‘The Return to the People’: Empire, Class, and Religion in Lady Gregory’s Dramatic Works Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Anna Pilz. July 2013 Anna Pilz University of Liverpool 2013 Abstract ‘The Return to the People’: Empire, Class, and Religion in Lady Gregory’s Dramatic Works Anna Pilz This thesis examines a selection of Lady Gregory’s original dramatic works. Between the opening of the Abbey Theatre in 1904 and the playwright’s death in 1932, Gregory’s plays accounted for the highest number of stage productions in comparison to her co-directors William Butler Yeats and John Millington Synge. As such, this thesis analyses examples ranging from her most well-known and successful pieces, including The Rising of the Moon and The Gaol Gate, to lesser known plays such as The Wrens, The White Cockade, Shanwalla and Dave. With a focus on the historical, bibliographical, and political contexts, the plays are analysed not only with regard to the printed texts, but also in the context of theatrical performances. In order to re-evaluate Gregory’s contribution to the Abbey, this thesis is divided into three chapters dealing with dominant themes throughout her career as a playwright: Empire, class, and religion. Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool, for its financial support throughout my postgraduate studies. I am also indebted to the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures and the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures for their financial assistance in covering travel costs to conferences and archives in the UK and abroad. In particular, I wish to thank the Royal Historical Society and the British Association for Irish Studies for a research grant that allowed me to consult the Lady Gregory Papers at the Berg Collection, New York Public Library. I am thankful for the help I received from the archivists and librarians at the National Library of Ireland, the Bodleian Library, and Emory University. Curator Isaac Gewirtz, Stephen Crook and, in particular, Anne Garner at the Berg have made a tremendous contribution to my research and I owe it to them that I was able to plough through as much material as possible in two months; it regularly happened that I required another pair of eyes to decipher Gregory’s handwriting. Thanks to James Pethica for generously sharing his own research and knowledge and patiently answering last minute queries. Many thanks also to Colin Smythe for his assistance and copyright permission. My very special thanks are due to the Institute and its staff: Professor Marianne Elliott’s spirit makes it such a vibrant and special place; Diane Urquhart encouraged me to pursue postgraduate study in the first place and kindly commented on the final draft; Lauren Arrington generously shared her knowledge and research material of the Abbey Theatre Minute and Account Books. I remember with great awe the work and personality of the late Ian McKeane with whom I bonded over the bending of English (in comparison to the breaking of German) bread. It is to him I owe my involvement in the Centre for Lifelong Learning where I enjoyed many discussions on Irish literature and film with a group of bright and enthusiastic students, and discovered my passion for Continuing Education. Thanks to Kate Marsh whose work on behalf of the postgraduate community deserves great admiration. The Institute’s postgraduate community (past and present) has become a second family which has enriched my experience in Liverpool tremendously and I would like to thank Niall Carson, Jane Davison, Darren Dunning, Tony Halpen, Ivy Manning, Ciaran O’Neill, Michael Robinson, and Mike Whitman for withstanding my panic attacks and keeping me sane. Others who have helped me and this project in various ways from both i sides of the sea and who I wish to thank for their moral support and encouragement are Marie-Luise Gehrmann, Janine Jobmann, and Andrea Völker. Thanks to Hilary Bishop who welcomed me into her home as an exchange student many years ago and who has ever since been an inspiration and dear friend. This thesis is largely indebted to numerous discussions with colleagues and friends who commented on drafts of drafts, helped smooth over ‘awkward phrases’, and shared their knowledge and expertise. In this regard, my thanks go to Angela Duffy, Tom Herron, and Nicola Morris. In particular, I wish to thank Whitney Standlee for enlightening conversations and for kindly reading through drafts; I am grateful for her friendship. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work under the supervision of Frank Shovlin who has been a constant inspiration as lecturer, teacher, writer and researcher. He taught me how to write and patiently endured my footnote-indulgence. I owe it to him that I was able to visit Coole Park on one glorious summer day before this project was finished. My greatest debt is to my parents, Martina and Bernd Pilz, who always believed in my chosen path and supported me every step of the way. It is because of their love, encouragement and continuous support that this has been possible. ii In memory of two formidable grandmothers Elizabeth Pilz (1931-1996) and Gertrud Schulz (1924-2012) iii Abbreviations The following is a key to abbreviations used in this study. Berg Lady Gregory collection of papers, 1873-[1965] bulk (1873-1932). The Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, New York City. ed. edited by eds editors Emory Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta n.d. no date given NLI National Library of Ireland, Dublin n.y. no year given rev. revised rev. edn. revised edition The following abbreviations are used for frequently cited texts. CL John S. Kelly (ed.), The Collected Letters of W.B. Yeats (Oxford University Press (InteLex Electronic Edition) 2002. CPI Lady Augusta Gregory, The Collected Plays, I, The Comedies, ed. Ann Saddlemyer (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe and Irish University Press, 1971). CPII Lady Augusta Gregory, The Collected Plays, II, The Tragedies and Tragic-Comedies, ed. Ann Saddlemyer (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe and Irish University Press, 1971). CPIII Lady Augusta Gregory, The Collected Plays, III, The Wonder and Supernatural Plays, ed. Ann Saddlemyer (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1979). CPIV Lady Augusta Gregory, The Collected Plays, IV, The Translations and Adaptations of Lady Gregory and Her Collaborations with Douglas Hyde and W.B. Yeats, ed. Ann Saddlemyer (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1979). iv Diaries James Pethica (ed.), Lady Gregory’s Diaries 1892-1902 (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1996). Journals I D.J. Murphy (ed.), Lady Gregory’s Journals: Volume One, Books 1- 29, 10 October 1916-24 February 1925 (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1978). Journals II D.J. Murphy (ed.), Lady Gregory’s Journals: Volume Two, Books 30- 44, 21 February 1925-9 May 1932 (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1987). v Table of Figures Figure 1 Production of Plays 1904-1932 p. 4 Figure 2 Production of Plays 1904-1932 (Cathleen ni Houlihan in Gregory’s data) p. 5 Figure 3 Frederick B. Opper, ‘The King of A Shantee’ p. 16 Figure 4 ‘Two Forces’, 29 October 1881, Punch p. 41 Figure 5 Productions of Plays, 1933-2011 p. 242 vi Contents Acknowledgements i List of Abbreviations iv Table of figures vi Introduction 1 I ‘What justice is there in the world at all?’: Legacies of Empire 22 ‘You won’t betray me’: The Rising of the Moon (1907) 35 ‘An unconquered man’: The Gaol Gate (1906) 59 ‘Is it a turncoat you are?’: The Wrens (1914) 86 II ‘In Pilate’s house’: Protestants and Catholics 111 ‘A bad master’: The White Cockade (1905) 127 III ‘To die game’: A class in decline 163 ‘A hardy class’: Shanwalla (1915) 171 ‘A judgement between the man and the clothes’: The Dragon and The Jester (1919) 188 ‘High blood’: Dave (1927) 218 Conclusion 238 Works Consulted 248 Introduction Lady Gregory’s work must be well treated – she is the best ‘draw’ of the lot of you. I am so proud of her because she makes the people laugh in a witty manner. - Annie Horniman1 Being a writer for comedy, her life as an artist has not shaken in her, as tragic art would have done, the conventional standards. Besides, she has never been part of the artist’s world, she has belonged to a political world, or one that is merely social. - Yeats, Memoirs2 In 1928, towards the end of her life, Lady Gregory quoted a review of her Three Last Plays from The Spectator which asked whether ‘there could have been an Irish Theatre at all’ without her. She answered with confidence in her journal: ‘(No, there could not. That’s Poz)’.3 Whilst reading through some of her old letters six years previously, Gregory had expressed her amazement as to the organizational task: I marvelled to find how much of time and energy was not only used, but as it seems squandered, on the endless affairs of the Abbey Theatre, almost crushing out, as it seems, other interests; the effort to maintain discipline, the staging, the reading of plays, the choice of plays, the quarrels among players, the suspicion of politicians and of the authorities, anxieties about money. ‘As to playwriting’, Gregory added briefly, ‘it came as if by accident’.4 Her friends and colleagues praised the multitude of her skills and role as patron and patentee of the theatre. Wilfrid Scawen Blunt – Gregory’s short-term lover and long-term friend – noted that: she has been the real inspirer of the Irish Literary movement having created Yeats out of almost nothing and half the young Irishmen who now have names, while the Abbey Theatre has been wholly her work.