Goat or who is sylvia summary

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Show Information. Edward Albee. Number of Acts. Best Play First Produced. Drama, Dark Comedy. A suburban living room, America, Present Day. Cast Size. Dramatists Play Service. Ideal for. After many years of marriage, Martin and Stevie are still gaga about each other, both sexually and intellectually.

Touching often and falling easily into fast Mike Nichols-Elaine May-like improvs, they find nothing to mar their bliss. The sense of well being extends to their shared support of adolescent son Billy Jeffrey Carlson , who's announced that he's homosexual. Although there's a hint of friction between mom and dad and the lad, the trio generally looks to be having a painless, boulevard-comedy life.

This, of course, is Albee's point: Martin and Stevie, who frequently congratulate each other on their quick wits, are a civilized couple. Indeed, they're something of an epitome.

As such, the complications that ensue in the few hours after Stevie learns of Martin's extra-curricular activity are presented as threatening the core of their being and, by extension, the foundations of civilization as we know it.

The meddling Ross has sent Stevie a "you deserve to know" letter and she can't accept his having breached the taboo. Albee is implying that if, as an intelligent and giving person, Stevie can't see a way to share her man with a well-meaning and innocent goat, then whither any of us?

With The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? To begin with, in taking on bestiality as a subject, Albee defines it as it may never have previously been defined. According to Martin, he is not only having sex with four-legged Sylvia, he has fallen in love with her. Furthermore, he's convinced that the goat reciprocates his love: Evidently, he can tell by the melting look in her eyes and the way she nuzzles his neck.

As he comes clean, no one in the play suggests what rational people everywhere might have suggested: that he might want to consult a therapist. Nor does Martin, who encountered his new heartthrob on a house-hunting jaunt in the countryside, ever mention who owns Sylvia and whether that lucky farmer might already have given her a name.

Before the arrival of Ross, Stevie and Martin playfully banter back and forth like any married couple, but with the distinctive weirdness of the wife—having sniffed an odd odor on her husband—joking about his having an affair with a goat.

Off the record. Finally, Martin confesses to what is distracting him: he has been indulging in an affair. After some more prodding by Ross, the full truth comes out when Martin shows his friend a photograph of his forbidden love. Turns out it is really forbidden: Sylvia , the object of his affections, is a goat.

It is the same living room, but a day later. Martin and Stevie are now joined by their teenage son, Billy.

Billy is a homosexual. Both parents demand that Billy leave the room and he does so in a state of profound emotional pain. Martin proceeds to plead his case by demanding that Stevie understand he loves both her and Sylvia to equal degrees. Stevie counters by insisting that Martin cannot that he has completely destroyed their lives. She storms out of the house in almost uncontrollable anger.

Three hours later, Billy returns to a demolition site. Nothing of any value remains intact inside the living room of his home. He questions his father as to the location of his mother.