"The Cuban Swimmer"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the play highlights the potential abuses of the athlete and coach relationship by contrasting the young heroine's poetic and triumphant efforts with the crass desire of her trainer for media exposure. The paper shows how Margarita's trainer, her father, is motivated by his own needs, not by his young charge's athletic glory. The paper stresses that the message of "The Cuban Swimmer" is that Margarita, the young athlete of Hispanic origin, is a success because she manages to break from the confines of her assigned role in the family.

From the Paper:

"The fact that the heroine's trainer is also her father further complicates the nature of the abuses Margarita suffers under his hard tutelage. Throughout the short play, her father brusquely tells her how to breath and stroke and reveals his profound ignorance of the true nature of the water and his daughter's increasingly weary body. Despite the contention of Eduardo, the father of the title character, that he has everything under control, the play "The Cuban Swimmer" highlights how little control Eduardo really has over his own emotions as he becomes caught up in the media frenzy that ensues as a result of his teenage daughter's determination and swimming prowess."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Mitgang, Herbert. "Theater: 'Dog Lady' and Swimmer." May 10, 1984. The New York Times. Theater Review. [12 Sept 2006] <http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?pagewanted=print&res=9B04EFDF1E38F933A25756C0A962948260>
• "Milcha Sanchez-Scott." Biography. Bedford St. Martin Lit links. [12 Sept 2006] http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/drama/scott.htm
• Sanchez-Scott, Milcha. The Cuban Swimmer. 1984.
• Zinman, Toby. "It's All Relative." July 14, 2005. City Paper. Theater Review.http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2005-07-14/theater4.shtml?>

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