Stranger in the Room: Illuminating Female Identity Through Irish Drama

dc.contributor.advisorEller, Jonathan R., 1952-
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Amy R.
dc.date2007en
dc.date.accessioned2007-05-23T16:41:31Z
dc.date.available2007-05-23T16:41:31Z
dc.date.issued2007-05-23T16:41:31Z
dc.degree.disciplineDepartment of Englishen
dc.degree.grantorIndiana Universityen
dc.degree.levelM.A.en
dc.descriptionIndiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis centers on a country that has produced some of the greatest and most important English language dramas of the past two centuries. Within this cultural context, this thesis is also about a feminine revival in Irish theatre and how this can be a powerful tool to incite change. Early in history, Irish writers, and specifically dramatists, recreated a type of theatre that captured the true essence of what it meant to be Irish by representing their struggles, frustrations and humor. The Irish talent for storytelling connects back to its Gaelic roots and has remained a constant in the life of a culture that has passed down this art form for centuries. The focus of this thesis is to examine three contemporary Irish plays by prominent playwrights who came to the world of theatre from very different backgrounds. Each play is written by a different hand, yet all share a vital common denominator: the interaction of female character groups – groups that are central to the action of each play. What incited my interest in these three plays – Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, Anne Devlin’s Ourselves Alone and Marina Carr’s The Mai – was the playwright’s ability to expose what had been silenced in Irish history for so long. Each female character portrays one important aspect of Irish womanhood that has been tragically understated in the nation’s literature since the death of John Millington Synge: woman’s struggle between what she wants to be and who she is expected to be. These three plays will be scrutinized in terms of three elements of social control contributing to woman’s struggle in Irish society: myth, church and patriarchal tradition.en
dc.format.extent258893 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1805/918
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.7912/C2/347
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.subjectIrish dramaen
dc.subjectfemale dramatistsen
dc.subject.lcshFriel, Brian -- Criticism and interpretationen
dc.subject.lcshFriel, Brian. Dancing at Lughnasa.en
dc.subject.lcshDevlin, Anne -- Criticism and interpretationen
dc.subject.lcshDevlin, Anne. Ourselves aloneen
dc.subject.lcshCarr, Marina, 1964- -- Criticism and interpretationen
dc.subject.lcshCarr, Marina, 1964- Maien
dc.subject.lcshEnglish drama -- Irish authors -- History and criticismen
dc.subject.lcshWomen in literature -- History -- 20th centuryen
dc.subject.lcshEnglish drama -- Women authors -- History and criticismen
dc.titleStranger in the Room: Illuminating Female Identity Through Irish Dramaen
dc.typeThesis
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