The Irish Theatre of Brian Friel: Texts and Contexts
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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. U·M·I University Microfilms International A Bell & HowelllnformatJon Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. M148106-1346 USA 3131761-4700 800!521-0600 Order Number 9302636 The Irish theatre of Brian Friel: Texts and contexts Dennis, Mary Kate Lowrey, Ph.D. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1992 Copyrieht 1992 by Dennis,Mary Kate Lowery. All rights reserved. U·M·I 300 N. Zeeb Rd Ann Arbor. MI 48106 THE IRISH THEATRE OF BRIAN FRIEL: TEXTS AND CONTEXTS by Mary Kate Lowrey Dennis A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 1992 Approved by ~ Dissertation Adviser APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Members Date of Acceptance by Committee 3D b-. 19?2- Date of Final Oral Examination i i © 1992, by Mary Kate Lowrey Dennis DENNIS, MARY KATE LOWREY, Ph.D. The Irish Theatre of Brian Friel: Texts and Contexts. (1992) Directed by Dr. Keith Cushman. 349 pp. This dissertation places the sixteen plays of the contemporary Irish playwright Brian Friel, one of the leading dramatists writing in the English language today, in the context of Irish culture. I investigate the various Irish myths and legends to which Friel alludes in his work, the socio-economic conditions in Ireland at the time depicted in the plays, and the historical and political events Friel has used as a basis for the plays. I look at the relationship between the literature and the society in order to determine the influence that conditions in Ireland--particularly Ulster and Northern Ireland, Friel's home--have had upon his work. Friel's plays reveal his awareness of the political and cultural divisions that exist in his homeland and the fragmentation of the Irish psyche resulting from these divisions. This fragmentation appears in his themes and experimental dramatic techniques. His work combines a knowledge and understanding of Irish problems with an ability to universalize this knowledge so that his plays have important application for people in similar cultural conditions in other parts of the world. Friel views Ireland's myths, stereotypes, opinions, and images of itself as both the key to understanding his country's problems and as a context that must be reexamined and reappraised if Ireland is to find a solution to its current crisis. Friel's role in the Field Day Theatre Company, an organization he founded for the purpose of taking drama to all parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic, attests to his involvement in effecting a change of consciousness among the Irish toward their country's past, her present crisis, and her future as an emerging nation. The success of Friel's latest play, Dancing at Lughnasa, a 1992 Tony winner, indicates his success in universalizing his themes to appeal to an international audience. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I shall always be grateful to my advisor Dr. Keith Cushman for suggesting Brian Friel from all the Irish writers I was considering for this dissertation. Friel's work has made my study an exciting, enlightening, and inspiring adventure. I also wish to thank Dr. Cushman for his insightful guidance, for trying valiantly to keep me on track, and for always managing to be encouraging. I thank my committee, Dr. Randolph Bulgin, Dr. Charles Davis, Dr. James Evans, and Dr. Ronald Cassell for their inspiration and friendship. My advisor, my committee, the English faculty, and my fellow students at UNCG have made the undertaking of this degree one of the best decisions I have ever made. I also thank my colleagues and former teachers at Appalachian State for their interest and encouragement. My chief support, as always, has come from my family: my cousin Jo Leeds, whose generosity in sharing her home in Greensboro made the whole thing possible; my brothers and sister and their families, who cheered me on; my four children and their spouses, whose loving, liberated, and liberating attitudes enabled me to begin this degree and inspired me to keep going; my three grandchildren, who provided the crucial incentive (I really did this for them); and, most of all, my husband, who cooked meals, listened to my tirades, let me give lots of money UNCG, and, through it all, remained not only a true artist but a master of the art of living. Lastly, I must thank my parents. Although they are not here to read this, I trust they know and are proud. They deserve to be. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page APPROVAL PAGE .. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iii ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER I. PROLOGUE - BRIAN FRIEL: THEATRE IN A DIVIDED LAND 1 II. FORCES AND FORM IN FRIEL'S DRAMA 16 Language and Images . 18 The Irish Mind . 21 Pagan and Christian . 24 lrishness and Englishness . 27 Field Day . 30 Friel's Choice of Form . 37 Ill. SACRIFICES: THE PERSONAL CONFLICT 49 The Enemy Within 51 Crystal and Fox . 57 Faith Healer . 61 Divided Characters and a Fragmented Narrative 63 The Metaphor of the Artist . 69 The Metaphor of the Christ-figure . 7 4 Frank Hardy's Failure . 77 Friel's Deirdre and Naoise . 79 Return to Ireland and Sacrificial Death . • . 86 Conclusions . 94 iv IV. FATHERS, SONS, AND DAUGHTERS: THE FAMILY CONFLICT 97 The Father-Son Conflict in Irish Terms . • . 99 Philadelphia, Here I Come! . 107 The Cultural Context . 108 Fragmentations . • . 11 6 Edmund Burke and the Queen of France . • . 118 Conclusions . < • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 121 Living Quarters: after Hippolytus 122 Cultural Background . 122 Fragmentation . 125 Conclusions . 132 Comparisons . 136 Aristocrats . 138 The Cultural Context . 138 Psychological Scars • • . 140 Fragmentation . 142 Conclusions . 146 V. ILLUSIONS AND REALITY: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONFLICT 149 The Mythical Context . 151 The Loves of Cass McGuire . 153 Lovers: Winners and Losers . 161 Winners . 161 Losers . 165 The Gentle Island . 168 Conclusions . 180 VI. GRAVE DIGGING: THE POLITICAL CONFLICT 183 The Mundy Scheme . 186 v The Freedom of the City . 192 Volunteers . 211 Conclusions . • . • 227 VII. HISTORY IN THE MAKING: THE LINGUISTIC CONFLICT 230 Translations . 233 The Cultural Context . 233 Fragmentations . 240 Recurring Themes . 243 The Myth of Baile Beag . 245 Conclusion . 247 The Communication Cord . 251 Making History . 254 Conclusion . 259 VIII. RITUALS AND MYTHS: RESOLUTIONS-Dancing at Lughnasa 260 The Cultural Context . 261 Fragmentations . 270 Myths . 277 Rituals . 294 Sacrifices . 298 Conclusions . 300 IX. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: THE IRISH THEATRE OF BRIAN FRIEL • • . • . • • . 304 BIBLIOGRAPHY • . 317 APPENDIX A. CHRONOLOGY 337 APPENDIX B. GAELIC PRONUNCIATION 341 APPENDIX C. PRODUCTIONS OF FIELD DAY COMPANY 343 APPENDIX D. TRANSCRIPT OF NPR INTERVIEW • 344 vi ABBREVIATIONS All references to the published texts of plays or short stories by Brian Friel are to the following editions and are designated by the appropriate abbreviation and followed by the relevant page reference. For dates of premiere performances and first publications, see Appendix A. Aris Aristocrats. Selected Plays. Washington: Catholic U of America P, 1988. Cass The Loves of Cass McGuire. New York: Samuel French, 1966. CC The Communication Cord. London: Faber, 1983. CF Crystal and Fox. New York: Samuel French, 1970. DAL Dancing at Lughnasa. London: Faber, 1990. "Diviner" "The Diviner." The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories. Ed. William Trevor. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. EW The Enemy Within. Newark: Proscenium, 19 79. FH Faith Healer. Selected Plays. Washington: Catholic U of America P, 1988. FC The Freedom of the City. Selected Plays. Washington: Catholic U of America P, 1988. FS Fathers and Sons: After the Novel by Ivan Turgenev. London: Faber, 1987. Gl The Gentle Island. London: Davis Poynter, 1973. Gold The Gold in the Sea. London: Faber, 1969. vii LQ Living Quarters. Selected Plays. Washington: Catholic U of America P, 1988. Vert The London Vertigo: Based on a Play by Charles Macklin. Loughcrew, Ire.: Gallery, 1990. LWL Lovers: Winners and Losers. New York: Farrar, 1968. MH Making History. London: Faber, 1989. MS The Mundy Scheme. New York: Samuel French, 1970. Phil Philadelphia, Here I Come! Selected Plays. Washington: Catholic U of America P, 1988. Saucer The Saucer of Larks. London: Gollancz, 1962. Sisters Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, A Translation. Dublin: Gallery, 1981. Trans Translations. Selected Plays. Washington: Catholic U of America P, 1 988. Vol Volunteers. London: Faber, 1979. viii 1 CHAPTER I PROLOGUE BRIAN FRIEL: THEATRE IN A DIVIDED LAND The Irish playwright Brian Friel has clearly emerged as a major figure in contemporary world drama and as the true inheritor of John Millington Synge and Sean O'Casey.