Symbols In Jessica Sigan's By The Bog Of Cats

Marina Carr’s By the Bog of Cats illustrates the complex dynamic of failed relationship with images of swans and ducks, which also appear throughout Desmond Hogan’s Children of Lir. Hogan’s collection of short stories including “The Children of Lir” and “Southern Birds” feature Irishmen who embody English loyalty and use their masculine power to initially control native Irish civilians. Both Carr and Hogan illustrate feminine protagonists who are shunned from their society, but who also take a liking to swans. Irish playwrights and writers utilize symbolic images of swans and ducks to illustrate ownership between masculine ideas of English pride and ostracized, feminine Irish protagonists. In the opening moment of By the Bog of Cats, Hester drags the corpse of a swan, Black Wing, accompanied by music from a violin. She instantly meets the Ghost Fancier, and explains that she must bury this swan, her childhood friend, since it died from freezing in the bog. By initially staging this action of carrying a dead swan, Carr immediately interlaces symbolic representations of swans into her play. Aeschylus, the Greek father of tragedy, …show more content…
Kilbride significantly portrays the role of British royalty, which Melissa Sibra analyzes in her essay, “A Cautionary Tale: Marina Carr’s By the Bog of Cats”. Sibra points out how at Carthage’s wedding, Mrs. Kilbride comments on her own shoes by claiming that the Queen of England would not pay more for them. While it appears that Carr simply takes this moment to exploit Mrs. Kilbride’s snobbish character, Sibra looks in depth at this character’s connection to English royalty. She therefore concludes that Carr’s intentionality throughout her entire play rings true for this single line as well, because Mrs. Kilbride continues to embody an England which tries to take a piece of Ireland, or Hester. While Mrs. Kilbride does not associate herself with ducks or swans, she teams up with Father Willow to destroy