Sean O'Casey: Critical Guide / Three Dublin Plays; The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, The Plough and the Stars

by Christopher Murray

• ISBN13: 9780571197804
• ISBN10: 0571197809
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-10-20
• Publisher: Faber & Faber

Summary

The next installment inThe Faber Critical Guides Series: An in-depth look at the maverick Irish playwright Sean O'Casey was one of the most affecting playwrights of his generation; a renegade who came of age at the dawn of Ireland's fight for independence from Britain and championed the working-class during the bleak years of The Great Depression. Praised for his genius-ear for dialogue and the poetry of his prose, O'Casey's work brought audiences into the gritty, impoverished world of Dublin's streets and pubs. His controversial plays helped establish the reputation of the internationally renowned Abbey Theatre, where the productions ofThe Plough and the StarsandJuno and the Paycockwere met with riots and vigorous protests. InSean O'Casey, Christopher Murray examines the abovementioned works as well asThe Shadow of a Gunman, which taken together comprise O'Casey's famed Dublin trilogy, and elucidates the social context of the plays and the theatrical environment of the times--crucial elements in understanding O'Casey's writing.

Author Biography

Christopher Murray is an associate professor at University College, Dublin. He is the editor of Brian Friel: Essays, Diaries, Interviews 1964-1998 (FF, 2000).

Table of Contents

Editor's Preface

Note on References

Introduction

Context and Background

The Shadow of a Gunman

Juno and the Paycock

The Plough and the Stars

Chronology of Plays

Select Bibliography

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