Relationship to Medea (Alexa)
How is this play based on Medea?
The plot of By the Bog of Cats resets Euripides Medea in the midlands of contemporary Ireland. One can clearly see many of the same elements of Medea in the plot, and draw common parallels. By the Bog of Cats portrays the story of a woman that, after giving up everything to make the man she loves the best that he could be, seeks revenge when he leaves her to pursue a younger woman. Many Greek tragedies center on female characters, and that is a commonality found in both of these plays. Both Medea and By the Bog of Cats is a tragedy centered around revenge. To illustrate, Medea seeks her revenge by poisoning her husband Jason's newly married wife and her father, Creon. In the plays climatic moment, Medea goes as far to execute her own children from her marriage with Jason. Similarly, Carr's Medea, Hester Swane, was abandoned by her parents-notably by her formidable mother Josie. She has conspired with her lover Carthage Kilbride to murder her brother, that is until he left her for the other woman. Hester becomes so haunted by her mother's abandonment it causes her to execute her daughter, who is also named Josie. She cuts Josie's throat in one quick brutal moment. Both of these plays are impactful because they are centered around the most familiar of social structures, the family itself, which surface a relational network of intolerable and inescapable violence. Carr's version is just a Modern Medea that is seen through the plot and characters - just in a new way.
How does this play blend Irish folklore and Greek myth?
The Greek myth of Medea is an expression of traditional Irish folklore and ghost stories. Marina Carr uses Irish Folktales to bring the audience to a place that engages them with the people of Ireland’s search for cultural identity. Greek myth permeates the culture and the dramatic traditions of Ireland. It is a way to form an identity for the Irish people by shaping cultural understandings of gender roles. For example, in By the Bog of Cats she uses the flawed swan as a goddess, eventually destroying itself and their families rather than having to live with the loss of love.
Worthen, William B. “By the Bog of Cats” Theatre Journal, vol. 35, no. 1,
The plot of By the Bog of Cats resets Euripides Medea in the midlands of contemporary Ireland. One can clearly see many of the same elements of Medea in the plot, and draw common parallels. By the Bog of Cats portrays the story of a woman that, after giving up everything to make the man she loves the best that he could be, seeks revenge when he leaves her to pursue a younger woman. Many Greek tragedies center on female characters, and that is a commonality found in both of these plays. Both Medea and By the Bog of Cats is a tragedy centered around revenge. To illustrate, Medea seeks her revenge by poisoning her husband Jason's newly married wife and her father, Creon. In the plays climatic moment, Medea goes as far to execute her own children from her marriage with Jason. Similarly, Carr's Medea, Hester Swane, was abandoned by her parents-notably by her formidable mother Josie. She has conspired with her lover Carthage Kilbride to murder her brother, that is until he left her for the other woman. Hester becomes so haunted by her mother's abandonment it causes her to execute her daughter, who is also named Josie. She cuts Josie's throat in one quick brutal moment. Both of these plays are impactful because they are centered around the most familiar of social structures, the family itself, which surface a relational network of intolerable and inescapable violence. Carr's version is just a Modern Medea that is seen through the plot and characters - just in a new way.
How does this play blend Irish folklore and Greek myth?
The Greek myth of Medea is an expression of traditional Irish folklore and ghost stories. Marina Carr uses Irish Folktales to bring the audience to a place that engages them with the people of Ireland’s search for cultural identity. Greek myth permeates the culture and the dramatic traditions of Ireland. It is a way to form an identity for the Irish people by shaping cultural understandings of gender roles. For example, in By the Bog of Cats she uses the flawed swan as a goddess, eventually destroying itself and their families rather than having to live with the loss of love.
Works Cited
“By the Bog of Cats.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Apr. 2018.
“Medea in the Moors: UT Presents By the Bog of Cats.” The Chicago Maroon, www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2016/3/4/medea-in-the-moors-ut-presents-by-the-bog-of-cats/.
Meany, Helen. “By the Bog of Cats Review – Spirit of Medea Haunts the Irish Wilds.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Aug. 2015, www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/23/by-the-bog-of-cats-review-spirit-of-medea-haunts-the-irish-wilds.
Worthen, William B. “By the Bog of Cats” Theatre Journal, vol. 35, no. 1,
Comments
Post a Comment