Brian Friel's "Translations"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the notion of change, both of the Irish nation through colonizing British politics and the character of the central protagonist Owen of Brian Friel's play "Translations" (1980) is continually debated throughout the play, which is set in Baile Beag during the 19th century, then an Irish-speaking community in County Donegal. The author points out that, between Act II and Act III, Owen's attitude towards the Irish begins its most fundamental change as he realizes that the true purpose of the English solicitation of translation is not to modernize or improve Ireland but to make taxation of Irish provinces easier for the Mother Country and to make sites of potential military unrest more easily identifiable in the case of military turmoil. The paper relates that the play "Translations" is presented as a series of conflicts between the Irish and English military as well as between ancient and modern attitudes to the world beyond Ireland.

From the Paper:

"Towards the end of the play, as Owen's views begin to change, he also begins to rediscover his Irish roots through his new immersion in Irish culture. The town has changed-it has grown more radically opposed to Britain. At first, Owen is purely frustrated with individuals such as Manus, who can speak English, yet chooses not to, to demonstrate his local rather than national pride and says, "What's 'incorrect' about the place-names we have here?" Magnus rages against the enforced renaming. Manus is far from uneducated-as a student from a local hedge school he can speak Irish, Latin, and Greek. Magnus prefers, however, to dwell in the Classical rather than the present day, something that Owen first believes is simply ludicrous, even while he gradually begins to appreciate the difficulties of translation more fully, as he attempts to give County Donegal English names."

More papers on Brian Friel's "Translations":

• Analytical Essay # 57847 : "Language and Society in "Translations"
• Analytical Essay # 57446 : "Friel's "Translations"
• Book Review # 91966 : "The National Romance"

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