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U56, b) LITERARY BACKGROUND - Coggle Diagram

- - - - All regional parliaments were abolished, and instead the entire UK was to be ruled from a centralised London parliament. For most Irish, there wasn't a noticeable difference, but it meant the Irish government representatives could not pass laws on their own.
  - - - (2) This led to the Irish War of Independence (or Anglo-Irish War) on January 21, 1919 started when the Irish Parliament declared the establishment of an independent Irish Republic and on the same day the Irish Republican Army (IRA) started a guerrilla warfare (with ambushes, raids & assassinations) targeting British forces.
        
        (3) After three years of war, the conflict led to negotiations and both sides agreed to a truce, the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which resulted in the partition of Ireland: the 6 northern counties remaining part of the United Kingdom with a majority protestant population, Northern Ireland; and the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) of 26 counties still part of the Commonwealth & mostly Catholic.
        
        The signing of this treatry led to internal divisions in Ireland, leading to a 10-month civil war (1922-23) between pro- & anti-Treaty forces, as the latter were seeking a fully independent Irish Republic. It was a dark chapter in the history of Ireland. After the civil war ended, the Free State evolved into the Republic of Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution in 1937 and the declaration of a republic in 1949.
        
        the Irish Civil War
        
        the Anglo-Irish Treaty
        
        War of Independence
      - the Easter Rising
  - - - From 1960s, despite some temporary ups & downs, relations between the Republic of Ireland & the UK have become better and better. However, complete reconciliation between them will not be possible until a political solution to the problem of the Northern Ireland is found.
  - - - In the 19th c. occurred the worst disaster in Irish history, the Great Hunger or Irish Famine. The causes were that (1) British politics that didin't allow the Irish to carry out their much needed agrarian revolution, (2) the demographic growth that occurred thanks to the better health and hygienic living conditions, (3) the precarious potato crop, and (4) Britain did not help them.
    - - Ireland was never invaded by Romans or Anglo Saxons but it suffered Viking incursions, which took away a great part of their Celtic heritage.
    - - Christianity was spread in Ireland by a British slave, St. Patrick, around 432 but it was not completed until the 6th century.
    - - The Norman first arrived in the 1060s in Britain with Henry II of England (Anglo-Norman king), they dominated much of the country intermarried with the Irish and established the English system of government (central govb. & feudal system), so Irish life changed dramatically after the Norman invasion.
        
        However, their conquest was still slow & incomplete, and the Irish hostility towards the foreign English was felt for many centuries.
    - - In the 16th c. Irish resentement towards English Conquerors increased dramatically when Henry VIII rejected the pope's authority, breaking ties with the Catholic Church and establishing the Protestant Church of England. The imposition of Protestantism in England had a profound impact on Ireland, which was predominantly Catholic.
    - - In 1641, just prior to the English Civil War, an Irish rebellion was ruthlessly crushed by Cromwell and hundreds of thousands died. As a consequence, penal laws were enacted against the Catholics: they lost their civic rights and were outlawed.
      - & Cromwell's suppression
    - - Kingdom of
      - In 1707, the Acts of Union were passed by both the English and Scottish Parliaments, leading to their political union and the creation of a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain, with a unified Parliament based in Westminster and under a single crown. However, the Kingdom of Ireland was left out and the British government did not respond to their request to be included.
- - - - Born into a working-class protestant family in Dublin's inner city, one of the worst slums in Europe at the time. He experienced poverty & hardship as his father died when he was only 6, leaving the family poorer. O'Casey suffered from poor eyesight, which limited his education, but he was largely self-educated, developing a lifelong love for literature.
        
        O'Casey was deeply involved in the Irish nationalist movement. He became politically active in his youth and got involved with socialist & nationalists movements like the "Gaelic League" & the "Irish Republican Brotherhood", which greatly influenced his later works. He also changed his name to its Irish form and learned Gaelic. However, O'Casey’s views clashed with the nationalist leadership when he criticized them for focusing more on nationalism than on improving the lives of the working class, leading to disillusionment & a departure from political activism.
        
        O'Casey had a complicated relationship with the Abbey Theatre (the premier Irish national theatre) in Dublin. Although the Abbey staged his most famous works, the tension between them increased when one of his later plays, The Silver Tassie (1928), was rejected by the Abbey for being too experimental & un-Irish. Feeling betrayed, he left Ireland & settled in England.
        
        After leaving Ireland, he settled in Devon, England, where he spent the rest of his life. He continued to write plays, essays & autobiographical works, but his later works were not as successful as his earlier Dublin Trilogy. (his first 3 plays at the Abbey Theatre & an instant success).
        
        the Dublin Trilogy
        
        The Plough and the Stars
        
        (1926)
        
        Controversy
        
        When the play premiered at the Abbey Theatre in 1926, it provoked outrage & protests from some audience members. O’Casey’s unflinching portrayal of the Easter Rising and the ordinary citizens involved—often depicted as flawed, confused, and vulnerable—challenged the glorified narratives of Irish nationalism.
        
        The Shadow of a Gunman
        
        Inspired by real-life
        
        Historical & current relevance
        
        Drawn from O'Casey's experiences growing up in the tenements of Dublin and witnessing the political and social upheavals of early 20th-c. Ireland. He was deeply affected by the Easter Rising & the subsequent War of Independence, leading him to write plays that criticized the romanticization of war and questioned the heroism of violent revolution.
        
        The play is considered a landmark in Irish theater because it broke away from the idealistic portrayals of Irish heroes and instead focused on the gritty, everyday realities of Dubliners, which was a bold move for the time. The play’s commentary on the futility of political violence & the dangers of romanticizing war is still relevant today.
        
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        (1923)
        
        Juno and the Paycock
        
        (1924)
        
        Critique of Irish society
        
        Strong female protagonist
        
        The play subtly critiques Irish society during the Civil War period. O’Casey highlights how political events impacted ordinary lives while also examining social issues such as gender roles, family dynamics, religion & poverty.
        
        Juno Boyle is as one of O’Casey’s strongest & most memorable characters. In a time when women’s roles were often confined to the domestic sphere, Juno is portrayed as the backbone of the family, holding everything together in the face of poverty &political strife. Her resilience, wisdom, and practicality contrast sharply with her husband’s weakness and irresponsibility.
        
        These plays explore the effects of political & social turmoil on the lives of ordinary people during the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War. It is an exploration of the human condition in the face of social & political turmoil.
  - - - Born in Dublin, Ireland. His family went through financial ups and downs as his father, John Joyce, was a heavy drinker & squandered the family fortune. This affected Joyce deeply and is reflected in the recurring themes of poverty & social decay in Dubliners. Despite these challenges, James Joyce was highly intelligent. He showed a gift for writing & a passion for literature, so his family pushed him to get an education. After college, he studied modern languages at University College Dublin.
        
        Joyce left Ireland in 1904 at the age of 22 with his partner, Nora Barnacle, and lived much of his life in self-imposed exile in various cities across Europe, including Paris, and later Zurich (Switzerland) and Trieste (Italy). He worked as an English teacher and tried to make ends meet while pursuing his literary career. And although most of his adult life was spent abroad, Dublin continued to be the setting of all his fictional works. His strongest criticism on his country was the paralysis of Irish society.
        
        Nora Barnacle played a crucial role in Joyce's life & work. They met in Dublin and their first date, on June 16, 1931, inspired the day on which Ulysses is set. She was also the inspiration for Molly Bloom, the protagonist's wife in Uslysses. The couple eventually married in 1931, but their relationship remained unconventional & deeply intertwined with Joyce's creative process.
        
        Due to its sexual content & innovative style, Ulysses faced significant censorship issues. It was banned in the US & the UK for many years. A famous obscenity trial in 1933 in the US led to Judge ruling in favor of Ulysses, declaring it not obscene. This decision changed the landscape of literary freedom in the US.
        
        He had a remarkable talent for languages, as he could speak 17 languages (became a polyglot & linguist), which is reflected in Finnegans Wake.
        
        Although Joyce is considered one of the greatest writers in the English language today, his work did not bring him financial success during his lifetime, so he relied heavily on the support of patrons.
        
        Dubliners (1913)
        
        A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1915)
        
        Ulysses (1918)
        
        Finnegans Wake (1939)
        
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