1. Patricia Navarra
Patricia.C.Navarra@hofstra.edu
516-463-0234
CourseDescription
HUHC 20C (H1) IRISH DRAMA AND THEPOLITICAL STAGE
TR 2:20-3:45
CRN: 21523
Thiscourse examinesIrishdramaascultural and political collaboration,inflectedthroughideology,
stagingand programming. We will considerthe originandinternational influenceof the IrishLiterary
Revival (Yeats,LadyGregory,Synge) inthe midst of Ireland’srepublicanrevolution,withitsrootsin
Dublinandthe Aran Islands;the 1980 formationof the FieldDayCompanyby writerBrianFriel and
actor StephenReainNorthernIreland,andthe traditionof TheaterFestivalsinDublinandGalway
duringthe rise and developmentof one of the mostpowerful national dramasof the twentiethcentury.
O’Casey,Beckett,Carr,Behan,Mitchell,McDonaghandMcPhersonwill be considered. We will
examine the publicdiscourse of Irishdramainthe spiritof poetSeamusHeaney,who,havingseenthe
firstproductionof “Translations”inDerry,declared,“Thisiswhattheaterwassupposedtodo.”
CourseObjectives
Students will read and view Anglo Irish Drama within political and cultural context(s),acquire and
develop dramaturgical skills, and be able to analyze works in dramatic literature and the
performing arts.
Student achievement will be measured by the development of two formal papers (4-5 pages, a
research project and oral presentation, and in-class writing and discussions. This class will be an
intensive reading, writing, and public speaking experience which calls upon critical thinking and
reading skills and exposes students to the following student learning goals/objectives:
-- The ability to think critically and creatively
-- The ability to read with comprehension, and critically interpret written work in discipline-
specific contexts
-- Enlist several academic disciples to explore how the Irish Literary Revival and the emergence
of Irish drama in the English language influenced Irish and world literature, culture and politics.
2. -- Refine research skills and criteria, so that students can independently explore new areas of
study.
-- Enhance students’ abilities to analyze the connections between art, literature and culture.
-- Consider the significance between art and community.
-- Strengthen students’ abilities to express ideas and opinions in oral presentation.
-- Collaborate within small learning communities.
Required Texts:
Martin McDonagh, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays, Vintage International,
NY 1998 ISBN: 035704876
Conor McPherson, The Weir, 0822217060
Brian Friel, Translations, 0582414754
Marina Carr, By the Bog of Cats, 0822218569
Gary Mitchell, Loyal Women, 1854597833
Brendan Behan, The Borstal Boy, 1567921051
Various articles, excerpts, poetry and scenes will be posted on e-reserve or Blackboard, or as
noted in your reading schedule.
Films (we will see at least one full-length film as a class); some possibilities:
Michael Collins
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Bloody Sunday
Classroom policies
1. You are allowed two absences without penalty; a third absence will result in the reduction
of your grade by one letter grade. A fifth absence can result in a failing grade for the
course. Most classes begin with a 10-minute quiz, which will be a written response (in
3. your journal) to a question about the readings which are due that day. This is part of your
engagement and participation grade. It is also your chance to ask questions. Quizzes
may not be made up outside of class.
3. There will be three short (three - page) writing assignments (20% each), and one final research
project and oral presentation (20%). Your participation in various Irish Studies events on
campus, will count for extra credit when available. Your in-class writing responses will make up
20% of your grade. (Irish Studies events will be posted; your attendance will also require a one-
page response in your journal – a blue book which I will collect periodically.)
4. Avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious ethical and professional infraction. Hofstra’s policy
on academic honesty reads: “The academic community assumes that work of any kind [...] is
done, entirely, and without assistance, by and only for the individual(s) whose name(s) it
bears.” Please refer to the “Procedure for Handling Violations of Academic Honesty by
Undergraduate Students at Hofstra University” to be found at
http://www.hofstra.edu/PDF/Senate_FPS_11.pdf , for details about what constitutes
plagiarism, and Hofstra’s procedures for handling violations.
5. Note on Disability:
If you have any concerns regarding a physical, psychological and/or learning disability that may
have an impact upon your performance in this course, appropriate accommodations can be made
on an individualized, as-needed basis after the needs, circumstances and documentation have
been evaluated by the appropriate office on campus. The Office of Services for Students with
Disabilities is located in 212 Memorial Hall. Telephone: 516-463-7074. Please see the Hofstra
Guide to Pride, or: http://www.hofstra.edu/StudentAffairs/stddis/index.html. All disability-
related information will be kept confidential
Bibliography (suggested resources for your final research project):
song lyrics: The Fields of Athenry; Skibbereen (music)
Malachy McCourt, Danny Boy: The Beloved Irish Ballad, 2001 (psychology; history)
Eamonn Wall, From the Sin-e-Café to the Black Hills: Notes on the New Irish, 2000 (sociology)
Cormac O’Grada, Black ’47 and Beyond: the Great Irish Famine in History, Economy, and
Memory, 2000 (economics)
Moira L. Ray, The Irish Literary Revival and Its Gaelic Writers, Sewanee Review, 1906
Cornelius Weygandt, The Irish Literary Revival, Sewanee Review, 1904
4. Edward Hirsch, The Imaginary Irish Peasant, Modern Language Association, 1991
This syllabus is a work in progress and subject to change.
**********
Tentative Class/Reading Schedule:
Note: all classes begin with a 10-minute in-class writing assignment to be kept in class
journals
Irish Studies events TBA (required; expect to attend some events in the evenings)
Week 1- Edward Hirsch, Imaginary Irish Peasant*, Bobby Sands, “The Lark and the
Freedom Fighter”; Seamus Heaney, “from the Cure at Troy”; lyrics, “The Fields of
Athenry”; Yeats, Easter 1916
Week 2 - Cornelius Weygandt, The Irish Literary Revival*; Moira Ray, The Irish Literary
Revival and Its Gaelic Writers *; readings from O’Casey, Martyn, Yeats, Synge TBA; scenes
from “Michael Collins”
Week 3- Martin McDonough, The Beauty Queen of Leenane; paper assignment (3-page
paper) distributed
Week 4- Conor McPherson, The Weir
Week 5- Week 6- McDonough, A Skull in Connemara; paper assignment #1 due; paper
assignment #2 distributed
Week 7- Friel, Translations
Week 8- Carr, By the Bog of Cats; paper assignment #2 due; assignment #3 distributed
Week 9 – Behan, The Borstal Boy
Week 10 – Mitchell, Loyal Women; paper assignment #3 due
Week 11- SPRING BREAK
Week 12 – “A Nightingale Falling”, Garret Daly, director, 2014
Week 13 – oral presentations and review
Week 14 – oral presentations and review
Week 15 – oral presentations and reading day
5. Week 16 – final exams
*Additional readings: Edward Hirsch, The Imaginary Irish Peasant, Moira Ray, The Irish
Literary Revival and Its Gaelic Writers; Cornelius Weygandt, The Irish Literary Revival;
pdfs or links will be posted on Blackboard. You are responsible for printing them and
bringing to class.
Other required reading:
Northern Murals:
http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/search/collection/mni/searchterm/Bobby%20Sands
/mode/exact
“The Lark and the Freedom Fighter”; others, TBA:
http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/radical/TheWritingsofBobbySands.pdf
Lyrics, The Fields of Athenry
By a lonely prison wall,
I heard a young girl calling
Michael, they have taken you away,
For you stole Trevelyan's corn,
So the young might see the morn.
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
By a lonely prison wall,
I heard a young man calling
Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
Against the famine and the Crown,
I rebelled, they cut me down.
Now you must raise our child with dignity.
6. Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
By a lonely harbor wall,
she watched the last star falling
As that prison ship sailed out against the sky
Sure she'll wait and hope and pray,
for her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.
Easter, 1916 William Butler Yeats
I HAVE met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
That woman's days were spent
In ignorant good-will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When, young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our winged horse;
7. This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vainglorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road.
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud,
Minute by minute they change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashes within it;
The long-legged moor-hens dive,
And hens to moor-cocks call;
Minute by minute they live:
The stone's in the midst of all.
Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
8. MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
Wm. Butler Yeats
met them at close of day
oming wi vivid faces
om counter or desk among grey
ghteenth-cen
- Seamus Heaney (required reading):
from The Cure at Troy
Human beings suffer,
they torture one another,
they get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
can fully right a wrong
inflicted or endured.
The innocent in gaols
beat on their bars together.
A hunger-striker's father
stands in the graveyard dumb.
The police widow in veils
faints at the funeral home.
History says, Don't hope
on this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
the longed for tidal wave
of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.
So hope for a great sea-change
on the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
and cures and healing wells.
Call the miracle self-healing:
The utter self-revealing
double-take of feeling.
If there's fire on the mountain
III
Hearts wi
one purpos
alone
Through
summer
and winter
seem
Enchanted
to a stone
To trouble
the living
stream.
The horse
that comes
from the
road,
The rider,
the birds
that range
From cloud
to tumblin
cloud,
Minute by
minute the
change;
A shadow
cloud on th
stream
Changes
minute by
minute;
A horse-
hoof slides
on the brim
9. Or lightning and storm
And a god speaks from the sky
That means someone is hearing
the outcry and the birth-cry
of new life at its term.
~ Seamus Heaney ~
Supplemental reading:
http://marcella32.wordpress.com/category/marcella/page/35/http://marcella32.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_archive.html
http://marcella32.wordpress.com/category/marcella/page/35/
http://www.easter1916.net/
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nap/easter_1916_yeats.htm
http://ireland.wlu.edu/landscape/Group2/index.html
ses.
And a hors
plashes
within it;
The long-
legged
moor-hens
dive,
And hens t
moor-cock
call;
Minute by
minute the
live:
The stone'
in the mid
of it all.
10. I have passd awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
hat woman's days were spent
ignorant good-will,
er nights in argument
ntil her voice grew shrill.
hat voice more sweet than hers
hen, young and beautiful,
he rode to harriers?
his man had kept a school
nd rode our winged horse;
his other his helper and friend
as coming into his force;
e might have won fame in the end,
o sensitive his nature seemed,
o daring and sweet his thought.
his other man I had dreamed
drunken, vainglorious lout.
e had done most bitter wrong
o some who are near to my heart,
et I number him in the song;
e, too, has resigned his part
the casual comedy;
e, too, has been changed in his turn,
ansformed utterly:
terrible beauty is born.
IV
Too long a
sacrifice
Can make
stone of th
heart.
O when
may it
suffice?
That is
Heaven's
part, our
part
To murmer
name upon
name,
As a moth
names her
child
When slee
at last has
come
On limbs
that had
run wild.
What is it
but
nightfall?
No, no, no
night but
death;
Was it
11. needless
death afte
all?
For Englan
may keep
faith
For all tha
is done an
said.
We know
their
dream;
enough
To know
they
dreamed
and are
dead;
And what i
excess of
love
Bewildered
them till
they died?
I write it
out in a
verse--
MacDonag
and
MacBride
And
Connolly
and Pearse
Now and in
time to be
Wherever
green is
worn,
Are
changed,
changed
utterly:
A terrible
beauty is
