User:Daneyer/sandbox

Parallels with Medea

Marina Carr, the author of the play, has acknowledged that By the Bog of Cats was inspired by the myth of Medea. In Eurypides’s theatrical adaptation, as in the ancient Greek myth, Medea is a sorceress and wife to the hero Jason, with whom she bears two children. When her husband proves unfaithful and leaves her for the Greek princess of Corinth, Glauce, she decides to punish Jason by killing his lover and their two children.

The main parallel between Medea and By the Bog of Cats consists of Hester Swayne, the heroine, enacting her revenge on her disloyal husband, Carthage Kilbride. Her retaliation consists of setting fire to Carthage and his new wife Caroline’s home and killing her own daughter, Josie, just as Medea punished Jason by killing their children in the Greek myth. The significant difference between these two stories consists of the setting: while Medea is set in ancient Greece, By the Bog of Cats is transported to the bogs of Ireland.

A reviewer of the 2017 revival in Chicago noted that what makes the play distinct from Eurypides’s adaptation and distinctly Irish is the themes of displacement and disposition. However, the heightened emotions and broad, existential themes of “love and hate, hope and despair, [and] grief and revenge” justify the comparison of these two tragedies.

Themes

Land ownership

Land ownership is an important theme in By the Bog of Cats: one that differentiates the play from Euripides's Medea and makes this play distinctly Irish. The ownership of both the bog itself and of Hester’s house exists as the main conflict of the story. Xavier makes a legal claim to the land while Hester’s claims are emotional. Likewise, the Catwoman argues that the bog belongs to her because of her role as its “keeper”—also not a legal claim. This tension between legal and emotional or traditional ownership is, according to one scholar, reminiscent of the dispute between the native Irish and the British over land. Traditionally in pre-colonial Ireland, land was passed down through familial connection rather than legal paperwork. However, when the British forces took over, they disregarded this form of ownership in favour of a legal framework. Similarly, Hester is in danger of losing the bog, with which she has a familial connection, to the Kilbrides who legally claim it.

Displacement

In connection with land ownership, the theme of displacement appears prominently in the play as the members of the community try to remove Hester from her property. This highlights her "landscape-based identity."

One scholar notes the irony of Hester's immovable connection to the land when she identifies with symbols of mobility: she is more interested in living in a caravan than in her house, and she is a proud descendant of tinkers, a traditionally nomadic people.

Motherhood

Certain scholars have written that the most important relationships in By the Bog of Cats are those between mothers and daughters. Indeed, one scholar argues that the murder of Josie is not an act of revenge toward Carthage, as it is in Medea, but an act of breaking the cycle of motherly abandonment.

The play has been praised for its nuanced depiction of mothers, from Mrs. Kilbride’s love for her son gone embarrassingly awry to the parallels between big Josie Swane and Hester’s neglect for their respective daughters. Carr challenges the idea of an “essential” or “natural” mother and blurs the line between “good” and “bad” motherhood. Through the analysis of these relationships, Carr complicates the idealized figure of the matriarch and shows the dire consequences of trying and failing to attain this ideal.

Feminism

The positioning of By the Bog of Cats as a feminist text is disputed among scholars and critics. Certain writers raise concerns about Hester as a character who plays a traditionally feminine role: she is firmly entrenched in the sphere of the home. Beyond that, some writers are critical of the way she throws herself at Carthage and claims to need him: she says, “My life doesn’t hang together without him,” making her a character who relies on the attention of a man.

On the other hand, some scholars categorize this as a feminist text in the way it reinterprets the Medea myth by making Hester a more sympathetic and victimized character in a distinctly patriarchal realm.

Supernatural elements

By the Bog of Cats is characterized by supernatural elements, such as ghosts, curses, and prophecies. Some of the characters manifest as ghosts, like the Ghost Fancier and Joseph Swane, Hester’s murdered brother. Furthermore, Hester has been cursed by her mother to live as long as the black swan residing in the bog, “not a day more, not a day less.” This curse is fulfilled by Hester’s death at the end of the play. Finally, the Catwoman is acknowledged by the characters as a psychic: she speaks of the many visions she has had that came true, and during his wedding Carthage asks her for a prediction.

One scholar notes the presence of the Irish tradition of combining both Pagan and Christian elements and practicing them side-by-side, which is characteristic of Irish folktales.

Witchcraft in particular features prominently in this play: the character of Hester has been interpreted as a witch by scholars and critics alike, though she does not explicitly practice witchcraft in the play. Even her daughter calls her a “jezebel witch,” and the rest of the community uses it as a derogatory term in reference to her. Though she says she doesn’t know any “black art things,” her connection to the spiritual world is real, specifically marked by her ability to speak to ghosts. For this reason, the Catwoman can also be interpreted as witch on the basis of her conversations with spirits and her psychic abilities.

Hester’s characterization as a witch also stems from her deep connection to the bog, as she claims to know “where the best bog rosemary grows and the sweetest wild bog rue.” This points to a knowledge of herbs and herbal medicine, which one scholar says indicates a connection with folk tradition and the mystical.

[End of assignment]

Peer review response

For this response and at the suggestion of Alyssa I decided to look into the presence of witchcraft in the play, which led me to also more generally look at the supernatural elements present.

Supernatural elements

By the Bog of Cats is characterized by supernatural elements, such as ghosts, curses, and prophecies. Some of the characters manifest as ghosts, like the Ghost Fancier and Joseph Swane, Hester’s murdered brother. Furthermore, Hester has been cursed by her mother to live as long as the black swan residing in the bog, “not a day more, not a day less.” This curse is fulfilled by Hester’s death at the end of the play. Finally, the Catwoman is acknowledged by the characters as a psychic: she speaks of the many visions she has had that came true, and during his wedding Carthage asks her for a prediction.

One scholar notes the presence of the Irish tradition of combining both Pagan and Christian elements and practicing them side-by-side, which is characteristic of Irish folktales.

Witchcraft

The character of Hester has been interpreted as a witch by scholars and critics alike, though she does not explicitly practice witchcraft in the play. Even her daughter calls her a “jezebel witch,” and the rest of the community uses it as a derogatory term in reference to her. Though she says she doesn’t know any “black art things,” her connection to the spiritual world is real, specifically marked by her ability to speak to ghosts. For this reason, the Catwoman can also be interpreted as witch on the basis of her conversations with spirits and her psychic abilities.

Hester’s characterization as a witch also stems from her deep connection to the bog, as she claims to know “where the best bog rosemary grows and the sweetest wild bog rue.” This points to a knowledge of herbs and herbal medicine, which one scholar says indicates a connection with folk tradition and the mystical.

[End of peer review response]

Parallels with Medea

Marina Carr, the author of the play, has acknowledged that By the Bog of Cats was inspired by the myth of Medea. In Eurypides’s theatrical adaptation, as in the ancient Greek myth, Medea is a sorceress and wife to the hero Jason, with whom she bears two children. When her husband proves unfaithful and leaves her for the Greek princess of Corinth, Glauce, she decides to punish Jason by killing his lover and their two children.

The main parallel between Medea and By the Bog of Cats consists of Hester Swayne, the heroine, enacting her revenge on her disloyal husband, Carthage Kilbride. Her retaliation consists of setting fire to Carthage and his new wife Caroline’s home and killing her own daughter, Josie, just as Medea punished Jason by killing their children in the Greek myth. The significant difference between these two stories consists of the setting: while Medea is set in ancient Greece, By the Bog of Cats is transported to the bogs of Ireland.

A reviewer of the 2017 revival in Chicago noted that what makes the play distinct from Eurypides’s adaptation and distinctly Irish is the themes of displacement and disposition. However, the heightened emotions and broad, existential themes of “love and hate, hope and despair, [and] grief and revenge” justify the comparisons of these two tragedies.

By the Bog of Cats Article Evaluation

Relevance to Content

A lot of information seems out of place in this article and irrelevant to the heading it is included under. For example, the lead section of the article lists some of the mystical elements of the play, which seems irrelevant and out of place. These elements could perhaps be expanded upon later under a section about genre to give them a deeper meaning and connection to the play. Similarly, the inclusion of Hester's parallels with Medea as a character seem to come out of nowhere in her character description, and as I'll mention later these parallels should be referenced.

At the end of the paragraph about the most recent revival's critical reception the authors include a critic's note that the play has not been revived locally since 2001 and that this playwright's work is less produced in the US, which isn't relevant to the show's reception but could maybe be included under a heading about the playwright.

There are a few things I'm a little undecided about, such as whether quoting the text in the play summary is distracting or not. I'm also not sure whether the detailed character descriptions are redundant because of the summary or if it's helpful to have this information reorganized and reiterated under its own headline.

Missing and Out of Date Information

In my opinion this article could use several additional headings, such as a heading for themes (where we could include the mystical elements mentioned in the lead section), a heading for the parallels with Medea, where these parallels can be properly referenced, and full cast lists for the major productions, which are currently under the "Productions and reception" heading.

Other Improvements

This article currently lacks organization: there's quite a bit of information that is dumped in the lead section and that isn't expanded upon later on. I also think that production history and reception should be different sections instead of lumping that information together, making it harder to find.

Some of the language used is somewhat vague and could be more specific, such as this sentence in one of the character descriptions: "She has a strange relationship with the eighty-year-old priest, Father Willow." The word "strange" here gives the reader little actual information about this relationship and could be changed to be more meaningful.

Neutrality

The authors are careful not share their own opinions about the quality of the play itself, and all non-neutral language is quoted from critics. However, the parallels with Medea should be properly referenced, otherwise it could be read as the authors' own opinions and analysis.

Over- and Underrepresented Opinions

The authors include both positive and negative reviews of the play, so no opinion is over- or underrepresented.

Citations

The citations for this article are adequate. In terms of reviews, the authors have taken care to balance out largely positive and largely negative reviews, so they reference an equal number of each. The information pulled from official websites for the major revivals consists mainly of the names of the cast members and the show dates, so they don't let bias infiltrate the unbiased article. There's only one peer-reviewed source, so I think one of my goals for this article is to scour the Internet for more academic, peer-reviewed sources.

It should be mentioned that many of these sources talk about the parallels between By the Bog of Cats and Medea, so it would be important to reference these sources when examining these parallels so it doesn't appear as if the authors came up with these themselves.

References

Some of the information goes unreferenced: as I've mentioned several times before the parallels with Medea don't have any references, so it appears to come from the authors themselves and not from a reputable source. There are also no references for the entire paragraph about the first revival of the play, which includes the theatre, the run dates, and reviews for the production.

Venice Article Evaluation

For this exercise I will be evaluation the article Venice (musical).

Relevance to Content

As this is somewhat a fledgeling of an article, there isn't very much content at all, which means there isn't much information that doesn't seem relevant or that is distracting. The main distracting element is the paragraph under the plot heading but just before the author dives into the plot in which they mention the parallels between Venice and Shakespeare's Othello. I don't think it's accurate to place this information under the plot heading as it could distract the reader from drawing their own conclusions about the plot while they try to draw these parallels. It makes more sense to me to place this information under its own heading in the article instead of having it piggyback on plot.

Missing and Out of Date Information

Lack of content seems to be the main issue here, so to improve upon this article I would add several headings to better organize the information currently living in the initial description. Some additional headings I would recommend would be production history, original and subsequent casts, a list of musical numbers or the cast album track list, reception, and awards and nominations. Notably the name of the director of this musical isn't mentioned in the article at all.

Information on reception could be particularly expanded upon, especially since a quick Google search brought up several reviews for each of the three productions. The only information on critical reception appears in the initial description: it is only two sentences long and only refers to the original Kansas City production and none of the subsequent productions. It would be important to update this article with the most current critical reviews to document its development since the original production.

Other Improvements

As I've mentioned, I think the lack of organization is the main issue with this article. For example, the author is trying to save space by integrating information about characters and cast under the same heading, but I would argue that separating this information would make finding it easier for the reader. The author includes only limited information in the initial description that could be greatly expanded upon under separate headings later on in the article.

Neutrality

The article writer does make an effort to appear personally neutral in their description of the show's critical claim, only quoting the praise of the reviews instead of inserting their own personal opinions. It is unfortunate though that the only references to reviews were positive, as I would have liked to hear about negative reviews, or at least negative feedback by critics. Also, the writer claims that the show garnered attention for its "unique use of hip-hop and multimedia elements" without specifying what these elements are. I think it's particularly important to be specific when calling something "unique."

Over- and Underrepresented Opinions

The article seems to be in favour of the show, only covering positive reviews and not including negative reviews, as I've previously mentioned.

Citations

The sources for this article are underwhelming. Three of the six links are broken, so it is impossible to fact check the information provided by the author. One of the three working links only goes to the website for the Public Theatre, not the page for the musical itself, which again eliminates fact-checking. Finally, there should be more than only six sources total to ensure a factual, well-rounded, and neutral article. Much of this could be achieved by finding more reviews by known publications for the three productions. The number of sources will also expand once more content (suggested at the beginning of this evaluation) is covered.

References

The author cites the website for the Public Theatre, where Venice was performed in New York City, which isn't an ideal source as it is biased in favour of the show, and this bias isn't noted or acknowledged at all.

To return to the paragraph noting parallels between the show and Othello: The author includes their own personal conclusions and analysis with absolutely no citations and only touching on vague parallels instead of being specific and backing up their analysis. Since these parallels are somewhat recognized in the theatre community (and are referenced in one of the reviews, which would be a good reference for these claims), I think it would have been better to create a separate heading under which to cover this analysis based on actual recognized sources instead of inserting this information under the plot heading, as previously mentioned.