Friel uses language and translation as a dramatic device. A dramatic technique that Friel uses is showing the difficulties that the English and Irish have in understanding each other. Friel is interested in this and wants to show this to the audience. Friel must know that not many of his audiences will understand the Gaelic language and so uses English instead of Gaelic so that the audiences can understand. However, the Irish characters are speaking in Gaelic in the play. This dramatic technique illuminates the theme of alienation and the power of language because the Irish and the English are separated by language. Almost all of the characters in the play experience alienation. Yolland is alienated through language and is frustrated because he is unable to communicate with the Irish people. Yolland mentions that he is alienated through language when he says: ‘I feel very foolish to-to-be working here and not to speak your language.’ Also when Yolland says ‘I- mean- I feel so cut off from people here.’ It could also illuminate the theme of failure of communication because the Irish and the English have many difficulties in communicating with each other. The differences of the Irish and the English can be resolved by celebrating what they love about each other’s culture. Maire and Yolland do this when they fall in love. Language and translation is a dramatic device that Friel uses and it helps to express themes of alienation, failure of communication, and love. Yolland and Maire fail to express themselves or their real feelings towards each other sometimes and it could be that they love each other because they don’t understand what they both want. Yolland wants to stay in Ireland with Maire and Maire wants to emigrate from Ireland to anywhere else with Yolland. They don’t understand each other and this is shown when Maire says: ‘I want to live with you- anywhere- anywhere at all- always- always.’ It is also shown that they don’t understand each other when Yolland says; ‘I would tell you how I want to be here- to live here- always- with- you- always, always.’ This shows that they both want different things. If they understood each other and knew that they wanted different things they might not love each other. Therefore he used the dramatic device of language and translation to illuminate the themes of failure of communication, alienation and love, because Maire and Yolland love each other without understanding each other.
One dramatic technique that Friel uses is the way he ended the play. The play ends with a lot of uncertainties and loose ends. The play ends without us finding out what happens to the community we have been reading about. We do not find out if it has been destroyed. The play ends without us finding out what happens to Yolland although we may think that he has been killed. We also do not know what happened to Maire although we may think that she has emigrated. Friel may have ended the story of the play the way he did to let the audience make up their own minds about the ending. Friel has created a play that does not seem to have a beginning or ending like many other plays. I think that this is representative of time itself, which doesn’t begin or end. The play does not follow a conventional structure like other plays. Many of the storylines in the play are unresolved. This can be related to Maire and Yolland who want to run away from their old lives rather than resolve them and they want to live away from their original homes. Maire wants to live anywhere but in Ireland rather than resolving her problems at home. Yolland has fallen in love with Ireland and wants to stay there. The ending of the play is a dramatic technique that Friel uses to illuminate the theme of change. It looks like the complications of the play have not been resolved because Friel did not write the solutions in the play. Therefore, these complications will bring a change because they have not been resolved. The dramatic technique of leaving the problems unresolved illuminates the theme of change.
When Owen drops the name book this is a dramatic device used by Friel. When he drops it ‘He stoops to pick it up- hesitates- leaves it.’ This shows that he is thinking and could be uneasy about the names being changed. Owen then later says that ‘It’s only a catalogue of names.’ This could mean that Owen thinks that the new names will not change the Irish community. However, because Owen drops the name book at the end and attempts to pick it up but doesn’t this could indicate that he is unsure about what the effects of the new names on the community are. Hugh thinks that the names will alter the Irish community because they will change the minds and ways of life of people there.
Another dramatic device that I will talk about is the fact that Friel does not present the two different languages in two ways. Instead he presents us with one language. This is very significant because it shows us the two communities who are alienated from each other by language without alienating the audience of the play by language. The audience will get to understand the Irish and their views and not be alienated therefore the audience will get to understand both sides. A dramatic device that Friel uses could be that the English characters show that they are unable to understand what the Irish characters are saying which reminds us that the Irish are speaking Gaelic, for example when Manus says: ‘Doesn’t he want to learn Irish? (to Yolland) Don’t you want to learn Irish?’ Then Yolland replies: ‘Sorry- sorry? I- I-.’
The final dramatic technique that Friel uses is using the character Owen to translate for Yolland and Maire. Therefore we can see the division of the two and it leads to frustration for both of them. We can see that they are divided at first because they cannot express their ideas to each other for example when Maire says: ‘We wave to each other across the fields’ and then when Yolland says: ‘sorry, sorry.’ We see that Owen divides them and stands between them at first until they are able to understand each other emotionally. We can see that they both struggle to express their real feelings towards each other. Friel also uses the character Lancey to represent all English soldiers and how they feel.
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Wide reading analysis. English Literature Coursework.