THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
pixitrek
Swing Joined: 11/20/04
#0THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
Posted: 11/20/04 at 4:41pm
Hey...
I'm doing a research paper on Edward Albee's "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?" and if anybody read it or saw it (with any cast in any location), I have but one question:
What was the play about; the core meaning of the piece? (not a summary... more along the lines of theme.)
The question isn't because I don't know, but because the answer is one of the main things I'm to tackle in the course of the paper and the more opinions I get, the more material I have to use
Updated On: 11/20/04 at 04:41 PM
#1re: THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
Posted: 11/20/04 at 5:03pm
I saw the show on Broadway.
It's about the way that people look at different types of relationships if one wanted to get philosophical about it.
It's really about a married man, with a son, who falls in love, and sleeps with, a Goat. We get to see the reaction of his friends and family when they find out and his justification of the act to them.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#2re: THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
Posted: 11/20/04 at 5:49pm
I saw it on Broadway twice.
It's about the limits of love and tolerance. Similar in subject to his earlier masterpiece "A Delicate Balance," Albee posits a situation of man falling in love with a goat (which is an absurdist construct -- the play isn't really about bestiality) to explore this notion of just what is unforgivable and what is beyond the limits of acceptance. Just how far does the notion of tolerance go? How much does society dictate who is and isn't acceptable for us to all in love with? Is love more or less important than being accepted by ones family and ones peers? If you loved someone (or something) with all of your heart and soul, but that love causes you to be condemned and ostracized by everyone in the world that you care about, what would you do? Abandon that object of affection or stay with it? If someone you cared about fell in love with someone (something) you didn't approve of and in fact were repulsed by, could you still love that person?
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#3re: THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
Posted: 11/20/04 at 5:53pmMy take is that Albee knew that the subject of adultery was so commonplace that nobody really was shocked by it anymore. So for him to discuss the value of relationships, he had to create a situation that would be shocking to the average theatergoer.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#4re: THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
Posted: 11/21/04 at 11:23amthanks guys... anybody else? finishing up my notes today.
pixitrek
Swing Joined: 11/20/04
#5re: THE GOAT - For research purposes :)
Posted: 11/21/04 at 11:25amfunny, I don't remember ever registering on this site with that name... oh well.
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