Postcolonial Criticism
Friel seems to be making a rather harsh comment on Irish society in this play. Ballybeg is filled with people who cannot communicate with one another and whose lives are marked by monotony or delusion or both. This comment seems, however, to extend beyond the particularity of the Irish situation into a reflection on the human condition.
Ballybeg is the background of this play. As the name indicates (transliteration of Baile Beag = small town), it is a place of narrow horizons and limited possibilities. It is set in 1960s Donegal. The community represented in the play is small, their movement is limited and few possibilities of broadening their horizons exist. The lifestyle is set and predictable.
The female characters are also subject to the limitations of this type of society. Kate, Lizzie, Madge and Maire (Gar's mother) are the main female characters. They are controlled by society's conventions. Kate must marry into the right social circles. Even though Lizzie has gone to America, she still feels a failure because she has not been able to have children. Madge is the housekeeper but is more of a mother figure in the O'Donnell household.
Religion is represented through the figure of the Canon. It is clear that he is inept and ineffective. Gar satirises his ineptitude when he comes in one evening to play his usual game of cards with S. B., "Sure Canon what interest have you in money? Sure as long as you get to Tenerife for five weeks every winter, what interest have you in money?".
The education system is highlighted through Master Boyle. We learn how he is having plenty of confrontations with the school, the priest and the teacher. He is an alcoholic and a failed poet.
Through the figure of the Senator we gain an insight into the privileged ruling class of rural Ireland in the sixties. Senator Doogan is a social snob, who is clearly concerned with fostering the right social connections.
Ballybeg is the background of this play. As the name indicates (transliteration of Baile Beag = small town), it is a place of narrow horizons and limited possibilities. It is set in 1960s Donegal. The community represented in the play is small, their movement is limited and few possibilities of broadening their horizons exist. The lifestyle is set and predictable.
The female characters are also subject to the limitations of this type of society. Kate, Lizzie, Madge and Maire (Gar's mother) are the main female characters. They are controlled by society's conventions. Kate must marry into the right social circles. Even though Lizzie has gone to America, she still feels a failure because she has not been able to have children. Madge is the housekeeper but is more of a mother figure in the O'Donnell household.
Religion is represented through the figure of the Canon. It is clear that he is inept and ineffective. Gar satirises his ineptitude when he comes in one evening to play his usual game of cards with S. B., "Sure Canon what interest have you in money? Sure as long as you get to Tenerife for five weeks every winter, what interest have you in money?".
The education system is highlighted through Master Boyle. We learn how he is having plenty of confrontations with the school, the priest and the teacher. He is an alcoholic and a failed poet.
Through the figure of the Senator we gain an insight into the privileged ruling class of rural Ireland in the sixties. Senator Doogan is a social snob, who is clearly concerned with fostering the right social connections.