Analysis of Taboo, Catharsis in Albee's The Goat - NYFA Dramatic Lit

This essay delves into Edward Albee's play, 'The Goat or Who is Sylvia?', exploring the adaptation of passionate family ties and the behavior of Martin's ideal companion, Ross, suggesting a somber outlook on a society reverting to primal instincts when weakened. The play revisits marital issues previously examined in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?', but intensifies the exploration of taboo subjects, such as Martin's inexplicable infatuation with a goat named Sylvia. This passion raises questions about the authenticity of Martin's life and his ethical indifference, ultimately leading to the destruction of his marriage. The essay also addresses themes like the American Dream, societal pietism, homophobia, and thwarted expectations, highlighting the fluidity of identity and challenging social norms. The play serves not to be understood, but to provoke audiences into confronting human behavior and family relationships, while also offering a sense of dark humor.

Running head: DRAMATIC LITERATURE
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Albee's adaptation of the passionate ties inside a family and the conduct of Ross, Martin's
"ideal" companion, recommend a somber standpoint for a general public that returns to primal
senses when debilitated that could any marriage withstand the test as appeared in the play. "The
Goat" comes back to the subject of the issues inside a marriage that were severely investigated in
Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf yet it makes the sexual orientation fighting between
the warring couples in the prior play appear like a negligible amusement. Martin, the
encapsulation of a decent man, fruitful in each feeling of the word, has wandered some way or
another into a place where the ethics he has lived by don't make a difference, and he doesn't
appear to comprehend why he should mind (Bottoms). Things happen that bespeaks an ethical
lack of concern, and, in his view, he just can't be considered responsible for his emotions or his
activities as to Sylvia, the goat. This enthusiasm ridiculous that Martin feels for Sylvia raises
doubt about numerous parts of the existence that he has been living, undermining its realness and
making the never-addressed inquiry of what moved him into this lustful pay in any case.
Acknowledgment of this oddity is past the domain of any spouse, the play recommends,
and, notwithstanding Martin's already great reputation as a husband and supplier, the marriage is
unalterably crushed. Somewhere else in this provocative play, Albee addresses recognizable
topics, for example, the legend of the American Dream and the pietism of the endeavoring
American foundation, and on issues, for example, homophobia and thwarted expectation with
individuals in control (Harehdasht, Hajjari and Shahidzadeh). The way that Martin's gay child
Billy can identify with his dad's lost energy proposes a specific shared characteristic in their like-
father, similar to child dismissal of a conventional hetero relationship. Also, the guile of Martin's
identity proposes that personality is a liquid, instead of settled, element, one that can move
mysteriously, without perceivable reason. The Goat is a baffle not intended to be comprehended,

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but rather to incite, test, and stun gatherings of people into defying social standards that oblige
human conduct and characterize family connections. In the meantime, liberal watchers may
likewise discover the ridiculousness of the circumstance very entertaining.

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REFERENCES
Bottoms, Stephen. "The Garden in the Machine: Edward Albee, Sam Shepard and the American
Absurd." Rethinking the Theatre of the Absurd: Ecology, the Environment, and the Greening of
the Modern Stage (2015): 77-104.
Harehdasht, Hossein Aliakbari, Leila Hajjari, and Zahra Sheikhi Shahidzadeh. "Illusion and
Reality in Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story." Studies in Literature and Language 10.6 (2015): 15-
21.