Alienation in the Drama of Brian Friel

Abstract

When Brian Friel died in 2015, his passing reverberated across the literary world. Acclaimed as one of the greatest Irish playwrights, critics and reviewers noted how the issue of the border was reflected in his life. Born a Catholic in County Tyrone, Friel lived in Donegal for most of his life. He was both a product of Northern Ireland and the south of Ireland. His work reflects on notions of belonging, a sense of rootlessness and estrangement. In his drama, characters experience alienation at various levels: family, society, economy, culture and politics. While critics and scholars have observed such themes in Friel’s work, to date no full-length study has been undertaken into the theme of alienation in Friel’s plays. This thesis addresses this lacuna and examines a range of Friel’s plays from perspectives of family, community, culture and history. It draws on theories of alienation from Karl Marx to Homi Bhabha and works within a broadly postcolonial framework. It also pays close attention to sociological theories of the family. Friel writes plays which powerfully depict the struggles and alienation of the individual within an Irish society that suffers from social, economic, and cultural problems. I examine how characters are alienated on different levels in Friel’s drama; they are alienated from themselves, from their communities and from their history. The reason behind the characters’ suffering of alienation results from their failure to satisfy their human needs, such as the need for love and the need for belongingness. The thesis is supported by extensive archival research undertaken in the Brian Friel Archive at the National Library of Ireland as well as engagement with the work of leading Friel critics.