You can see my review over at The Literary Sisters as well.The first book I decided to review for the Reading Ireland Month is none other than W.B. Yeats' play 'Cathleen Ni Houlihan'. Written in 1902 and performed in April of the same year in Dublin, it is a play of great symbolic and historic significance for Ireland and the turbulent period it refers to.'Cathleen Ni Houlihan' is set in an Irish village during the Rebellion of 1798 against the British and it follows a critical moment in the liv...

Sometimes I forget how multifaceted Yeats is. I also forget how sinister some of his mysticism can be.This short play is based in 1798 in Ireland when the French arrived to help the Irish with their rebellion. Cathleen Ni Houlihan is a mystical old woman who appears in the house of a family preparing for their son's marriage. By the end of the play Cathleen convinces Michael (the groom) to leave the house to meet the French.Yeats' nationalism abounds in this play. I loved our class discussion ab...

OLD WOMAN. I have my thoughts and I have my hopes.MICHAEL. What hopes have you to hold to?OLD WOMAN. The hope of getting my beautiful fields back again; the hope of putting thestrangers out of my house. I would never believe such a short play could be so striking...The reason why I found this play so impressive might be due to the fact that I have been reading and dwelling on a lot about The Easter Rising and Irish history recently; however, the quoted part above got me ruminate upon the past on...

I read this while putting together an exhibit on Irish Literature relating to the 1916 Easter Rising for my Rare Books seminar last semester. It's a tiny play, but really good. It's exactly what I want out of Irish literature - nationalistic, proud, sad, and poignant. Plus, Maud Gonne played Cathleen when it first opened, and I just love the whole unrequited love thing Yeats had with her.

As it was my first Irish play, I’m glad to say that I loved it. I could easily understand the references, so it was a really nice read. I had to read it for one of my classes, it’s called Changing Ireland and as a French student, it is nice to expand my knowledge on Irish civilization and literature.

This play (written by Lady Gregory and attributed to Yeats) is an intriguing cornerstone of the Abbey Theatre and Modern Irish Drama - its idealised vision of Irish rebellion through blood sacrifice was certainly admired and well-received when it was first produced, but over a hundred years later, with a history education mostly valorising the countless rebellions and risings of days past, I see it as dangerous and unsettling. The sean bean bocht is honestly creepy , her somnambulant preoccupat...

An outstanding play with some particularly poignant messages about patriotism, war, and national identity. All fans of literature should read this at least once.

4'5/5.A very short and beautiful one-act play that represents the sacrifices of those who fought for (mother) Ireland.

Did you see an old woman going down the path?I did not, but I saw a young girl, and she had the walk of a queen.

“He died for love of me: many a man has died for love of me.”

“The hope of getting my beautiful fields back again; the hope of putting the strangers out of my house.” was a very quick read and an interesting take on irish nationalism and how cathleen represents ireland itself. uhh symbolism!!!! there’s not really a whole lot to discuss here since the show is so straight forward with its symbolism and metaphors but i enjoyed it.

One of the first things I noticed while reading Cathleen ni Houlihan is how much it resembles a Japanese noh play. "That's quite a lofty thought," I said to myself, "but it's okay because you're a grad student." Here you have characters who are joined by the shite, the Old Woman, who, by being there and imparting her wisdom, changes this household for good. So quickly, too, and by speaking of Ireland's history. And you could say that Michael is the waki, and is "travelling" to his marriage (so t...

Can I possibly love Yeats more? Yes, because he was smart enough to work with Augusta Gregory! This play is gorgeous and, as Zan says, multi-faceted. I love that they together created the new face for the spirit of Ireland. I love Henry Merritt's analysis which sees Cathleen as a vampire. Wow!

Cathleen ni Houlihan is a kind of miracle. It is not deep, it is not elevated by any great poetry, or made memorable by any vivid character or absorbing plot. Yet this one-act play, in its simple prose and folk-tale purity, not only expresses ardently the nationalistic aspirations of the Irish people, but does so without the self-satisfied triumphalism which habitually blights such patriotic works.Set in the days of the 1798 rebellion, when the French were about to land on the West Coast, the pl...

The battle cry for any Irish Revival artist/follower. Produces a love for Ireland and introduces Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan who becomes the symbol for Ireland, herself. Moving, powerful and written for the Abbey Theatre.

Reading this felt fun, relaxed and easy. Yeats, being the talented wordsmith that he is, manages to capture the lilt of Western Irish dialogue perfectly. The musicality of the Mayo people is reflected wondrously in the dialogue of the play - I could hear the intended intonation of every word as I read, leaving me with feeling as though I had just swallowed ice-cold water: cool; crisp; refreshed. Moreover, Yeats' use of ballads and his implication of the supernatural feel very forest-nymph-like,

Read for class.

Young man sacrifices himself for IrelandVery political play. I like it

"Did that play of mine send out /Certain men the English shot?" - Yeats, "Man and the Echo," 1938 (shortly before his death)."I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in th...

An old woman arrives at an Irish family's home as they are making preparations for the marriage of their oldest son. She tells the family her sad tale of Irish heroes who have given their lives for her. She ultimately lures the groom away to join the Irish rebellion of 1798.This is very interesting from a historical standpoint. It helped spread Irish nationalism and may have contributed to the 1916 Easter Rising. I also found it interesting how Yeats and Lady Gregory used folklore in the play. G...