The Plough and the Stars: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Plough and the Stars" is a significant play by Sean O'Casey that explores the lives and struggles of characters amid the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence. Major characters include Nora Clitheroe, a deeply affected woman whose emotional state deteriorates when her husband, Jack Clitheroe, an Irish patriot, goes off to fight and is ultimately killed. Nora's uncle, Peter Flynn, embodies a more passive form of patriotism, stirred by the rhetoric surrounding him but lacking action. Fluther Good, a tenement resident, often succumbs to heavy drinking but remains a supportive figure in the community.
The play also presents Mrs. Gogan, a feisty neighborhood woman with strong opinions, and her daughter Mollser, whose tragic death underscores the dire realities of their environment. Bessie Burgess represents a more robust female presence in the tenement, contrasting with the vulnerability of characters like Mollser. Additionally, figures such as Captain Brennan and Corporal Stoddart provide insight into the complexities of loyalty and conflict during this turbulent time in Irish history. This character-driven narrative offers a poignant examination of personal and social struggles in the face of national upheaval.
The Plough and the Stars: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Sean O'Casey
First published: 1926
Genre: Play
Locale: Dublin, Ireland
Plot: Social realism
Time: 1916
Nora Clitheroe, an Irish woman whose husband is a member of the Citizen Army. She nearly loses her sanity when he goes off to fight on the barricades and is killed.
Jack Clitheroe, Nora's husband, an Irish patriot who is killed in the fighting.
Peter Flynn, Nora's uncle, a rather pathetic, ineffectual man whose patriotism is stirred by the oratory he hears.
Fluther Good, one of the tenement dwellers. He is given to heavy drinking but makes himself generally helpful to his neighbors.
Mrs. Gogan, a neighborhood woman who engages in a bar-room brawl with Bessie Burgess and disapproves of Nora buying so many new clothes.
Mollser Gogan, the small daughter of Mrs. Gogan. She dies of tuberculosis and is buried in a coffin shared with Nora's stillborn child.
Bessie Burgess, one of the tenement women. She is coarse and vigorous.
The Covey, Nora's cousin, who is the purveyor of the author's views concerning the poverty of the Irish and the problem of their independence.
Captain Brennan, an officer in the Irish Citizen Army and a comrade in arms of Jack Clitheroe.
Corporal Stoddart, an English soldier who escorts the coffin of Mollser Gogan and Nora's child.
Sergeant Tinley, of the Wiltshires.