Representing Rural Ireland through the Characters Isabel Sebode 12th Grade

Dependency on agricultural livestock, the number of cattle declining by 10%, low wages and increasing levels of emigration: this is rural Ireland in 1936. Set in the small fictional town Ballybeg, the rural-pastoral trope constantly underlies the action of the play Dancing at Lughnasa, written by the Irish playwright Brian Friel. The time of dramatic action was marked by industrialization and globalization so that the microcosm of the Mundy family represents the Irish individual’s experience in times of socio-political change. The play attempts to give the audience insight into the effects that changes in the tradition, politics and society of a country have on an often forgotten or marginalized social group: the rural inhabitants, which in the case of Ireland actually represented the majority of the population. Hence, one of the main features of characterization used to illustrate the Mundy family is the rural setting, which Friel aims to accentuate from the exposition to the dénouement of the play. He does this through emphasizing specific character traits of the Mundy sisters, the conflict between Catholicism and paganism and lastly through using subtle remarks that indicate their awareness of Ireland’s political situation...