Translations was written in 1980 as the first play to be produced by Brian Friels theatre company, Field Day. The companys aims were to reinvigorate discussion about Irish history and culture.

Translations

Translations was written in 1980 as the first play to be produced by Brian Friel’s theatre company, Field Day. The company’s aims were to reinvigorate discussion about Irish history and culture.

The play set the tone for future Field Day productions, which continued to explore notions of language, community and cultural identity through looking at the myths and stereotypes that exist about Ireland and its people. Rather than producing dry, political tracts on the concept of what Ireland is and was, the members of Field Day chose to address these questions through literature, concentrating on the reactions of people normally forgotten by history. The play is set in Baile Beag, in 1833, at a time when the British Empire was expanding throughout the world. The play uses the concept of translation as its central focus, dealing with language translation and the crossing over of national boundaries. Language is the main area of attention, with everything spinning off from its difficulties and possibilities. It is the main means through which people mediate their experience of the world, and how they define what they are and what they see. To deprive a nation of its mother tongue is, essentially, to deprive the culture of its individuality and distinctiveness. The English renaming of places, and introduction of English as the main language used threatened Ireland and its identity in a fundamental way, as the Irish people would be alienated from their own country and past, and so no longer possess them. There are other facets to the play, however, as it deals with the way that people interact, and interpret each other, both within their own community and outside of it. Friel not only opens up discussion about what it means to be Irish, but also about what it means to be human.

Plot summary

Not much action actually happens on stage in Translations. This occurs off stage, which is one of the key elements of Greek drama. Words are used to present movement rather than explicit action. In this way, the characters report back to the audience about what is happening in the world outside of the hedge school, acting as a sort of chorus. There is also a tragic element to the play, provided by Maire and Yolland.

The play opens quietly, with Manus teaching Sarah to name herself, while Jimmy Jack Cassie reads– the most un-dramatic of pastimes. There is a split between those who are educated and those who are not. Manus bridges the gap at the beginning, moving between Sarah and Jimmy Jack easily and considerately. His attitude changes through the play as he lose Maire and Yolland disappears.

The characters come in, in staggered intervals, each adding a conversational and thematic thread to the dialogue. Maire is concerned with moving to America. Bridget and Doalty talk about interfering with, and hampering, the English effort to map the region.

The lesson begins when Hugh enters, drunk and tired, asking about the etymology of words. Just before Owen enters and is greeted like the Prodigal Son, Hugh mentions the new National school. Owen introduces Captain Lancey and Lieutenant Yolland, and mistranslates Lancey’s speech about the English motives for the mapping and renaming of Ireland. The first act ends with tension ...

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The second act opens with an echo of the first. There are namings occurring, with Owen more committed to the act than Yolland. They are both drunk, and Yolland drifts off into romantic talk of Ireland and how he wants to be a part of it. Hugh comes in and mocks myths about Ireland through talk about Irish as a language of poetry to counteract the poverty and hardship of life. Owen is frustrated with Yolland’s romantic view of his country and eventually loses his temper, telling Yolland what his real name is. They celebrate this baptism with more drinks while Manus tells them of the job he has been offered as a teacher on Inis Meadhon. Maire delivers milk, and asks Yolland through Owen, to a dance the following night.

Maire and Yolland are next seen together, trying to talk to each other, and becoming increasingly frustrated with their inability to communicate. The sound of their voices draws them together, and eventually they kiss. Sarah sees them, and runs off to tell Manus.

The atmosphere changes in Act three, as Yolland has disappeared. Owen is optimistic, refusing to face up to the real possibility that he has been killed. Lancey threatens the town with eviction if he is not found. Doalty suggests that he knows where the mythical Donnelly Twins might be, and goes off to get them. Maire appears, highly distressed and talks of Yolland. Hugh eventually offers to teach her English, just as he says that they must all learn the new place names and make them their own. The play ends with Jimmy Jack talking about the dangers of marrying outside of the tribe and Hugh translating Latin, talking of a mythical country that was threatened by a neighbouring race of men.

Language and power

In the Bible, God gave Adam the right to name all the creatures of the Earth. This meant that he had dominion over them. Extend this idea into different languages, and think about how the renaming of Irish place names gives the English authority over the Irish. There is a direct reference to this when Owen regains his name in Act Two.

Language and communication

There are different aspects of communication in the play. Owen sees words as fluid symbols that have no fixed meaning. This creates problems, as meaning can be confused and the truth of what someone is saying can be lost. Think about the word translation itself. It can mean interpreting, or the act of crossing over.

Language and identity

The language we speak gives us a cultural identity, as it places us within a society of like-minded individuals. Yolland wants to learn Irish, but is worried that he will never fit into the Irish community. It also provides us with a personal identity, as it dictates how we think and respond to things.

Progress

Some characters in the play welcome the opportunities that learning English provide, while some are resistant to them, either actively or passively. Change does not necessarily have to be either good or bad, but can be a mixture of both.

Friendship and love

Owen left Baile Beag years before, possibly looking for something that he could not find there. He does not get on well with Manus, and allows himself to be renamed Roland when he joins up with the army. Think about the similarities in sound between Yolland and Roland. Maire and Yolland watch each other before they speak to each other, cannot communicate, and yet seem able to respond to each other and see each other’s desire.

Is this possible because of instinct, like love at first sight, or because they read into and misinterpret what the other wants out of Ireland?

How is Owen’s search for friendship and belonging reflected in Yolland’s action? Is it a mirror image, or the same essential desire?

The past and mythology

As Hugh says, the past is not whole or real. All we have from the past is what has survived through writing or an oral tradition of storytelling. There is, though, a lot that we can learn from the past, as Jimmy Jack tries to point out to Doalty in Act One when he talks about black soil and quotes from Virgil. However, mythology is the warping of the reality into a story that is exaggerated or changed for certain purposes. The confusion of the two leads to Jimmy’s collapse at the end of the play.

Equally, the fact that Ireland is under threat of destruction from the English means that its culture and language will be romanticised/mythologized by those who either wish to hold onto the past, or who only see the good aspects of the country.

Education

Friel presents the characters to the audience through education. The whole play is set in a hedge school, where the students pay willingly to learn Latin or Greek and how to write or speak. These languages are considered to be the languages of culture and learning, and form the basis of words that describe abstract, philosophical theories in English.

In a short play like Translations, the focus of the drama is on shifting relationships demonstrated through language and conversation. Virtually anywhere in the play can be viewed as a key section. This is demonstrated by exam boards choosing passage-based questions from all over the play. To counter this, take a specific moment of translation or linguistic play and explore the consequences that could arise from it.

It is also problematic to choose a central character in the play, as all the characters are central to their own development and the development of themes. However, each character has an echo or reflection in another character; think about how Owen and Manus interact, and about the attraction between Maire and Yolland. What does each of these characters want, and how do they reflect each other?

However, having said that, there are moments that encapsulate several of the themes perfectly.

1) One of the most immediate is the contrast between the end of Act Two Scene One and Act Two Scene Two.

The end of Scene One demonstrates the difficulties faced when attempting to talk to someone from another culture. Maire and Yolland are confused by what the other is saying, while Owen is trying to act as an intermediary between them. After dispensing with him, the two lovers seem to be in perfect harmony with each other at the beginning of Scene Two. This is reflected in the way that their words echo and reinforce what the other is saying, as if they could follow what the other is saying.

What comes in the way of their communicating?

What brings them back together?

What is the major misunderstanding that they have at the end of the scene?

What does this say about words as a tool for communication?

What does the dramatic irony add to the scene? Is it made comic or tragic?

2) Another key moment is Hugh’s ironic praising of the Gaelic language. It is one of the commonly held stereotypes about Ireland that they are a poetic and soulful race. Hugh plays on this, and implicitly mocks Yolland for his views. However, he does not seem to share this view without some reservations.

3) For an explicit moment of translation in the play, look at Owen translating Lancey in Act One. He deliberately misinterprets, and defends himself later with an offhand remark about uncertainty and poetry.

Ways of Seeing

The play can be seen as a commentary on the dangers of imperialism and the destruction of a culture through brutal colonialism; it is also about a search for belonging and a sense of home. It can be seen to be concerned with the effect of political situations on the general population of a country, and the conflict between the personal and the political as personified through Owen and Yolland. It is an exploration of how language defines who we are and how we interact with the world and each other. It tries to represent an Ireland that is neither overly romantic, nor overly gritty, though elements of both are present. It is a play about love and friendship, duty and authority, and the past, present and future.

Ways of Seeing

Major Areas of Study

Language and power… Language and communication… Language and identity (both cultural and individual)… Progress… Friendship and love… The past and mythology… Education…