description: Dylan Thomas never completed Under Milk Wood. It was published after his death in 1954. BBC 1st broadcast it on 1/25/54 on the 3rd Programme. Other productions followed in '78 &amp; '94. Best known is the '63 production for radio, w/narration by Welshman Richard Burton, who claimed "the entire thing is about religion, the idea of death &amp; sex". These themes are central to the colorful characters described with fondness by Thomas. The author introduces the people of Llareggub (changed to Llaregyb by censorious editors), thru their dreams &amp; creates some idea of what will be important to them when they're awake. For Dai Bread it is harems. Polly Garter loves babies. Nogood Boyo dreams of "Nothing". The town itself has its own personality divided along Freudian lines into a conscious world of daily activity narrated by the 1st Voice &amp; a subconscious world of intimate thoughts &amp; feelings revealed by the 2nd. There are powerful, often sexual, forces operating beneath the calm exterior of a town which has "fallen head over bells in love". 2nd Voice exposes the secret fantasies of Gossamer Beynon who feels Sinbad Sailor's "goatbeard tickle her in the middle of the world" &amp; of Mr Pugh who imagines concocting "a fricassee of deadly nightshade" to poison his wife. Each relationship is governed by peculiar rules &amp; each character remains involved in his or her own idea of love. In Thomas' world these sensuous relationships cannot be separated from death's dark shadow. Promiscuous Polly Garter sings all day of her lost love Little Willy Wee. The only husband Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard can tolerate is a dead one. Captain Cat is haunted by the memory of Rosie Probert, "the one love of his sea-life". Many characters are troubled by frustrated, sometimes explicit, desires. Under Milk Wood is a sensitive, often comic, examination of Welsh life. The people are viewed as being particularly blessed. They are the "chosen people of His kind fire in Llareggub's land". The town retains its own magic &amp; holy significance despite its faults.
language: English
title: Under Milk Wood
titlecomplete: Under Milk Wood
characters: Polly Garter, Gossamer Beynon, Captain Cat, Dylan Thomas, Nogood Boyo, Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard, Dai Bread
genres: Fiction, Plays, 20th Century, Theatre, Classics, British Literature, Drama, Literature, Poetry, Audiobook
ratings_count: 9228
places: United Kingdom, Wales, LLareggub, Wales
publisher: New Directions (NY)