"Plough and the Stars" (Gill's Notes)

An in-depth exploration of O'Casey's play offering an overview of the playwright's life and the historical background to the play. The book offers detailed accounts of the characters and dominant themes - escape, poverty, history, politics, heroism - and a discussion on tragedy and comedy and how they feature in the play. There is also a study of O'Casey's language, covering dialect, poetic language, rhetoric, biblical language and verbal comedy. Important features such as O'Casey's female characters, irony, conflicts, mood and pace, musical references, melodrama and naturalism are also discussed. The book is suitable for both Ordinary and Higher level Leaving Certificate students and includes sample examination questions.