Genre
Play, Drama
Language
English
Setting and Context
The "Western World," modern-day
Narrator and Point of View
Play
Tone and Mood
Tone - Engrossed, dramatic
Mood - Shocked, perturbed
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists - Martin, Stevie, Ross, Billy; Antagonist - Martin's love for a goat, Sylvia
Major Conflict
Martin loves a goat named Sylvia and views it like a typical affair in terms of how he expects it to split his family.
Climax
Ross, a family friend, writes Stevie a letter including the information about Martin and the Goat; she confronts Martin, and he does not deny the news.
Foreshadowing
Martin tells Ross about Sylvia, and the audience can sense that the knowledge of this will return to his family.
Understatement
Martin has many understatements about the perceived normalcy of loving a goat, and Stevie often uses understatements out of shock.
Allusions
The six-word title contains two allusions. The Shakespearean song "Who is Sylvia?" provides the second part of the title, and the concept of a "goat song," or Greek tragedy, makes up the first.
Imagery
The direction of the play provides imagery primarily in how the characters physically relate to one another, since the bulk of the play takes place in Martin, Stevie, and Billy's living room. Through this, the audience sees how Martin and Stevie fight using their knowledge of the room and how Billy enters and exits.
Paradox
Martin seeks to justify his behavior by showing how much he loves Sylvia, but his family is more and more disturbed the more he talks about how he has emotions for a goat.
Parallelism
Martin becomes comfortable talking about what he once felt he had to hide as his family increasingly wishes he would be ashamed.
Personification
The goat, Sylvia, is given personal characteristics by Martin throughout the play, and this personification is his primary mode of interaction with other characters as the conflict escalates.
Use of Dramatic Devices
Albee uses stage directions for the bulk majority of lines to show exactly how they ought to be spoken. This allows the nuances of characters to be implanted in what is spoken, freeing the actors to exhibit the personal characteristics of their parts during the play. He also uses a disconnect in the typical material of a play and what Martin considers to be "going on" by repeatedly maintaining a state of interjection between Stevie and Billy, Martin's closest relatives.
