John Bull's Other Island

By George Bernard Shaw

Subjects: Abbey Theatre, British and irish drama (dramatic works by one author), Home Rule, Irish Literary Theatre

Description: "A play by George Bernard Shaw. It was written at the request of William Butler Yeats for the Irish Literary Theatre, the group that later became the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. As might be expected, the play deals with the conflict between the Irish and the English over home rule. The preface, written after the play, is strictly political, but the drama is subtle, having neither hero nor villain. The Irishman, Larry Doyle, is sensitive, imaginative, and more mature than his English friend, Tom Broadbent. Broadbent's life is more straightforward, simpler than Doyle's; he is practical, adaptable, less bothered by thinking and feeling. "The conflict between the two men is in their characteristics, not their personalities. By the end of the play, Tom has assumed all of Larry's ties with his birthplace in ireland: his girlfriend, his Parliamentary candidacy, even control of his property. This happens, not through conniving - - Tom is too honest - - but through Larry's reticence and Tom's blunt ambition." - - Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia - Fourth Edition