Lecture Drama II - Modern drama: Lecture 12 - Dr Irum Zulfiqar - Trường Đại học Công nghiệp Thực phẩm Tp. Hồ Chí Minh

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DRAMA II

Modern Drama

Lecture 12

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SYNOPSIS

O’Casey ‘s Works are a representation of

contemporary influences: <i>_Nothingness</i>,

<i>Hollowness and Purposelessness</i>

 <i>Irish Civil War: Jingoism</i>

 How it <i>effects the society and</i> <i>the individuals</i>,

 How it <i>crushes the economy and the system</i>,

 How it <i>disintegrates the family structure</i>,

 how it <i>demolishes the psychology of the people</i>

and how it <i>_{creates generation gap}</i>

How this influence results in <i>_Nothingness</i>,

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Sean O’Casey was <i>_{born in 1818}</i> and <i>_died in</i>

<i>1964</i>. The play has been written on the

<i>background of Irish Civil War</i>, which has been
going for centuries.

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Irish Civil War

Juno and the Paycock: Jingois

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Jingoism 

flag wavin

g

“an appea

l

intended

to

arouse

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Jingoism (Denotation)

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 Jingoism is extreme patriotism in the form

of aggressive foreign policy. In practice,
it is a country's advocacy of the use of
threats or actual force against other

countries in order to safeguard what it
perceives as its national interests.

Colloquially, it refers to excessive bias in
judging one's own country as superior to
others—an extreme type of nationalism.

 The term originated in Britain,

expressing a pugnacious attitude toward
Russia in the 1870s, and appeared in the
American press by 1893

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WWI – Irish War

 Main Ireland got independence after the

<i>First World War</i>

 Ireland is divided into Southern and

Northern Ireland.

 <i>Northern Ireland is now called Ulster</i>. The

people of main Ireland are Roman
Catholic. The majority of Ulster is
Anglican. So there is political and
religious problem.

 (i)Either to unite with main Ireland

OR

(ii)To unite with England
OR

(iii)To be total independent was the main
problem or enigma.

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“Juno and the Paycock”

<i> War at its background </i>(like O’Casey’s other
plays)

O’Casey is very much against the war
fought under any pretext. He closely
observed

 how war <i>affects the society and</i> <i>the individuals</i>,

 how war <i>crushes the economy and the system</i>,

 how war <i>disintegrates the family structure</i>,

 how it <i>demolishes the psychology of the people</i>

and how it <i>_{creates generation gap}</i>.

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O’Casy’s Position

Thus O’Casey condemns…

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

 The play begins with Mary’s reading a

newspaper. The very first information we
get form the play is of a gruesome

murder.

 “On a little bye­road, out beyant Finglas, he was 

found.”

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

O’Casey evidently has sympathies for
the poverty stricken and war ridden Irish
society. There is nothing predicable in

Ireland. Everyone is in extreme danger.
They are hanging between life and death.

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

Brutality: Foreign to Irishmen

There are lots of references in the play

regarding <i>_{Ireland‘s religious}</i> and <i>_political</i>

<i>history</i>.

 Irish makes many attempts to shake off

the foreign yoke. Foreigners are very

<i>inhuman</i> to them. In 1916, hundred of

<i>casualties and the execution</i> of the leaders
are faultless examples of that.

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

<i>Inhumanity: Irishman to </i>

<i>Irishman</i>

 But this inhumanity is not just caused by

foreigners. The real problem arises with

the killing <i>_{of Irishman by Irishman}</i>.

 War, or to be more exact, <i>a civil war</i> has

no solution to man’s problem; rather it
aggravates the miseries of victims. The
civil war is not confined to two fractions
rather it expands to the whole Ireland.
The <i>_{death of Robbie Tancred and Johnny Boyle}</i>
are perfect examples of that.

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

 Johnny, who has <i>lost an arm and has a hip </i>

<i>shattered in a fight</i>, is at the end dragged
away and shot by his former republican

commanders because he <i>_{betrayed comrade}</i>

<i>Tancred</i>.

 All this shows that Ireland is preying on

herself. Earlier Johnny had undoubtedly

behaved heroically but the <i>_{hellish civil war}</i>

compelled him to betray his comrade.

 This means the stupid civil war is turning

into traitors because of its <i>_nothingness</i> and

<i>hollowness purposelessness</i>.

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Social Unjust, Inequality  Violence 

Mirrorism: Inhumanity vs.

Humanity

 Juno emerges as a great <i>humanist</i> and

<i>realist</i>.

 She is a <i>true pacifist</i> and is <i>against man’s </i>

<i>inhumanity against man</i>.

 She has an acute <i>observation</i> and knows

about the <i>_{truth of things}</i>.

 She is very <i>realist</i> and <i>anti­idealist</i>. When

Mary emphasizes that one ought to

stand by one’s principle being _“a

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

 Being a realist, she has a firm belief in

the idea that the fault does not lie with
the stars but with the people

themselves. She says:

 “Ah, what can God do agen the’ stupidity o’ 

men!”

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

 The <i>domestic tragedy</i>, which mainly springs

out form <i>_pregnancy</i>, <i>_{is due to the inhumanity of}</i>

<i>the</i> <i>male.</i>

 That male chauvinist society cannot

tolerate a mistake by a young girl.

Whereas on the other hand the <i>_idiots like</i>

<i>captain Boyle and Joxer Daly</i> are left
unaccountable.

 <i>Hope for a good time </i>is only due to the

<i>courage of women</i>. They are very <i>_humane and</i>

<i>cooperative</i>.

 O’Casy’s criticism of life is conveyed

through the <i>_{repetition of significance of deep}</i>

<i>dialogues.</i> The words of Mrs. Tancred

lamentation are pungently recorded by
Juno, when she too, is mourning over a
slain son.

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Social Unjust, Inequality  

Violence 

 “Sacred Heart of the Crucified Jesus, take away 

our hearts o’ stone……..an’ give us
hearts o’ flesh! ……..Take away this 

murdherin’ hate … an’ give us Thine own 
eternal love!”



Against the <i>_{vanity and moral bankruptcy}</i> of

masculine character, O’Casey elevates
the mother figure when Juno plans to

work for Mary and her unborn child. Juno

suffers the <i>_{pain of existence}</i> <i>_{but she sustains}</i>

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