Masters Theses

Date of Award

3-1981

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

English

Major Professor

Lori H. Burghardt

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration of Sean O'Casey's protest against war, the chaos and madness it generates in the Dublin slums, and the ultimately adverse consequences it levies on the tenement dwellers by destroying their families and causing the deaths of noncombatants. His anger and anguish manifest itself most effectively in the form of drama, particularly in those plays comprising the Irish trilogy: The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, and The Plough and the Stars. In each play, an Irish conflict is both back-drop and catalyst to the action. Each work depicts the Dublin tenements as the setting and as the metaphor for the ravages of war. And in each play, the main characters reflect the insanity and disintegration caused by forces over which they have no control.

While many books and articles have been written on O'Casey's political beliefs, such as B. L. Smith's O'Casey's Satiric Vision, David Krause's Sean O'Casey: The Man and His Works, and William Armstrong's "History, Autobiography, and The Shadow of a Gunman, none of them has focused on this particular thematic approach. The material for this study was attained at The University of Tennessee Main Library.

Sean O'Casey's refusal to glorify and romanticize those who died for Ireland is clearly reflected in his treatment of these topical events-The Sinn Fein-Black and Tan Conflict, the Civil War, and the Easter Rising of 1916-, settings based on his life in the tenements, and characters who are fictionalizations of people he knew. These effectively provide the background necessary to reveal the turmoil that disrupts the lives of the people in the Dublin slums.

Through his characters, O'Casey not only voices his views of Ireland, but he also illustrates the devastating effects war has on them. His characters are divided into three groups which relate to the theme about war; his young idealistic men-some who actually become involved in the fighting-are revealed to be cowards; his older men either ignore the war or maintain their distance from it; and his women display incredible strength and courage when danger is imminent. Even though O'Casey's method of waging war through his drama lacked the glory associated with the wars, his Irish trilogy rudely awakened the Irish public to the real tragedy in Ireland, that of the people of the tenements.

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