Sample Solution

Another side to the domestic violence theme in Carousel is the indication to how many women were treated by society in these situations, ‘one of the most realistic things about CAROUSEL is the way that society treats Julie and Louise… Both are treated as social outcasts and held responsible for the way that Billy conducted himself,’ (Peterson and Nicolette, 2017, para.8). During this time domestic violence was still a taboo topic, explaining why the external treatment of the two characters is realistic, up until laws were enforced after the feminist movement of the 60s. This shows just how important it was that musical theatre had changed after the 40s as the increase of exposure to this violence through the media was one of the significant factors in the laws being enforced, (Cabot Police Department, n.d., para.4).

However, Carousel also allowed strength between female relationships to be shown as a consequence of the negative circumstances within the show, ‘The way that the women of this show build each other up and take care of it each other is fundamentally one of the most beautiful aspects of the show’, (Peterson and Nicolette, 2017, para.7).

Additionally, the song Soliloquy, sung by Billy Bigelow, provides a new outlook of females in this musical in particular. To analyse the lyrics, in the beginning of the song he assumes Julie’s unborn child is going to be a boy. He imagines a life of fun and adventure and the child liking all the things he did, not really looking too far into the scenario to see the real responsibilities of having a child (Donovan, 2012, p.23). He then considers the possibility that the child might be a girl. This changes everything, and he realises that he must make something of himself to care for the child (Guidetomusicaltheatre.com, n.d., para.10). The point here is that the idea of a girl changes his mindset entirely, this presents a powerful image to audiences that while once baby girls may have been seen as a problem, ‘-you bear offspring, if it is a mal