masculine character, O’Casey elevates the mother figure when Juno plans to. work for Mary and her unborn child[r]
(1)DRAMA II
Modern Drama
Lecture 12
(2)SYNOPSIS
O’Casey ‘s Works are a representation of
contemporary influences: Nothingness,
Hollowness and Purposelessness
Irish Civil War: Jingoism
How it effects the society and the individuals,
How it crushes the economy and the system,
How it disintegrates the family structure,
how it demolishes the psychology of the people
and how it creates generation gap
How this influence results in Nothingness,
(3)Sean O’Casey was born in 1818 and died in
1964 The play has been written on the
background of Irish Civil War, which has been going for centuries
(4)Irish Civil War
Juno and the Paycock: Jingois
(5)Jingoism
flag waving “an appeal
intended to arouse
(6)Jingoism (Denotation)
(7) 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
(8)(9)WWI – Irish War
Main Ireland got independence after the
First World War
Ireland is divided into Southern and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is now called Ulster 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
(10)“Juno and the Paycock”
War at its background (like O’Casey’s other plays)
O’Casey is very much against the war fought under any pretext He closely observed
how war affects the society and the individuals,
how war crushes the economy and the system,
how war disintegrates the family structure,
how it demolishes the psychology of the people
and how it creates generation gap
(11)O’Casy’s Position
Thus O’Casey condemns…
(12)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.”
(13)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
(14)Social Unjust, Inequality Violence
Brutality: Foreign to IrishmenThere are lots of references in the play
regarding Ireland‘s religious and political
history
Irish makes many attempts to shake off
the foreign yoke Foreigners are very
inhuman to them In 1916, hundred of
casualties and the execution of the leaders are faultless examples of that
(15)Social Unjust, Inequality Violence
Inhumanity: Irishman to Irishman
But this inhumanity is not just caused by
foreigners The real problem arises with
the killing of Irishman by Irishman
War, or to be more exact, a civil war 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 death of Robbie Tancred and Johnny Boyle are perfect examples of that
(16)Social Unjust, Inequality Violence
Johnny, who has lost an arm and has a hip
shattered in a fight, is at the end dragged away and shot by his former republican
commanders because he betrayed comrade
Tancred
All this shows that Ireland is preying on
herself Earlier Johnny had undoubtedly
behaved heroically but the hellish civil war
compelled him to betray his comrade
This means the stupid civil war is turning
into traitors because of its nothingness and
hollowness purposelessness
(17)Social Unjust, Inequality Violence
Mirrorism: Inhumanity vs Humanity
Juno emerges as a great humanist and
realist
She is a true pacifist and is against man’s
inhumanity against man
She has an acute observation and knows
about the truth of things
She is very realist and antiidealist When
Mary emphasizes that one ought to
stand by one’s principle being “a
(18)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!”
(19)Social Unjust, Inequality Violence
The domestic tragedy, which mainly springs
out form pregnancy, is due to the inhumanity of
the male.
That male chauvinist society cannot
tolerate a mistake by a young girl
Whereas on the other hand the idiots like
captain Boyle and Joxer Daly are left unaccountable
Hope for a good time is only due to the
courage of women They are very humane and
cooperative
O’Casy’s criticism of life is conveyed
through the repetition of significance of deep
dialogues. The words of Mrs Tancred
lamentation are pungently recorded by Juno, when she too, is mourning over a slain son
(20)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 vanity and moral bankruptcy of
masculine character, O’Casey elevates the mother figure when Juno plans to
work for Mary and her unborn child Juno
suffers the pain of existence but she sustains
patriotism bias nationalism Britain Russia