Dismantling Recognition: Reading Isolation in The Goat

Kristin Lucas

doi:10.1515/jcde-2016-0023

Article

Dismantling Recognition: Reading Isolation in The Goat

Kristin Lucas

Published/Copyright: November 4, 2016

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From the journal Journal of Contemporary Drama in English Volume 4 Issue 2

Abstract

Edward Albee’s play The Goat reimagines tragedy for the 21C by engaging with a key term of classical tragedy. Leaving behind the illuminating and socially responsive recognition exemplified by Sophocles’ Oedipus, The Goat renders contemporary alienation through the yearning for, and ultimate absence of, recognition. The dismantling of this prominent generic feature indexes protagonist Martin Gray’s rejection of human relationships, and underpins his reorientation toward his animal lover, Sylvia. Recognition thus marks a shift in tragedy’s purview, from relations between men to those between humankind and nature. Loving Sylvia, however, does not mean Martin eschews anthropocentrism. Although he moves a long way from the primacy of relations between humans, he remains unable to acknowledge a world beyond duality.

Keywords: tragedy; recognition; isolation; anthropocentricism; animal

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Published Online: 2016-11-4

Published in Print: 2016-11-1

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https://doi.org/10.1515/jcde-2016-0023

Keywords for this article

tragedy; recognition; isolation; anthropocentricism; animal