Zusammenfassung der Ressource
DaL
- Characters
- Narrator Michael
- Repeated use of 'when I cast my mind back' shows it is memory
- 'when' suggests he has moved on
- memories 'offer themselves to [him]
- Michaels power and the power of memory
- Boy Michael
- has minimal dialogue
- finds his voice after leaving
- Lines are spoken by offstage adult Michael
- Uncle Jack
- Missionary - home from Africa
- Difficulty adapting to life in Balleybeg
- Grammatically incorrect speech - shows his
- Gerry
- Michael's absent father
- English accent - despite living in Ireland and Wales
- Personification of outside world
- At first seems flirtatious and nice but is revealed to be manipulative
- Temps Chris but is fickle
- Kate
- Teacher
- Formal speech
- Head of house
- Represents tradition
- Agnes
- Looks after Rose
- Chris
- Rose
- Mentally delayed
- Childlike speech and mannerisms
- Endearing and comic relief
- Maggie
- Comedic - used to relieve tension
- Forgets punchline to joke - foreshadowing downfall as
tension is not relieved
- Nature of memory
- Relationships
- Rose & Danny Bradley
- He is married and Rose is
naive about what he wants
from her
- Gerry & Uncle Jack
- Both migrants
- Hat exchange
- Shared experience
- Context
- Poverty and unemployment in 1930s Ireland lead to much migration
- This situation is not explicitly referenced but implications are made
- Opening of the factory leading to Rose and Agnes's job loss
- Industrialisation
- 1936
- Religion
- Catholicism
- Kate - voice of tradition - believes the radio 'killed all Christian conversation in this country'
- Outside influence
- Paganism
- Links to Uncle Jack's spiritual practices in Uganda
- Native dances and scarifices
- Play is set during pagen harvest ritual of Lughnasa
- Michael's kites have mask-like faces
- Dancing
- Music
- Marconi
- Works sporadically
- Temporary happiness
- Gerry singing "Anything Goes" while dancing with Agnes
- Sexually suggestive lyrics
- Foreshadowing Gerry's secret wife & child
- Carefree
- Influence of world outside Balleybeg
- Kate sees dancing as sexual freedom
- Pagan ideals
- Kate's dancing is reserved
- Tribal Rituals