Books › The goat, or, Who is Sylvia?
The goat, or, Who is Sylvia?
First published 2003 · 112 pages
A darkly hilarious and deeply disturbing descent into the limits of human tolerance and the violent collapse of a perfect marriage.
What it feels like
Reading this play feels like watching a pristine, glass-walled house slowly shatter from the inside out. It begins with the breezy, intellectual rhythm of a sophisticated domestic comedy before taking a sharp, unapologetic plunge into the surreal and the grotesque. The pacing is propulsive, driven by rapid-fire, razor-sharp dialogue that weaponizes language, grammar, and wit to expose the rawest of emotional nerves. The atmosphere grows increasingly claustrophobic and feverish as the boundaries of tolerance, love, and societal taboo are violently tested. It is a deeply uncomfortable, darkly hilarious, and ultimately tragic experience. This is a perfect read for those who crave confrontational, boundary-pushing literature that forces them to stare directly into the abyss of human transgression.
- Mood
- claustrophobic
- shocking
- tense
- feverish
- Tone
- provocative
- darkly comedic
- tragic
- confrontational
- absurdist
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- limits of tolerance · taboo and transgression · fragility of the nuclear family · the incomprehensibility of love · social boundaries
- The writing
- Driven by razor-sharp, rapid-fire dialogue that weaponizes grammar, wit, and repetition to expose raw, bleeding emotional wounds.
- The arc
- Moves from the breezy comfort of upper-middle-class banter into a harrowing, emotionally violent freefall of shattered realities.
- Who it's for
- Fans of boundary-pushing, intellectually rigorous theater who enjoy watching polite society violently unravel through dark, absurdist humor.
Content notes
- bestiality
- animal death
- intense domestic conflict
- homophobia
- infidelity
About the book
From inside jacket: Martin -- a hugely successful architect who has just turned fifty -- leads an ostensibly ideal life with his loving wife and gay teenage son. But when he confides to his best friend that he is also in love with a goat (named Sylvia), he sets in motion events that will destroy his family and leave his life in tatters.
Description from Open Library.
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