Choose ONE question from Part B (on the
representation of the Irish) and write for each a separate, interesting, coherent, detailed, and well supported essay of about 750 words or more in response. You will not be penalized for exceeding 750
words per essay, but you will be penalized for continuing to write after you run out of thoughtful things
to say. You may also be penalized for omitting crucial examples.
One of your objectives in writing your essays is to demonstrate your thorough reading and
comprehension of all the plays so far: The Brave Irishman, or Captain O’Blunder; Making History;
Cathleen ni Houlihan; The Rising of the Moon; Spreading the News; In the Shadow of the Glen; The
Playboy of the Western World; Riders to the Sea; and Juno and the Paycock. You should not try to cover
all these plays in both essays, but you should be sure to say something interesting and intelligent about
each play over the course of the two essays combined. Because you cannot write at length about each
play, you will need to be selective and judicious, matching the question to the most pertinent plays and
then choosing the best example(s) or the most relevant passage(s) from those plays.
I am not expecting polished prose, but you should probably
revise at least once for clarity and concision. You do not need endnotes or a work-cited page if you are
working only with the texts we’ve read for class, and you are not required to use any additional sources.
If you do use additional sources, however, you should acknowledge them within your text (e.g., As
Seamus Deane suggests, “Christy Mahan may be read as a Christ figure . . . “) and provide a full
bibliographic citation at the end of your essay. If you quote or paraphrase from one of our plays, please
give the page number in parentheses at the end of the last sentence of quotation or paraphrase (#).
PART B – REPRESENTATIONS OF THE IRISH AND IRISH CULTURE
1. In her statement on the founding of the Irish Literary Theatre, Lady Gregory proclaimed that “We will
show that Ireland is not the home of buffoonery and of easy sentiment, as it has been represented, but
the home of an ancient idealism.” To what extent do you think this is true of the plays we’ve
encountered thus far? Have we seen characters who are buffoons? Have we seen overtly sentimental
characters? (You might think of Captain O’Blunder as a sort of partial example of both the buffoonery
and the sentimentalism that Lady Gregory wishes to turn away from.) Which plays, if any, have
illustrated an “idealism”?
2. Comment on the representation of Irish men and of Irish women among the rural poor and the urban
working class. What are the difficulties they encounter in their conditions? What difficulties are
peculiar to the men? To the women? What weaknesses and strengths of character do the plays point to
among the men? Among the women?
3. Comment on the representation of the relation of the Irish people to the law in some of the plays
we’ve read.
4. In Making History, Mabel and Hugh O’Neill discuss the question of whether or not the Irish can be
considered united. What other plays implicitly or explicitly question the idea or possibility of Irish unity?
Which plays, if any, suggest that the Irish are unified or can be unified? Explain.
5. As a (romantic) comedy, The Brave Irishman concludes with the implication of generational
continuity: there will be (hybrid) children and the O’Blunder and Trader genes will be passed on
indefinitely. Consider plays that, in contrast, foresee the possibility of generational discontinuity or
highlight obstacles to continuity. What are the obstacles to continuity? How serious are they?
6. Make up your own question about a theme or phenomenon within the plays we’ve read that strikes
you as distinctively Irish. Make the question a good one. Answer it.
NEED DONE BY MIDNIGHT PLEASE 🙂