Overview

This book details the Irish socialistic tracks pursued by Bernard Shaw and Sean O’Casey, mostly after 1916, that were arguably impacted by the executed James Connolly. The historical context is carefully unearthed, stretching from its 1894 roots via W. B. Yeats’ dream of Shaw as a menacing, yet grinning sewing machine, to Shaw’s and O’Casey’s 1928 masterworks. In the process, Shaw’s War Issues for Irishmen, Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress, The Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman, Saint Joan, The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism, and O’Casey’s The Story of the Irish Citizen Army, The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, The Plough and the Stars, and The Silver Tassie are reconsidered, revealing previously undiscovered textures to the masterworks. All of which provides a rethinking, a reconsideration of Ireland’s great drama of the 1920s, as well as furthering the knowledge of Shaw, O’Casey,and Connolly.

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9783030742768

Table of Contents

Reviews

The book will be of great interest and value to those outside of Shavian interests. It is a fascinating and richly detailed account of the socialist and cultural history ... . the book reminds us of the need for any study and full understanding of the period to consider class and labor politics at the heart of the political, social, and cultural events of the time. (Barry Houlihan, SHAW The Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies, Vol. 42 (1), 2022)

In the monograph's epilogue, Ritschel provides evidence that Conolly's influence has continued, even breaking out in such unlikely places as a John Lennon song and a statue in front of the official residence of the current Irish president, Michael D. Higgins ... . Well, historians have their role to play in preparing the conditions for society's continued evolution, and by helping his readers understand the past, Ritschel has perhaps also shown us options for the future. (Julie Sparks, Irish Literary Supplement, Vol. 42 (1), 2022) The book will be of great interest and value to those outside of Shavian interests. It is a fascinating and richly detailed account of the socialist and cultural history ... . the book reminds us of the need for any study and full understanding of the period to consider class and labor politics at the heart of the political, social, and cultural events of the time. (Barry Houlihan, SHAW The Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies, Vol. 42 (1), 2022)

Author Information

Nelson O’Ceallaigh Ritschel is the author of Bernard Shaw, W. T. Stead, and the New Journalism (2017) and Shaw, Synge, Connolly, and Socialist Provocation (2011). He is a professor of Humanities, Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

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