Cathleen Ni Hoolihan was a play written in 1902 by Yeats, with the help of Lady Gregory. The play had Maud Gonne, a woman actively involved in Irish Nationalism, playing the poor old woman who inspires Michael to sacrifice himself for Ireland. (Murray. (1997). P20.) In class we discussed the significance of the play Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, and that it can be seen as a propaganda play, as it is promoted Irish Nationalism. The play is set in 1798, the year of the Irish Rebellion against the British, and begins with a family planning a wedding, the poor old woman arrives and Michael becomes mesmerised by her, she tells him “many a man has died for love of me.” (Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, p.251) The old woman goes on to name men who have died for love
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(Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, p. 253) When Michael decided to give up his life in order to fight for the old woman who we learn is a personified woman, representative of Ireland. At the end of the play the old woman transforms into a strong young woman. Peter asks “Did you see an old woman going down the path? To which Patrick replies, “I did not; but I saw a young girl, and she had the walk of a queen.” (Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, p. 256). Yeats began writing Cathleen Ni Hoolihan in 1901, Lady Gregory contributed greatly to the play as can be seen in the writing styles, the poor working class dialogue was written by Gregory while the poetical and lyrical language of the poor old woman was written by Yeats. When reading the play out loud in class we noticed the two different writing styles. The language of the play is Hiberno-English, which is Irish translated into English. The playwright has taken the grammar structures of Irish and morphed it …show more content…
The language of the play is colloquial to the west of Ireland. The play was first performed in the Abbey Theatre on 27 December 1904, (Notes on Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, p. 257) at this time the Irish Nationalist movement in Ireland was involved in promoting a Gaelic cultural revival. This was in order to gain Irish independence from Britain. Irish Drama played a role in the Nationalist movement and many nationalist propaganda plays such as Cathleen Ni Hoolihan were produced for a growing nationalist audience. Therefore the play is of great importance to the early nationalists.
The Plough and the Stars
Sean O’Casey’s 1926 play, The Plough and the Stars critiques the decision of young men to die for the Nationalist cause. The play caused members of Cumman na mBan, the women’s nationalist organisation, to protest during the play, “the first signs of trouble came during act two on Tuesday night, when Sighle Humphreys began hissing at the back of the pit”. (Morash, Christopher, p. 166) As the Abeey Theatre was founded during the Irish Nationalist Movement, it was expected to shine a positive light on the Irish. Hence the angry rioting when the
(Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, p. 253) When Michael decided to give up his life in order to fight for the old woman who we learn is a personified woman, representative of Ireland. At the end of the play the old woman transforms into a strong young woman. Peter asks “Did you see an old woman going down the path? To which Patrick replies, “I did not; but I saw a young girl, and she had the walk of a queen.” (Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, p. 256). Yeats began writing Cathleen Ni Hoolihan in 1901, Lady Gregory contributed greatly to the play as can be seen in the writing styles, the poor working class dialogue was written by Gregory while the poetical and lyrical language of the poor old woman was written by Yeats. When reading the play out loud in class we noticed the two different writing styles. The language of the play is Hiberno-English, which is Irish translated into English. The playwright has taken the grammar structures of Irish and morphed it …show more content…
The language of the play is colloquial to the west of Ireland. The play was first performed in the Abbey Theatre on 27 December 1904, (Notes on Cathleen Ni Hoolihan, p. 257) at this time the Irish Nationalist movement in Ireland was involved in promoting a Gaelic cultural revival. This was in order to gain Irish independence from Britain. Irish Drama played a role in the Nationalist movement and many nationalist propaganda plays such as Cathleen Ni Hoolihan were produced for a growing nationalist audience. Therefore the play is of great importance to the early nationalists.
The Plough and the Stars
Sean O’Casey’s 1926 play, The Plough and the Stars critiques the decision of young men to die for the Nationalist cause. The play caused members of Cumman na mBan, the women’s nationalist organisation, to protest during the play, “the first signs of trouble came during act two on Tuesday night, when Sighle Humphreys began hissing at the back of the pit”. (Morash, Christopher, p. 166) As the Abeey Theatre was founded during the Irish Nationalist Movement, it was expected to shine a positive light on the Irish. Hence the angry rioting when the