There is also the part where he’s portrayed as confused and distorted between the two cultures. His culture conflict is highlighted in Act 1 pg 34 when he shows how shaky his belief is about the ‘overall thing’. It showed the side of O’Neill that still had a soft spot for the English. The presence of Mabel also helped Friel to expose this part of O’Neill. In his argument with Mabel over going to war against England, he admits that the two tasks are ‘self-cancelling’. He explains to her that he has tried to ‘open these people to the strange new ways of Europe’ while still trying to ‘hold together a harassed and confused people’ (Referring to the Gaelic Irish people). This is a case of dramatic irony because he was claiming to expose the Irish people to civilisation while he was still keeping concubines under the same roof with his wife. That was one of the clearest examples of culture conflicts Friel explored in the play.
To Mabel, O’Neill had the power to live up to his nickname ‘fox O’Neill’. He was the link to the Irish people. Mary described him as ‘the only Irish politician that understands political reasoning’. She told him that he was seen as the ‘familiar devil’ by the English. She saw him as the only hope of indirect rule.
Mabel Bagenal was another character Friel used to portray the culture contrast between the English and the Irish in Act 1 of Making History. Despite the fact that she eloped to O’Neill’s home to live, she still showed signs of missing home when her sister visited. All through her conversation with Mabel, she used one-liners instead of the persuasive but assertive behaviour she showed while with O’Neill. She was alien to his traditions as seen when she told him to send his concubines away but she still stood up for him by pointing out that ‘That is politics’ when confronted by Mary about the dealings of O’Neill with the Queen. She showed her conflicting choice of alliances when she told Hugh O’Neill about the appointment of Captain Mountjoy (after she promised not to disclose the information to him) only to have her views rejected as tribally-inclined.
Mabel was apparently courageous as she eloped with O’Neill in a period when it was seen as a grievous crime to have dealings with the ‘uncivilised’. According to historical literature of that period, the punishment for that crime was death by hanging. She is the epitome of beauty and intelligence, described by Friel as ‘forthright and determined’.
We had to wait till Act 1 Scene 2 to see the ‘forthright and determined’ description O’Neill gave her come into action. Her intelligence was highlighted in the argument with O’Neill about forming a coalition with Spain to attack England. This was Friel’s way of showcasing her intelligence to the average spectator. She basically brought the audience back to what transpired in Scene 1 during the visit of Archbishop Lombard and Hugh O’Donnell even though she wasn’t around at that time. Friel used her suspicion to explain the main intention of Lombard (‘Rome and Roman power’) and O’Donnell (‘cattle raiding on international scale’)
Examining the characters of both Hugh O’Neill and Mabel Bagenal in Act 1 simultaneously, one is easily drawn to the fact that Friel used their relationship to explore the feasibility of the two cultures. It was a symbol of hope for reconciliation of the two cultures when she announced to him that she had a baby. The fact that the news that disrupted their moment of reconciliation goes to symbolise an end to the dream of blending the English and the Gaelic cultures.
