The distinctive voice of women is examined across a variety of genres in a culture shaped by colonialism and Catholicism as much as by a Celtic past. Attention is also given to the influence and effect of poetry written in Irish. The course covers the founding of the Abbey Theatre and the work of such dramatists as Lady Gregory, Synge, and O'Casey, and the literary careers of Yeats and Joyce. Particular attention is given to the celebration of Irish folklore and its heroic figures and to the use of language to serve political as well as artistic purposes. The course explores dramatic work in terms of their historic context as well as their style and substance, particularly as they represent recent changes in Ireland.
Texts vary, depending on Dublin's playbills.
Students attend performances in Dublin. Visits to the Abbey and Gate theaters are arranged. Field study component. Focuses on the forms of government in Ireland during the past two hundred years and their interpretation of individual rights. Comparisons are drawn between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland following the establishment of the Irish Free State.