Relationships with Community, Family and Between Male and Female Are a Constant Source of Inspiration for Irish Writers. Discuss with Reference to Examples from Three Genres.

The short stories of Ireland are distinct and many times distinctly Irish. “The Limerick Gloves” by Maria Edgeworth, “The Pedlar’s Revenge” by Liam O’Flaherty, “The Poteen Maker” by Michael McLaverty, and “Loser” Val Mulkerns are each distinct Irish short stories that deal with Irish topics in original ways. These stories are stylistically and thematically Irish. They are moralistic and offer clear themes that pertain to Irish values. This analysis will explore the Irish-ness of the works and explore their meaning when held against Irish literary tenants.

    In the early twentieth century, Ireland, and more specifically Dublin, was a place defined by class distinctions. There were the wealthy, worldly upper-class who owned large, stately townhouses in the luxurious neighborhoods and the less fortunate, uneducated poor who lived in any shack they could afford in the middle of the city. For the most part, the affluent class was Protestant, while the struggling workers were overwhelmingly Catholic. These distinctions were the result of nearly a century of disparity in income, education, language, and occupation, and in turn were the fundamental bases for the internal struggle that many of Joyce's characters feel.

The setting of the story, Dublin, has been written in such a way that only

James Joyce wrote Dubliners to portray Dublin at the turn of the early 20th century. In Dubliners, faith and reason are represented using dark images and symbols. James Joyce uses these symbols to show the negative side of Dublin. In “The Sisters,” “The Boarding House,” and “The Dead” dark is expressed in many ways. James Joyce uses the light and dark form of symbolism in his imagination to make his stories come to life.

Dubliners (1914), by James Joyce (1882-1941) is a collection of short stories representing his home city at the start of the 20th century. Joyce 's work ‘was written between 1904 and 1907 ' (Haslam and Hooper, 2012, p. 13). The novel consists of fifteen stories; each one unfolds lives of the different lower middle-strata. Joyce wanted to convey something definite about Dublin and Irish society.

Identity is pivotal to the story and holds its own innate power, but what is even more pivotal is that the Irish do not necessarily all share the same views. The Irish find their history very important because it is the foundation of the language. Hugh says, “It is not the literal past, the ‘facts’ of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language” (88). It is evident then that Hugh finds the historical meanings of

Fascinating is one way of describing Irish Literature. All Irish literature seem to have similar characteristics. First, Irish literature always takes place in Ireland and is about Irish citizens or those with Irish heritage. If one does not know about the Irish, it is not always possible to understand the Irish by reading Irish literature because the authors? definition is what they believe to be Irish. Irish playwright, John Millington Synge, born in 1871 in rural Rathfarnham, outside Dublin Ireland died at age 37 in 1909, authored ?Playboy of the Western World? and award-winning, Irish playwright, author and poet, Sebastian Barry, born in 1955 in Dublin authored among others, ?The Secret Scripture? are not only similar in heritage, embodying the characteristics of Irish literature in these two works, written one hundred plus years apart, with similar genres?satirical tragedy and tragedy, but also show the strong influence of feminism, social expectations, and religion. The personal effect was greater for ?The Secret Scripture? as characters and events outlined in this book relate to instances in the life of my aunt, mother and

Included within the anthology The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction,1[1] are the works of great Irish authors written from around three hundred years ago, until as recently as the last decade. Since one might expect to find in an anthology such as this only expressions and interpretations of Irish or European places, events or peoples, some included material could be quite surprising in its contrasting content. One such inclusion comes from the novel Black Robe,2[2] by Irish-born author Brian Moore. Leaving Ireland as a young man afforded Moore a chance to see a great deal of the world and in reflection afforded him a great diversity of setting and theme in his writings. And

Brian Friel’s play Translations was the first production of the Field Day Theatre Company in Derry in 1980, which Friel co-founded with Stephen Rea. It describes the beginning of the process of Anglicization in a relatively remote Gaelic-speaking area during the 1833 Survey of Ireland, in which the English mapped Ireland, both culturally and geographically. Years of concerted anglicizing of the Irish by the British early in the 19th century led to the widespread fall into disuse of the native Gaelic tongue. National schools teaching exclusively in English began to open during the Survey of Ireland, and English culture encroached rapidly into Ireland. William Butler Yeats and Douglas Hyde write from the

Literature, apart from being a channel to depict the author’s work and thoughts on a particular subject, is also interpreted as a medium to reflect norms, values, customs, and so on from different times in history. As stated by Milton C. Albrecht, literature reveals “the ethos of culture, the processes of class struggle, and certain facts of social facts.” (425) Through literary works, authors may be able to reflect their thoughts on specific issues, such as social injustices, or just point out the inequity between different social aspects, such as gender, class or social status. This essay, therefore, focuses on “Wifey Redux” and “Fjord of Killary”, two of Kevin Barry’s short stories from Dark Lies in the Island as well as on “Death of a Field” and “Number Fifty-Two” from Paula Meehan’s Painting Rain to show how inequities of class and social status in Irish society are visible through indirect reflections onto the natural and material worlds.

     Throughout the story, Joyce portrays many symbols to show the boys transition into becoming an adult. Joyce says, “I sat staring at the clock for some time and, when its ticking began to irritate me, I left the room.” The ticking of the clock symbolized the long and frustrating journey into adulthood; and we see from the fact that it irritated him, shows his desire to become an adult already. Later in the story, Joyce portrays an instance where the boy desires to be a man even though he is not; “From the front window I saw my companions playing below in the street.” It is as if he is an adult, towering over his friends, looking down upon them when in reality they are the same age as he is.

At the turn of the 20th century, a young Irish novelist, James Joyce, released his first collection of short stories on Irish identity and what it means to exist in Ireland. In some of his most well-known stories, you can see Joyce building a contrast between the men and the women in Irish society. One of his most well-known short stories, “The Dead” takes a very explicit approach to gender politics as well as the idea of identity and race. My intention is to build a web from several stories in “Dubliners” and their political, racial and cultural implications as well as how they have influenced Irish culture.

The Dubliners is collection of short stories by James Joyce where all of the stories occur in Ireland, mostly in the capital of Dublin. These stories take place in the early years of the 20th Century. These stories depict the typical Irish middle class life. During this time period, there was a very negative morale. England was still in control of Ireland and the people of Ireland were very bitter. The Irish people had difficult lives and struggled with their responsibilities to support their families or to simply find happiness. The stories demonstrate the desire for the characters to escape their lives in Ireland for a more desirable life somewhere

“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” This quote by William Shakespeare certainly holds true to author Liam O’Flaherty, who had defiantly achieved greatness. Irish author Liam O’Flaherty was born August 28, 1897, on a small island off the coast of Ireland. O’Flaherty was famous for the short stories he wrote during the Irish Renaissance, a time around the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. However, writing was not all that O’Flaherty had worked as: a lumberjack, deckhand, dishwasher, bank clerk, and as a miner were various vocations he had been employed in. He had also traveled across several countries, some being the United States, Canada, and several others throughout South America. O’Flaherty also served in World War I after abandoning his quest for priesthood (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015). Sadly, on September 1, 1984, Liam O’Flaherty died at the age of 87, but he left behind an incredible collection of written works for people around the world to enjoy.

Ireland is a country that is rich in culture, traditions, and faith. This country has struggled with over time with famine, religious tension, and even freedom. Many individuals immigrated to America in search of a better life. The person I chose to interview family came over to the United States when Ireland was struggling with famine. They came over on a boat through New York and changed there name to make it more American. For this paper I will further discuss the Irish culture and the person I interviewed.