What had been O'Casey's religious upbringing and what were his views on religion? (non-religious, had been raised in Anglican church) On politics in general? (a socialist)
What important events are incorporated into the plot? Can you tell from the play what had been Sean O'Casey's response to the Irish uprising of 1916?
What are some advantages of the play's four part structure?
What symbolism is associated with the image of the plough and the stars? (flag of Irish Citizen Army, a left-wing Irish nationalist group)
Act 1: What are some symbolic elements in the opening set description? (large cavalry sword lying on the table threatens domestic peace) What are some things which we learn about the Clitheroe household in the first act? (quarrelsome factions, somewhat held together by Nora) What do we learn about Nora from the opening description of her home?
What are some characteristics of the characters Fluther Good, Peter Flynn, and Mrs. Gogan? What are their attitudes towards one another, and towards Nora? (they all quarrel mindlessly with colorful attacks)
How are we introduced to Nora? (Mrs. Gogan disapproves of her clothing, notes that her marriage had formerly been happy but cattily assumes her and Jack Cliteroe's affection will fade; Nora is described as a frugal and a caring landlady)
What demonstration are the characters anticipating? (great Republican demonstration in Parnell Square called by Irish Citizen Army) Why isn't Jack Clitheroe involved with the Irish Citizen Army at the moment? (believes he hasn't been made a captain) How has his wife responded to this? (doesn't want him to fight, wants him to be safe)
How would you characterize the rhetoric used? (exaggerated, colorful, filled with images) How can we distinguish the speech of the different characters?
What views does The Covey offer, and why do these offend the others? (not a nationalist, anti-religious, believes in evolution, calls Fluther stupid, is sloppy with his clothing; seems a parody of a Marxist)
How do they respond to the picture of a sleeping Venus? (all disapprove) How does the allegedly religious Peter respond to Covey? (wishes him to be tortured in hell)
Who separates the fighting men? How old is Nora? (22) For what does she reprove them? (they destroy the respectability of the premises)
What do we learn about Bessie Burgess as she enters? (drinks, sings hymns at night, irritated by restraint, attacks Nora as slut)
On his entrance, how is Jack described? (25, desires authority)
What do they discuss at dinner? (upcoming meeting) What does Covey point out about the plough and stars flag? (originally a labor flag, not a nationalist one) How does Covey manage to turn a patriotic song, "Oh, where's th' slave so lowly" into an insult to Peter? (implies he is an enemy)
What seems to be Nora's role throughout? (tries to limit fighting and generally to calm and help her boarders)
What do she and Jack quarrel about? (she thinks he doesn't care about her) What is the topic of the song he sings after they reconcile? What ominously interrupts it? (Captain Brennan enters with the news that Jack has been appointed Commandant)
Why hasn't Jack learned of his appointment previously? (Nora has failed to tell him, has burned the letter) In what mood does he depart? (both are angry and upset)
Who enters at this point, and what do we learn about her? (Mollser is about 15, has tuberculosis) What is ironic about her view of Nora's home? (thinks it's ideal)
What is significant about the song which closes the scene? ("It's a long way to Tipperary")
What do we make of Bessie's final imprecations? (unfortunately prophetic)
What have been the main topics of contention? (religion, evolution, respectability, nationalism, militarism, propriety)
At what points does alliteration seem to appear most? (during exaggerated speeches and fights)
What seems added to the play by the songs in general? (often an ironic counterpoint to the themes raised)
Act 2:
What is significant about the setting? (a bar from which one can see the revolutionary meeting)
Why do you think "The Voice of the Man" is not given a specific name? (represents an attitude, speaks platitudes, glorifies war)
What effect do the speaker's words have on the various characters--the Barman, Rosie, Peter, and Fluther?
Why hasn't Covey been impressed? ("What's th' use o' freedom, if it's not economic freedom?") How does Rosie react to his views? (pretends to agree) Why does she turn her attentions to Fluther? (he buys her a drink)
How does Mrs. Gogan respond to these events? (admires military costumes, imagines they will be hung for their efforts on behalf of Ireland) How has Peter allegedly shown his patriotism? (has made an annual pilgrimage to Bodenstown to Wolf Tone's grave)
Of what does Bessie complain? (soldiers won't fight for Britain in the ongoing World War I) On what grounds does she attack Mrs. Gogan? (latter drinks in the company of men [as does she!]; accuses her of not being legally married) Who tries to prevent the women from quarreling, and with what result? (Peter and Fluther; they push the men away)
What motivates the Barman to try to evict Covey? (to prevent serious fight)
Throughout the act, what topics or pretexts motivate quarrels? (Fluther claims to have been active in Labor movment when chided by Covey; Rosie is angry when called a prostitute) What is the importance of comic boasts? The religious language? (used in self-righteous quarrels)
How is the phonetic spelling used? (often for humor or mockery)
What role does alcohol play in all this?
Is there a gender divide regarding the characters' response to war?
Who enters at the end of the act, and what are their emotions? ("mesmerized" by speeches)
What views are expressed by the soldiers? (Ireland greater than a mother or a wife, 178) Is this contrast ominous? What does each predict, and do these fates seem prophetic? (each imagines the fate he will receive, imprisonment, wounds, and death; Clitheroe predicts death)
After Rosie's song, whose voice commands the Dublin Battalion to march? (Clitheroe)
Are there instances of foreshadowing?
Act 3:
What has happened in the intervening months since Act 2? (Mollser's condition has worsened, fighting has ensued, Nora has gone in search of her husband)
In what condition is Nora brought in? What views does she express of war? What has she seen in the faces of the Irish rebel soldiers? (fear)
What role is given to Bessie? (warns, calls down curses, invokes Britannia) When she returns to the house, what has she brought? (has stolen loot)
What is symbolized by Covey's throwing of dice? What throws off the results? (sound of gunfire)
What is indicated by the characters' refusal to help the upper-class woman who wanders into the area? How is her speech mocked? (English accent, frightened)
What action is performed by Covey, the communist? (192, loots) Who joins him in looting ? (Fluther)
What is the condition of Langon, Brennan and Clitheroe when they enter? (Langon wounded) Who has refused to shoot his fellow Irishmen? (Clitheroe, in this context a good man, 193) How does he respond to the news that his wife has been seeking him at the barricades? (embarrassed and angry) What does he do to prevent her holding him back from leaving? (hurts her and flings her from him)
Who helps Nora into the house? (Bessie) Why do you think this detail is included? What event has overtaken Nora? (childbirth) Why can't Fluther be asked to go for a doctor to help her? (he's drunk) Are Bessie's religious thoughts as she leaves to seek a doctor appropriate? ("Oh, God, be Thou my help in time o' throuble"--first time her piety has accompanied a kind act)
What are some comparisons between the emotions and events in Acts I and III? How have matters shifted into a more serious register?
Act 4:
Is it significant that we never witness the battle underway in the Square? (war seen through its effect on ordinary people)
What symbolism is associated with the game of cards played by Fluther and Covey? What do they witness through window? (fires burning in city) Why have they moved from their own rooms? (shelled)
Who has just died? (newborn child and Mollser) Who has helped Nora in her childbirth?
What do we learn from Captain Brennan's account of events? (Jack Clitheroe shot, sends dying message to Nora, roof crashed in and he was burned)
What happens to Nora? (goes mad, seeking her husband and baby) Are there ironies in Bessie's singing of the hymn, "Lead Kindly Light," and why do you think O'Casey inserted this? (206, an English, Anglican hymn) Is it otherwise appropriate? (moving)
What emotions do the tenement dwellers and Captain Brennan share? (fear; others have no desire to help him or identify with the revolutionary cause)
What is Corporal Stoddart's purpose in entering? (to bear coffin away) What exchange do Covey and he have on the topic of socialism? What seems the point of presenting Covey's Marxism as pedantic?
For what does Mrs. Gogan express gratitude to Fluther? (does this involve a reversal of roles?) Who else does she thank? (Bessie has been kind and helpful to the sick Mollser.)
What is comic about Fluther's response to the news that he and the other men in the district will be rounded up and herded into a church? (concerned that it's a Protestant church) Under what conditions are they forced outside? (threat that they will be killed if another unionist is shot)
What is the significance of the song Nora sings? (Jack had sung it to her in Act I) What causes Bessie's death? (is shot while she tries to drag Nora from window)
Who remains in the last scene? What is the significance of the play's final song? What seems the play's final verdict on war? On the Irish uprising? (soldiers on both sides kill mindlessly and brutally)
Is this a unified play? A tragedy? What patterns and themes have drawn it together?
This play aroused great audience resentment when performed in the Abbey Theater. What aspects of its presentation or rhetoric do you think might have offended the audience? (seemed unpatriotic in its treatment of the uprising, the behavior of the soldiers, the looting by the populace, and the pain and havoc caused by the fighting; portrayal of religion and of prostitute in act 2 were deemed scandalous)