Irish Literature Flashcards
Absurdist Playwright of “Endgame,” where Hamm and his parents Nagg and Neil struggle to survive in a post apocaltypic world, as well as “Krapp’s Last Tape” featuring an old man listening to recordings of his past life while eating bananas. He also wrote the “the Trilogy” or “the Beckett Trilogy” of the novels Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnable.
Samuel Beckett
Most famous Beckett play where Vladimir and Estragon encounter Pozzo and his slave Lucky while waiting for the title character.
Waiting for Godot
This Irish author of “Elegy on the death of a Mad Dog” and The Deserted Village about the abandoning of Auburn is famous for “She Stoops to Conquer,” a play about Kate Hardcastle who pretends to be low-class to suit Charles Marlow’s romantic preferences.
Oliver Goldsmith
This Goldsmith plays features the title character, Dr. Charles Primrose, losing his livelihood after his son George’s marriage is called off and he goes bankrupt after his merchant investor leaves the country. After moving to the plot of Squire Thornhill, eventually after many tribulations George gets his marriage and Charles gets his money back.
The Vicar of Wakefield
This author of “Digging” (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47555/digging) which features a man daydreaming about his father’s shovel work and “Mid-Term Break” in which a boy encounters death for the first time when his four year old brother’s corpse is carried in an ambulance included those two poems in his famed collection Death of a Naturalist. He’s also known for translating Beowulf.
Seamus Heaney
Irish Revolutionary playwright of his most famous work Plough and the Stars, in which Nora Clitheroe struggles to keep her life stable while her husband Jack fights in the Easter Rising.
Sean O’Casey
Playwright of The Rivals, in which Captain Absolute angers Mrs. Malaprop by trying to woo Lydia Languish while disguised as a poor ensign, as well as The Critic where two people critique the fictional play The Spanish Armada. He also wrote The School for Scandal.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Most famous satirist in the English language, writing his best known work Gulliver’s Travels, A Modest Proposal - suggesting poor Irish families sell their children, Battle of the Books satirizing the conflict between ancients (preferring ancient wisdom) and moderns (preferring modern science), and Tale of a Tub which metaphorically describes the three branches of Christianity as three brothers.
Jonathan Swift
Playwright of Riders to the Sea, featuring a woman trying to prevent her son from drowning like her husband and other sons. His most famous work is Playboy of the Western World, in which a man goes around saying he kills his father, thrilling people instead of inspiring retribution. The shocking story enraged many Irish revolutionaries and caused riots in Dublin.
John Millington Synge
Play by Wilde where the title lady hears rumors that her husband is having an affair with Mrs. Erylnne since he is paying Mrs. Erylnne a lot of money. Later Lord Darlington asks the title lady to run away with her, which she almost agrees with it. However, in a plot twist, Mrs. Erylnne is revealed to be the title lady’s poor mother who abandoned her family when she was younger, and she convinces the title lady to stay with her husband and son.
Lady Windemere’s Fan
Interesting novel by Wilde (his only one) in which the title character is influenced by both the strong traditional morality and purity of Basil Hallward (the creator of the title object) and the hedonism, scandal, and sin of Lord Henry. Rejecting Basil for Harry (and later killing Basil), He eventually finds himself in constant scandal, breaking up a relationship with Sibyl Vane, an actress who calls him “prince charming,” then killing her brother James after she commits suicide. He is able to transfer all his sin and corruption to the title object, before eventually dying.
Picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde play in which Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing both use the title fake persona/double identity to try and win over women. Algernon has a fake brother named “Bunbury” who he uses to get out of social obligations - in fact he at one point straight up eats a cucumber sandwich meant for his aunt.
The Importance of Being Earnest
His poem “Easter, 1916” concerns his thoughts on the Irish revolutionaries, which many sections ending with the line “A terrible beauty is born.” His poem “Sailing to Byzantium” concerns his thoughts on aging, spirituality, and immortality, and it begins “There is no country for old men.”
William Butler Yeats
Very mystical modernist Yeats poem which allegorically analyzes interwar Europe. He speaks of a “falcon that cannot hear his falconer” and a “rough beast sloughing towards Bethlehem.” He says “Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.:
The Second Coming
