Eternal Hydra

The Many Sides Of Carbuncle The play Eternal Hydra, by author Anton Piatigorsky, displays the ambiguity in distinguishing between true authorship and plagiarism. Piatigorsky does this by revealing Gordias Carbuncle's journey in attempting to write a massive one hundred chapter novel. In the written text of Piatigorsky's Eternal Hydra, Carbuncle is clearly perceived as a thief as he gives no credit to those who deserve it. However, in Touchstone's Production of Eternal Hydra by director Katrina Dunn, actor John Murphy allows the audience to see Carbuncle in differently and not judge him so quickly. Murphy's verbal and physical interpretation of Carbuncle lets us see how hardworking and ambitious Carbuncle really is, and in doing so, Murphy helps the audience feel compassion and sympathy towards Carbuncle, despite his terrible greed and selfishness.

For the most part, Gordias Carbuncle's life consisted only of writing and researching; he did whatever was necessary to finish his novel, even if it entailed him going against what many of us believe to be proper ethics. In the written version of Eternal Hydra, Carbuncle's lying and scheming portrays a heartless and selfish man. Carbuncle wants to create a legendary and monumental novel that shares the story of one hundred untold voices, yet he cannot do this on his own. There are a few people who put in a great amount of time and effort to help Carbuncle write these chapters, such as his assistant, Gwendyln Jackson. Jackson spent days and months researching and finding articles, papers, maps and information that would help in the writing of Carbuncle's novel. When Jackson merely asks for the credit she deserves, she is quickly turned down by Carbuncle, despite the work and time she has put into his novel. After being denied validation for her efforts, Jackson makes several rude comments toward Carbuncle out of anger. Carbuncle sees her frustration and tries to distract Jackson by telling her “well, it may