Brian Friel: Translations

LA CLUSTER THOUGHTS:

• What are the main thematic aspects of play? (Language, ignorance, hegemony, misunderstanding, romance, real/unreal, etc. ) Which one is the most important and how are these ideas interrelated in the play? Does the real/unreal encompasses many of the other themes?

• Jimmy's character: how does he fit into the play in general? How is his love for Athena and disconnection from the drama of the other characters really parallel what is happening in their lives? Is he an “oppositional” character or a passive one?

• Greek/Roman mythology allusions in play: why is Athena Jimmy's choice for ideal goddess? Is simple fact that mythology is interwoven throughout the main point? The English officers' lack of Latin/Greek knowledge: symbolic when compared to the seeming erudition of Hugh/Jimmy/Manus.

• Legitimacy of a hegemonic state: Is it legitimate to say that naming something means owning it? When might this be false – i.e. communism, dictatorships. Is the play implying this: examples of baptism, map-making.

• Why is George killed at the end, why are there characters who are primary actors but never appear in the play, and why is the composition of the hedge school the way it is: What is the function of characters such as Donnelly or Bridget? How do they further the plot or present different perspectives?

• Is there a “binary dichotomy” set up between state/British power/bad v. local/Irish tradition/good? Consider complexity of characters such as Owen, George and Mira. Is there a separation between the pragmatic and the mythical, which, again is connected to real/unreal ideas?