Assignment: Write a brief (no more than 2 pages) analysis as instructed below for each of the plays in this list. Each of us will read our statements as discussion starters before the in-class discussion of the play. You will then turn your offering in for grade.
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN. THE RIVALS
The Rivals is considered a "comedy of manners", which does not mean that the characters in the play are polite or behave themselves. "Manners" can be any way that people act or interract with each other, and playwrights use these behaviors to make really good comedy and often biting satire. Comment on how Sheridan uses three (3) of his characters to satirize the manners in his society, Be specific and support your ideas with citations from the text.
DION BOUCICAULT. THE SHAUGHRAN
What is a shaughran? Boucicault refers to Conn as " the soul of every fair, the life of every funeral, the first fiddle at all weddings and patterns", but can you find a clearer definition?
Boucicault has been credited (accused of) creating the "stage Irishman". Consider how Conn demonstrates those chracteristics which we may now consider "Irish". Be specific and support your ideas with citations from the text.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW. JOHN BULL'S OTHER ISLAND
Who is John Bull and what does he have to with this play?
Shaw wrote "Comedies of Ideas." John Bull's Other Island focuses on the Anglo/Irish conflict and the attitudes deriving from it. Comment on the symbolic place Broadbent takes as an English entrepeneur in Ireland. Make any allusion to contemporary activity that you might find interesting.Be specific and support your ideas with citations from the text.
OSCAR WILDE. LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN
Many contemporary critics , particularly Terry Eagleton, insist that Wilde was more than a brilliant humorist, but also a an astute political/social observer. His reputartion was clouded by his unfortunate trial. Comment on the politial/social issues wilde addresses in this play and make some assumptions about what you think he sees as a future for British society.Be specific and support your ideas with citations from the text.
LADY AUGUSTA GREGORY. THE GAOL GATE and SPREADING THE NEWS
Take note of Lady Gregory's use of language in these two plays. She was credited with re-discovering the Kiltartan dialect and demonstrated her discoveries in her characters. Comment on what the lanuage tells you about the Irish people. Consider word usage, expletives, content, sentence structure, etc. Be specific and support your ideas with citations from the text.
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, ON BAILES STRAND and THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
First and foremost Yeats is recognized as one of Ireland's greatest poets, yet in his Nopbel Prize acceptance speech hs credited his playwriting as his greatest accompolishment. In his theatrical pieces, most of them short plays, he dramatizes stories from ancient Celtioc myths that comeprise Ireland's mentality. In these two mythological stories, note the symbols, poetic forms, Celtic idioms and verbal structures he utilizes to illumniate the characters and the stories. Be specific in your comments and support your ideas with citations from the text.
JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD
This play caused riots in Dublin when it premiered at The Abbey Theatre. What do you suppose was so radical about the play that audiences reacted violently? How does Synge characterize the conflict between Oissin and Patrick in this play?How does he use language do determine characters?Be specific in your comments and support your ideas with citations from the text.
SEAN O'CASEY, The Dublin Plays – THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS; JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK; THE HSADOW OF A GUNMAN
Using these three plays as your exclusive reference, write a brief ( 3-5 page) essay explaining the circumstances and results of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin as O’Casey envisions it. Be specific in your comments and support your ideas with citations from the text.
LENNOX ROBINSON, THE BIG HOUSE
The Big House characterizes the decline of the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Briefly describe who the Protestant Ascendancy included and what that meant politically and culturally for the country.
Kate Alcott holds on to the house to the very last, then comes to an important revelation about the Protestant Ascendancy and the Catholic Irish, which to my mind, is a climactic moment in the play. Reflect on her discovery as it relates to any colonial, dominant power. Be specific in your comments and support your ideas with citations from the text.
T.C . MURRAY. MAURICE HARTE . J. M. SYNGE THE TINKER'S WEDDING
Both of these plays deal with aspects of the Roman Catholic influence on Irish culture, although from totally idfferent viewopoints. Comment on the diferences and similiarities of these two approaches. Be specific in your comments and support your ideas with citations from the text.
BRENDAN BEHAN. THE QUARE FELLOW. SAMUEL BECKETT. WAITING FOR GODOT.
Both these plays are noted for their unique structure and liberal use of music hall patter and comic aopproach though they are both about extremely serious subject matter. Identify how each of thee plays uses comic effect and music hall mayerial to intensify the action. Be specific in your comments and support your ideas with citations from the text.
HUGH LEONARD. DA.
This play deals with many irish predicaments; emigration, family, tradition, guilt. Comment on the problems Charlie has in "leaving" his father. How many of them are of his own making? How many of them seem to be decidedly Irish?
BRIAN FRIEL. TRANSLATIONS.
What does our language mean to us? How do we identify with how we speak and those who can speak like us? Who has the right to change our language?