position of Ross in the play. It is not by accident that Martin’s son is gay. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? [16] Albee, Charlie Rose Interview. Gainor, J. Ellen. On the other hand, what Martin is doing is far outside the pale of acceptability to the point of actually being criminal, perhaps. So when Stevie starts breaking these things, we know she is willing to destroy some precious things.”[14] It is Stevie’s realization of and reaction to her husband’s inconceivable affair that contributes to the play’s tragic mood despite its moments of humor. Inevitably, even if after death, Martin’s respectable position in his field is going to crumble because now too many people know. Unlike the other members in the support group, Martin does not understand why bestiality is wrong when he practices it devoid of previous trauma. Martin cries out, Billy calls for help, and Ross stares as Stevie offers her reason for slaying the goat: “She loved you….you say. Stevie reads aloud from the letter out of disbelief as much as a need to absorb the facts of the situation in which she now finds herself. Martin seems distracted and cannot remember anything. Robinson, Michelle. The same could be said of most of humanity through the civilization when it comes to homosexuality. Billy claims that Martin and Stevie are good people and are better than most of his classmates' parents. Bringing the interview to a halt, Ross inquires as to what is bothering Martin. Ross has written Stevie a letter regarding Martin's affair and Sylvia's identity. The play also features many language games and grammatical arguments in the middle of catastrophes and existential disputes between the characters. Even the set he and John Arnone collaborated on had columns to provide a “classical quality to it, a Greek-tragedy quality.”[21] Zinman states, “In ancient Greek tragedy, the hero, at the height of his happiness, often complacent in his smooth fortunate life, undergoes a sudden reversal of fortunes.”[22] Indeed, once Martin confesses his affair to Ross, his fate is no longer his own. Albee, Edward. Stevie confronts Martin about this, with their son Billy also in the room. 30. “Albee’s The Goat: Rethinking tragedy for the 21st century.” Ed. [18] Zinman 141. In an interview, David Esbjornson, director of the play’s New York run, commented, “there is a kind of normalcy that we are trying to achieve, and a feeling that these people are surrounded by good taste and good art. When Ross enters, his and Martin’s longtime friendship is evident when they reminisce and then discuss their children, specifically Martin’s teenage son, Billy, who recently revealed he is gay. [12] Albee, Stretching My Mind 259. The real issue underlying all these various potential paths of decency which Ross himself crossed all boil down to the same essential however. “Who Is Not Sylvia?” The Anachronist. 89. The name of the play refers to the song "Who Is Sylvia?" The cast included Stewart Arnott as Martin, Dixie Seatle as Stevie, Peter Mooney as Billy, and Dennis Fitzgerald as Ross. To which Stevie replies, “How can you love me when you love so much less?”[6] Stevie then demands the full story from Martin. Billy is shocked and flees (throughout this scene, he enters and exits sporadically). Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2006. [22] Zinman 148. It was…it wasn’t like anything I’d felt before; it was…so…amazing, so…extraordinary! 52. Visit the Edward Albee Society on Facebook. Edward Albee. He’s hurt and he’s lonely and mind your own fucking business!”[9] Ross, unmoved by Martin’s speech, claims to have received a call from Stevie saying Martin needed him. "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Goat by Edward Albee. Is it merely the outing of Martin’s sexual proclivity? Albee questions, among other concepts, social morality in relation to taboos, the perception of female identity by contrasting Stevie to Sylvia, and the arbitrary nature of social standards and conventions by juxtaposing Martin's distaste for homosexuality with his bestiality. Stevie returns, dragging a dead goat. from Shakespeare's play The Two Gentlemen of Verona. There is one more thing that is not sheer accident worth mentioning: the playwright was quite openly homosexual. It is also referred to in Finding the Sun (1982), an earlier work of Albee. Through showing this family in crisis, Albee challenges audience members to question their own moral judgment of social taboos. Essays for The Goat. [13], A new production directed by Ian Rickson and starring Damian Lewis, Sophie Okonedo, Jason Hughes and Archie Madekwe opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London's West End, in 2017. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005. Stevie recounts the normalcy of her life before she opened Ross's letter. Martin confides to Ross that while searching for a place in the country for Stevie and himself, he saw her: “I didn’t know what it was—what I was feeling. In Stretching My Mind, Edward Albee comments on The Goat: “You may, of course, have received the misleading information that the play is about bestiality—more con than pro. Heterosexual couples raise homosexual children and no one questions their right to stay married, but many question the right of homosexual couples to raise a heterosexual child. On the other hand, it seems reasonable to suspect that his mind would not be so open as to support interspecies marriage or incestuous marriages. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating [6] On September 13, 2002, Bill Irwin took on the role of Martin, and Sally Field took the role of Stevie. [14] Solomon 260. Stevie laughs it off, thinking it is a joke. It won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, and was a finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. More to the point, what harm would Ross staying out of it entirely have done? Proteus sings this song, hoping to woo Silvia. Themes". Albee thinks a play can be called political only if “…it makes people think differently enough about things so that their life alters including their politics.”[25] In order to make a difference in a contemporary society so accustomed to debunking generally accepted restrictions, Albee had to “…go even further afield than Nabokov[’s Lolita] to find a taboo still standing.”[26] In Zinman’s opinion, Albee’s view is that sexuality is “…more complex, far wider, deeper, and less governable than we generally think.”[27] Albee’s use of bestiality is meant to parallel society’s view of homosexuality which “appear[s] normal by comparison.”[28] Gainor furthers her argument by stating that it is through bestiality that Martin “literalizes his extremity of alienation and longing.”[29] By experiencing prejudice for his own sexual proclivities, Martin must “accept his son’s desires with equanimity, applying his newly gained insights on dominant and marginal practices.”[30] In this way, Martin and Billy can seek to rebuild their relationship.
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