#06: Domestic Violence in Carousel the Musical: Embrace it, Don’t Erase It — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
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Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

#06: Domestic Violence in Carousel the Musical: Embrace it, Don’t Erase It

Name: Molly Fuller
Major: MM Musical Theatre Voice Pedagogy
Hometown: Goshen, IN
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Abstract

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Carousel is sometimes called “the wife-beater musical” (Winer, 2018). It tells the story of Julie, a battered woman who never leaves her abuser. The controversy lies in an exchange between Julie and her daughter Louise; Julie seems to tell Louise that abuse can sometimes be considered a form of love. This controversial exchange is often cut from productions, including the 2018 Broadway revival. This research suggests that there is another way to view Carousel that not only offers a different interpretation of this dialogue, but also shows its necessity to the show and the characters. Beginning with a thorough examination of the source material, this research analyzes the two protagonists, Julie and Billy, and their relationships with their daughter Louise through a lens of domestic abuse. This project explores ethnographic research about domestic abuse survivors and applies these themes of victim blaming and the cyclical nature of domestic abuse to an analysis of the relationship between Julie, Billy, and their daughter Louise. By using this frame to analyze the script and score of this production, we can see that Carousel is an important work for understanding domestic violence. By retaining this controversial but important scene, Carousel sheds light on the issues of understanding and healing that should not be erased.

Poster file