War-Afflicted Beings: Myth-Ecological Discourse of the Play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo by Rajiv Joseph

Abstract

Every war has grave repercussions for both the human and non-human elements in the geographical location where it erupts. Dramatic productions like Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (2009) highlight the consequences of war on the ecosystem of the conflict-stricken vicinity of Baghdad city. In the play, the chaotic world portrayed is an ecocentric site where the ghost of a tiger talks and the destruction of the garden, of Baghdad city and of human values are lamented. To illustrate the hazards of human conflict, Joseph incorporates ancient myths with the tragedy of the Iraq war to raise issues related to Eco-theology, Zoo-criticism, Speciesism, Green Criticism, Eco-Feminism and Environmental Racism against the backdrop of the Iraq War. The author integrates Grail legends, Greek mythology and monotheistic religious texts in the play’s structure to draw attention to the impending environmental doom. For example, the garden in the play reminds us of Biblical gardens, the assault of a virgin brings to mind Ovid’s story of Philomela’s rape, and the quest for a golden toilet seat in the desert is a clear indication of the Grail motif in the play’s narrative. All these instances insinuate the embedded mythical patterns and the current era’s indifference to the safety of our fellow species. Moreover, the play does not only hint at war crimes, but also refers to the overall structure of the world as an outcome of human negligence and insensitivity towards the environment. In short, the play is a myth-ecological narrative of the dilapidated ecology of the contemporary world.