"A Soft Lad the Like of You": Complex Father-Son Relationships in Three "Millennial" Irish Texts

<p>This thesis addresses the complex relationship between fathers and sons in three highly successful literary texts that grapple with Irish nationalism: Sydney Owenson's The Wild Irish Girl, J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, and Hugo Hamilton's The Speckled People. Each text comes from a different historical moment, but each of these moments is distinguished by major change, a change so paradigm-shifting as to be worthy of the adjective millennial. While many literary critics have paid huge attention to the figure of Ireland as mother - and, indeed, Ireland in other female roles (Old Woman, beautiful young queen, fabulous Sky Woman) - few have interrogated what role dynamic father-son relationships have in stories; whether novels or plays, conscious of shifting political, social, and cultural realities in Ireland. It is with in this vacuum that I propose the literary device, the father and son trope, as an effective means for developing a discourse on the power struggle that is colonialism.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts in English (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Literature and Philosophy

Year dc:date.available

2010

Author dc:creator

• Bruner, Marla Suzanne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Joe Pellegrino
• John Murray
• n/a

• ETD
• Sydney Owenson
• Lady Morgan
• The wild Irish girl
• JM Synge
• Playboy of the Western world
• Hugo Hamilton
• Speckled people
• Fathers and sons
• Irish literature
• Masculinity
• Family dynamics
• Colonialism
• English Language and Literature

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/189

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1189