Gender Issues are as Important as Memory in Friel's Play - Assignment Example

? Gender issues are as important as memory in Friel’s play Introduction: Brian Friel holds a good command over depicting his early memories and life in his literary works. His literature represents Ireland as a land that is in continuous struggle to wrestle with its own distinctiveness and identity. He has highlighted almost all the characteristics of the newly established Irish state in his work such as lack of language, the division of Irish society in different units and the hypocrisy of newly established Irish state that failed to adjust with the insufficiency of its societal structure. In his play, ‘Dancing at Lughnasa (1990), Friel has highlighted some of the important themes such as migration and memory. The main theme of the play revolves around the role of memory with earliest historical events that took place in Ireland during the early twentieth century. The play serves more than the subjects of migration and memory. It highlights the plight of women characters bounded in their inner world, forced to be submissive in front of the male dominance and bounded to obey the norms of the traditional culture with suppressed voices and oppressed souls. Critical Analysis of the play with reference to role of rural women in Ireland and main theme of the play: Through this play, we can observe the revival of feminine struggle in Irish theaters and how it changed the concept of being a woman in the Irish society. Throughout this play, Friel has portrayed the struggle of Irish people along their frustrations and humor. The play reflects the transformation of a culture predominated by different historical events and struggle of the Irish people for their liberation in different walks of life. The central characters of the play are represented by the female roles. The role of women in Irish history had always been of silent spectators with suppressed voices and depressed souls. The rural Irish women were not given the liberty of what they wanted to be, in fact, they were stressed on becoming what people and the society desired. According to Lojek (2006), back in old days of Ireland women were not granted the status they truly deserved. In other words, we can say that women were not granted the ideal role they deserve other than just being a ‘wife’ or a ‘mother’. The lives of Irish rural women revolved around fulfilling just two simple roles in a pre-defined social structure. Friel as a modern dramatist has displayed his immense interest in projecting the underappreciated roles of women in Irish history by giving voices to their silence. Not only their silent voices in the fictional town of Bellybeg got the words to standby for their rights, but we can also feel the claim proposed by the silent voices for everything they have lost during the period of suppression. It projects the emotions of Mundy sisters who were entrapped in a moment of history where they were haunted by the memories of the past and the ugliness of their present; each converging with one another and thus, penetrating in their peaceful lives. Friel has portrayed that how industrialization was slowly and gradually taking over the quiet and peaceful lives of the sister in Country Donegal and despite, all this industrialization and modernization, the people are adhered to their old traditions including Irish music and dance. In Friel’s play it has been shown that how industrialization and Irish dance, together struggle with each other for Mundy’s interest and how the return of Jack affected them. During those times, dancing was considered solely as an expression of displaying female sexual energy. The playwright has also highlighted the strong bonding among the sisters and uncovers the dominance of their male counterparts in their lives. Though, the Mundy sisters appear independent, strong and courageous young females but loneliness and loss have overshadowed their lives to a great extent. The play projects the memories of the narrator, Michael Mundy who is none other than Friel himself. The play not only reflects the haunting memories from Friel’s own past but, it also uncovers the author’s thoughtful understanding towards the Irish culture, their traditions and oppression against women in its past. It is interesting to know that Friel has named each of the female character in the play after the names of his own aunts. The play is a mirror to Friel’s own life. The lives of Mundy sisters revolve around fulfilling their traditional roles in home as well as making both the ends meet despite living in a male-dominating society. During their time together in events of summer, they share the joy of being together with each other, simultaneously, in the next time; they are torn apart under the influence of the same elements. The Lughnasa festival was one of the events that brought massive changes in their lives. It was a seasonal ritual which was celebrated on the first day of August. Lugh was considered as a Celtic God of Harvest which was connected the lives of Irish people to their land and Irish culture before the dawn of Catholic dominance. The entire Mundy family feels entrapped in the quest of this dominance. Kate projects her ideals of piousness and Catholic morality and firmly believes that it is the Church which is responsible for holding the family firmly together. Lughnasa represents a dilemma between the humanly utmost desire to be free and the harsh realities of the world. Michael also tells about his memories of that summer when his Uncle Jack returned from Uganda; working there as a missionary from last twenty-five years. His return to Bellybeg with the evident signs of malaria marked his awaiting death. Although, Jack has not played a major role in the play but his presence has greatly influenced the female characters. They start taking care of themselves with a thought that Jack would give them a helping hand in maintaining and running the home. But, to their disappointment, Jack abandoned by the Church for his actions, ends up with his life in misery. As a punishment for Jack’s actions, the Church dismisses Kate from her teaching post. This clearly shows the hostile attitude of the Church towards women during early twentieth century. Jack’s excommunication by the Catholic Church due to his beliefs in African pagan rituals and Kate’s dismissal from her teaching post has now pushed the family towards misery that ended nowhere, but dancing at Ballybeg. In the play, Kate has appeared as a woman with strong communal beliefs and principles. She accuses Jack for his pagan beliefs and opposes Gerry’s frequent visits at her home for Chris. Through the character of Kate, Friel has portrayed the traditional image of a woman with conservative thinking in a society where women had limited freedom and exposure of the outside world. Michael also recalls his memories regarding Kate and her behavior towards him as an unwanted child of Chris and Gerry. She openly shows her conservative thoughts on their intimate relationship and considers it as a threat for damaging the structure of the home based on morality and piety. Even when Lughnasa invites the sisters to dance at the festival, Kate disposes the idea of participating. Kate finds it hard to control her temper and hatred for attending the festival by calling it as a practice of pagan beliefs which could endanger the structure of the entire society based on the teachings of their Catholic Church. The play depicts the country’s struggle between pagan and Catholic ideals. The presence of female characters expresses the story of Mundy sisters that were stuck between love and loss in a rapidly transforming culture of Ireland. It highlights the quest of Agnes and Rose in search of their independence from Kate’s conservative approach and from the home where they were no less than prisoners. While on the other hand, the other three sisters stayed at home, living a life of prisoners and surrounded by the concrete wall of so-called rules and norms put on females by the Irish culture. The dancing of Mundy sisters represent their bitter reaction against the social rules and so-called norms that stands against the freedom of women. The escape of Agnes and Rose was merely a escape from the suppressive control of Kate, yet, they were pushed to suffer in a different part of the world where a woman is just a woman with little or no respect. It is interesting to mention that Friel’s two aunts fled from their hometown to London in search of better living standards and freedom that they were seeking. However, just like Agnes and Rose, Friel has never heard of them ever in life. Somehow, the play represents the early memories of Friel in a traditional sphere. Industrialization is another key element which greatly influenced the Irish women to move into industrial work. But unfortunately, as these women moved out of their homes, they were welcomed by the harsh realities of the outside world and ultimately they were forced back to move into their family cell (Conrad, 2004). Another key aspect that was raised in the play was the reason that why Kate was so over-protective about her sisters. As mentioned earlier that in early twentieth century Irish was a country bounded by traditional culture and conservative societal norms. It was a male-dominated country where female rights meant nothing more than scripted words. In such a world, Kate’s harsh yet over protected attitude for her sisters was justified. Her sole objective was to protect them from the world outside without having any influence or role of any men in their lives. The women in those times were surrounded by the implications imposed on them through various social controls and political cells. Conclusion: ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ is a memoir-like play by Friel. The play discusses the most controversial and yet, the most sensitive subject such as the plight of the female characters and the actions of their male counterparts in a traditional Irish culture. The play also discusses the role of social institutions and morality According to Lojek (2006), the women in Friel’s play are the victims of patriarchal world. In the play to show the society’s conservativeness, Friel has portrayed Kate as a woman with ultra conservative thoughts and ideal who stands against the concept of women serving out of their traditional gender roles. Lojek (2006) has also discussed the ‘male gaze’ which refers to the Michael’s narration of the story. He holds a stereotypical male gaze which fails to address the issues of women faced by them during the earlier times. The female characters in this play have taken the daring challenge against all the odd constraints for their bright future. The play holds a socio-cultural approach which creates each of the female character bounded by political cells, myths, influenced by the Church and male hegemony. These factors have contributed in highlighting the self-identity of a woman in a broader perspective. Such plays have also contributed in projecting the role of Irish women and illuminating their female identity. Friel has tried to represent the women who are challenged by the traditional expectations of the society embedded in dogmatic control and influence of the Church and the State. He has tried to explain that how industrial revolution provoked the sense of freedom in Irish women, how they reacted to male supremacy and what compelled them to go against the traditional norms. The maniac dance by the Mundy sisters seemed to the world outside as an attempt of transgression and, of crossing the forbidden boundaries. In this play Friel has represented the inner world of women as their house; a place where they rule but continuously threatened by the outer world which is dominated by the masculine powers. The outer world not only symbolizes danger but, also provokes sins in the form of desires. Even in the play, the inner world of these women was threatened by the bubbles of fuming desire and repression. The female characters wanted a male in their life for love and other sexual pleasures but their desires were repressed by Kate. Friel has well narrated the issues of women faced in an Irish sphere where women enjoyed the fantasies but finally they learnt to take the courageous step against all the odds and gained what they ever wanted; their freedom out of their traditional gender roles. Word count approximately: 2048 List of References: Conrad, K. A. (2004). Locked in the Family Cell: Gender, Sexuality and Political Agency in Irish National Discourse. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press Friel, B. (1990). Dancing at Lughnasa. London: Faber and Faber Lojek, Helen. (2006).  "Dancing at Lughnasa and the unfinished revolution." The Cambridge Companion to Brian Friel. Ed. Anthony Roche. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Collections Online. Cambridge University Press. 15 May 2012DOI:10.1017/CCOL0521853990.008 Read More