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NON-TELEOLOGICAL THINKING AS REFLECTED IN
SELECT PLAYS OF CLIFFORD ODETS AND SEAN O'CASEY
Thesis
Subm~tted to Pond~cherry University
for the award of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
ENGLISH
by
R. WILSON
702976
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH '~~////!//~~///~
PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY
PONDICHERRY-605014
INDIA
July 2002

Dr.P. BALASWAMY, M.A., Ph.D.,
Prof.& Head,
Department of English
Pondicherry University,
Pondicherry - 605 014.
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation entitled Non-
Teleological Thinking as Reflected in Select Plays of Sean
O'Casey and Clifford Odets submitted to Pondicherry University in
partial fullilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in English is a record of original research work
done by Mr.R.Wilson during the period of his study from 1998 to
2002 in the Department of English, Pondicherry University under my
supervision and guidance and that the dissertation has not previousl!
formed the basis for the award of any degree i diploma i
associateship i fellowship or any other similar titles before.
Research Supervisor
3

R. Wilson,
Research Scholar,
Department of English,
Pondicherry University,
Pondicherry - 604 014.
DECLARATION
I, R.Wilson hereby declare that the thesis is a record of the
independent work done by me during the period,October 1998 to July
2002 under the supervision of Dr.P.Balaswamy, Professor and Head,
Department of English, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry. I also
declare that it has not formed the basis for the award of any previous
degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other similar titles.

CONTENTS
Chapters
Page No.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Preface
Note on Documentation
Introduction
Causes and Forms of Struggle
Causes and Forms of Alienation
Conflicting Interests
Pacifism: A Solution to the Problems
Non-Teleological Acceptance
Conclusion
Works Cited and Consulted
1
VI
00 1
048
095
135
169
21 1
258
278

PREFACE
As a post-graduate student when I came across the plays of
Sean O'Casey and Clifford Odets, the Irish and American
playwrights what impressed me much was their concern for the
suffering common man. Even while depicting the miserably
devastating life of people caught in unending conflicts, they have
their humanity. In 1983, when I approached Dr.Srinivasan, then
Professor of English, University College, Kerala University, it was
k
he who suggested-me to study the plays of Clifford Odets. Though
enthused by the life and works of the American playwright, I could
not locate myself. Later when in search of a career I went to Ranchi
and where the late Dr.M.D.Raj, Department of English, Jamshedpur
Co-operalive College, Ranchi University, persuaded me to study
Odets with special reference to the Depression influence on his plays.
It was Professor P.Marudanayam, my teacher during postgraduation
and M.Phil at Madurai Kamaraj University who initiated
me into the world of Sean O'Casey and also to find out how similar
the backgrounds portrayal and attitude to life of these playwrights
look. I was wonder-stuck to see how realistically and entertaininpl)

these two dramatists unravel the tragi-comic nature of the unknown
and unsung inhabitants of the slums of Dublin and the underside of
New York. Again, it was Dr.Marudanayagam who introduced me to
Professor P.Balaswamy, my guide and research supervisor when I
evinced interest to pursue research at Pondicherry University after
joining as a member of the teaching faculty in the Department of
English, St.Jude's College, Thoothoor.
Dr.Balaswamy further led me to the world of John Steinbeck,
the American novelist and the non-teleologically thinking attitude to
life as envisaged in his work, the Log from the Sea of CorIez. Odets
and Steinbeck have been products of the Depression who happened to
live under the inhuman conditions of the time and there by
experienced life during that traumatic period. O'Casey being the
product of the tenement with rich experience of life as a manual
labourer 1s depicting on stage the follies, idiosyncrasies
and
eccentricities of the very people whom he lived with. Destined to live
in such dehumanising environments and sharing common cause with
the very people whose life they depict, it is nothing strange that they
share similar vision of life, which Steinbeck calls as the nonteleological
attitude.

Having pursued my research in right earnest and after going
through the text and critical works, it was felt that an exhaustive
study comparing O'Casey and Odets was not done with special
reference to the attitude to life shown in their early works. Hence I
thought of doing something tangible in this area.
With profound sense of gratitude I recall the services rendered
to me by many in the process of my completing successfully the
Ph.D. thesis.
Dr.P.Balaswamy, Professor and Head, Department of English,
who suggested this title, guided and oversaw this study with
extraordinary patience, unfailing courtesy and considerate wisdom.
In his disinterested generosity and humane care, he was an exemplary
figure and source of inspiration-both as man and scholar. My debt to
him is immeasurable.
I owe my debt of gratitude in abundant measure to
Dr.P.Marudanayagam, formerly Professor and Head of the
Department of English, Pondicherry University. But for his constant
encouragement, I would not have joined under Professor
P.Balaswamy and pursued my research work. His positive approach
to me, timely suggestions, scholarly insight and ideas have sustained
my research fervour.

I express my deep sense of thankfulness for Professor
N.Natarajan, Department of English, Pondicherry University for his
critical insight during discussion with him, friendly concern and
dispassionate assessment during Research Club presentations.
I place on record my sense of gratitude to Dr.Sujatha
Vijayaraghavan, Reader and Dr.Clement Lourdes, Senior Lecturer in
the Department of English
for remaining constant source of
inspiration during the period of my research.
I place on record the services rendered by Dr.Adaline Selvaraj,
formerly Professor and Head of the Department of English and
teacher of mine at NMC College, Marthandam for the meticulous
reading of the rough draft of the thesis, carrying out correction and
having suggested alternatives.
I am indebted to my college authorities for having enabled me
to pursue my research as an FIP candidate and also thank the
colleagues who wished me well.
I acknowledge the service rendered to me during my research
period by the Department staff, Mrs.Bhuvaneswari, Mr.Sivakumar,
Mr.Namasivayam and Miss.Seethalakshmi and also to my fellow
research scholars.

I place on record my sense of gratitude to the staff of ASRC,
CIEFL, British Council Library Madras, American Centre Library
Madras.
Madras University Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru
University Library New Delhi, ~adura'i Kamaraj University Library,
Kerala University Library and Ananda Rangapillai Library,
Pondicherry University which had been the resource centres from
which I benefited immensely.
My special thanks are due to my brothers in USA Mr.Austin
Raj and Dr.Sam Rose for having constantly encouraged me and
generously supplied me with materials. I recall with gratitude the
perseverance and sacrifice during the period of my research by my
parents, brothers, sisters and specifically by my wife Nirmala and
children Naveen, Praveen and Neenu.
1 am indebted to Mr.R.Vaithianathan and Mr.R.Karthikeyan of
Bright Computers for having sat with me for days together and neatly
executing the typing, proof correction and binding of this thesis.

Note on Documentation
The method of documentation followed in this thesis is
~arenthetical documentation with the year of publication provided
within parenthesis immediately after the last name of the author
cited. MLA Bibliography forms as suggested in the 51h Edition of
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Pa~ers by Joseph Gibaldi
(New Delhi: Affiliated East-West Press Pvt.Ltd., 1999) has been
adopted for the documentation procedures in this thesis. However,
adopting one aspect of APA style, the year of publication is provided
immediately after the author's name within parenthesis in the list of
works cited.
The following editions of the primary sources have been used
in this study:
Seven Plavs bv Sean O'Casu. Sel. and Intro. Ronald Ayling.
London: Macmillan, 1985.
Six Plavs of Clifford Odets. New York: Modern Library, 1939.
All references to the primary sources will be followed by the
abbreviation of the title (as mentioned below) within parenthesis
along with the page number.
The Shadow of a Gunman
Juno and the Pavcock

PS
Waitine for Lefty
Awake and Sing!
Paradise Lost
WL
AS
PL
as follows:
Some other terms and their abbrev~ations used in this thesis are
Irish Citizen Army
lr~sh Repuhlican Army
House Committee of Un Amer~can Activities
ICA
IRA
HCUAA

Chapter One
INTRODUCTION
Life in this world continues to be in its evolutionary process.
It is an endless struggle that makes man a restless animal. From time
immemorial intellectuals and artists maintain that human character
and social actions are not contingent on actions or endeavours of
individuals. Theology and Ecological manil'cstatioli!, IIIIVC
strengthened this perception. The ancient Indian philosopher Gosila
calls it "determinism".
His philosophy as grasped by the Japanese
Orientalist Nakamura insists that, "there is no cause, either ultimate
or remote for depravity of beings; they become depraved without
reasons and causes" (1992, 157).
The ancient Greek and Roman
thinkers too have believed in the supremacy of destiny over all living
things. The Greek philosopher Democritus affirms that "everything
happens in accordance with natural laws and human purpose does not
matter" (qtd. in Nakamura 1992, 159). The Stoics too have conceived
the crux of this idea and maintain that virtue consists in the will that
agrees with nature.

During the nineteenth century the civilized society was in
turmoil. The Romantic Revolution of the previous era was in fact
defunct. Reason and Faith were in conflict. The
myth of creation
was rendered fallacious by Charles Darwin by the second half of the
century. August Comte's SystCm de philosophic positive (1824) had
provided with a scientific view of man in the universe. Darwin's The
Origin of Species (1859), Taine's Historie de la litterature Anglaise
(1964) and Claude Bernard, the Physiologists' Introduction a I'etude
de la Medicine Experimentale (1865) together reversed man's notion
of the God-guaranteed world order.
Modern man is thus engrossed with the insoluble, cruel
dilemma of existence. Owing to the inundation of speculative.
scientific and psychological dogmas, waves of hysteria and
depression perplexed him. Karl Marx's economic analysis of society
in Das Capital (1867) added to the volatile environment. It called for
social change and predicted power struggle between the two
opposing classes called the Capital and the Labour. Thus, by the end
of the century there was political, social, moral, religious and
intellectual unrest throughout the Western World. Decadence had set
in and the symptoms of the cultural malaise were evident in literature
as well as in other arts.

Literature that mirrors society is concerned with this peculiar
predicament of the human situation. Ever since drama developed as a
literary genre, it has been a forum for raising challenging queries
about the condition of man's existence. The great classics of the past
engage our attention on the miracles of creation and mysteries of life
in this world. Yet, these remain unintelligible to ordinary minds. The
Elizabethans and the moderns too have continued the probe.
Dramatists of these periods constantly engage our attention on these
questions iterating that man tragically stumbles from great heights
owing to his own flaws and inadequacies. What dawns at the end of
each dramatic representation is that it is man's inability to recognise
himself that pulverizes him. What is worth relating in this context is
that "know thyself' is the message of the Delphic Oracle.
By the end of the nineteenth century, a more realistic vision of
life in this
world has been demonstrated by playwrights of the
Continent and America.
Emile Zola, the French novelist and
playwright has called upon writers to opt for the naturalistic
depiction of life. According to him, human beings are perpetually
haunted by a sense of depravity and determinism. In La Naruralrsma
au thedtre, he urges the playwrights to discover Naturalism by
representing living people in the "hurly-burly of life" (1998, 86).
Stating further, he adds that for such a depiction the dramatist,

"would have to examine mankind too deeply, learn about life, aim at
real greatness and portray it powerfully" (1998, 87).
Zola's
Naturalism in literature is broadly "social realism laced with the idea
of determinism"
which considers human beings living in a
"biologically and socially conditioned world" (Pizer 1982, x).
Adding substance to this view, Valency states that "Naturalism is a
quest for facts" (1980, 6). Dramatic works of the late nineteenth and
the early decades of the twentieth centuries in the Continent and
America broadly depict life faithfully.
Writing about the historical context of Naturalism, Innes states
that this philosophic formulation was a product of the influence of
Darwin's theory on evolution, Claude Bernard's scientific
observation of human physiology, Karl Marx's economic analysis of
society and Freud's interpretation of dreams. David Baguley says
that Naturalism takes a direction "towards reconciling, even to the
point of assimilating the natural world and human experience" (1990.
44). The elements of assimilation and reconciliation are ingrained in
the philosophical notion of "Non-teleological thinking" which has
been subsequently propounded
by John Steinbeck and Edward
F.Ricketts.
The twentieth century man stands at "dangerous crossroads"
(Lipsit2 1994, vii). Disparity and unfairness all over the world create

and spread turbulence and uprisings. Wealth and authority in the
hands of a few, bewilders the vast majority. Colonial subjugation,
materialistic evils, atrocious wars, anarchy and the nightmare of
fascism have "tied man to a cart like a dog" (Russel 2000, 254).
Against the ruthless onslaught of these tyrannical and destructive
forces man has been struggling with his own superstition, ignorance
and imperfection. The hope of the aggrieved to have a
say in
political and economic power continues to be elusive.
Sean O'Casey the Irish playwright and his American
contemporary, Clifford Odets have given artistic expression to this
predestination. Sean O'Casey (1880-1964), living in the most
turbulent times in Irish history, visualized life to be at the mercy of
forces beyond man's comprehension and control. His Dublin plays
depict man in hostile environments and his struggle to survive
under such conditions as pitiable and tragic.
O'Casey insists that his characters are deeply involved in
elusive problems that even sustained efforts could not root out those
problems. Hence, he is not offering "simplified solutions for the sake
of neat endings" (Mitchell 1980, 39). He views them as they are. The
individuals in his plays are seen as "overshadowed by the conflict of
impersonal forces of which he is more and more the victim" (Lindsay

1969, 192). Commenting in the Catholic Herald, Speaight views that
O'Casey's continual theme is man's struggle against fate and he
seldom wins peace, as the combat is unequal.
Clifford Odets (1906-1963), the American dramatist who
presented the Depression plays in the thirties, dramatised the life of
people who were thwarted and battered by
the "Great Crash".
Commenting on Odets and his characters, Weales consider them as,
"vacillating between a home which turns out to be a trap and a
promised land that fails to keep its promise" (1971, 187). Odets has
been a witness to the disintegration of individuals and families due to
the appalling conditions of the time. His characters in the Depression
plays are pitted against powerful forces. On the stage, their life is
seen in its fundamentally ridiculous and animalistic level. In his own
admission, Clifford Odets attempts "to find out how mankind can be
helped out of the animal kingdom into the clear sweet air" (qtd. in
Miller 1989, 1).
As playwrights, O'Casey and Odets have no pronounced affinity
with any of the philosophic movements that swayed their era
Yet, a
closer analysis of the plays under consideration show that they subscribe
to naturalistic facts. These works also realistically depict life. The people
in these works are seen struggling to adopt to their environment and in

this struggle, it is only the
fittest who survive. The group that
struggles also belong to a distinctly less fortunate class than the usual
bourgeois. In this context, it is pertinent to realise through this study
how far 'is thinking' guides some characters survive, in the select
plays of O'Casey and Odets.
'Non-Teleological' or 'is thinking' is an extension of
Naturalism. It is a philosophical idea propounded by the American
novelist John Steinbeck and his Marine Biologist friend Edward F.
Ricketts. In The Log from the Sea of Corter, a record of their voyage
in the Pacific (1940), Steinbeck explains 'is thinking' as follows:
"Non-teleological ideas derive through is thinking, (is) associated
with natural selection as Darwin seems to have understood it". It
implies that life is a struggle and only the fittest can survive that.
Those who survive do so by adopting themselves to the environment
and by "seeing beyond traditional or personal projections. They
consider events as outgrowths and expressions rather than as results".
Once reaching such understanding, they deem "conscious acceptance
as a desideratum, and certainly as an all important prerequisite"
(1995, 112).
This pronounced formulation implies that one capable of
thinking non-teleologically, accepts life without questioning. He also

strives to understand the "what" and "how" of things and events.
Once answers to these difficult questions are arrived at, one realises
that it is futile to ask "why" events and situations are so.
Simplifying this concept, Pizer says as follows: "the non-teleological
thinker accepts the fatuousness of man's belief that his will can
control events and thus concentrates on understanding experience
rather than on judging men" (1982, 66). In the broadest sense, this
attitude admits the following position: "As determined products of
environment, in the broadest sense, individuals sometimes cannot
help themselves, cannot be otherwise'' (Hart 1986, 48).
One
examining life using 'is thinking' does not look for why; he looks at
life as it is, without looking for the reason or cause for its present
state.
Zola's theory of Literary Naturalism as propounded in his
work La Roman Experimental (1880) also urges the writer to imitate
the scientist by observing reality (the how) without enquiring into its
ultimate causes (the why). Therefore, the non-teleologically thinking
attitude is considered as "modified or philosophical naturalism"
(Hart 1986, 43).
John Steinbeck (1902-68). the proponent of this philosophy
through his works constantly engage the readers' attention on the

intensified colour, violence and quickness of life, like O'Casey and
Odets. "The fateful division of man and man" (Lewis 1959, 125) as
depicted in Steinbeck's works disturb man's progress. Through his
works, he takes the position that there is "something in the world
itself which will always prevent human beings from achieving their
dreams" (Thody 1996, 142). Like the playwrights under
consideration, he has been devoted to his work and life. Steinbeck
always strove to understand the inner life of man and was ever
concerned with the struggle for survival in which man is constantly
engaged.
It is this survival drive that speaks for the violence,
disturbances, and fateful division that hold the characters to ransom
in these artists. Ironically, the forces operating in society work
against the interest of man and slows him down. It is also apt to note
that like O'Casey and Odets, Steinbeck too "permitted his education
in the field rather than the radical drawing room" (Cook 1986, 359).
The observation of life in the "Great Tide Pool", the deep jungles
and the human terrain has enabled him affirm a rational attitude to
life. His musings over non-teleological thinking is therefore a
holistic vision of observation and understanding all aspects of life
These connections appear strikingly relevant to interpret the plays of
O'Casey and Odets in the light of non-teleological acceptance.

A brief outline of the trends and the attitude to life shown in
the works of some prominent dramatists of the modern times shall
place the present study in the right perspective.
The nineteenth century saw the decline of drama as a social
force in England. Industrialisation and the resultant issues saw the
proliferation in the cities of a new class of population called the
labour and the middle-class.
The gloomy tragedies, stereotype
comedies and melodramas have no longer catered to such people who
wanted their problems shown on the stage. The novel, a new literary
genre, aptly filled the gap.
By this time in other parts of the Continent, drama was
emerging as a vibrant literary force. Henrik Ibsen (1823-1906), the
Norvegian dramatist and theatre artist took the theatre by storm with
his realistic social problem plays. He
insisted that the dramatist
"must possess some experience of the life he was trying to create"
(qtd. in Styan 1981, 18). By drawing substance from life, he
consciously dramatised the forces and frictions of human life.
Defying convention, he put forth a set of values which were personal
and truthful, in a perfectly natural dialogue. His masterpieces like A
Doll's House and Ghosts, with explosive subject-matter, enabled the
audience experience as if they were viewing their own lives on stage.

Through his plays, he bursts out at irrationality at every threshold of
human activity. Ibsen had became a household name in the theatrical
world by the turn of the nineteenth century.
Ibsen's influence on drama was very much visible. Brecht in
Germany, Chekhov in Russia, Synge in Ireland and Zola and his
contemporaries in France were striving to prove through their plays
that life is a struggle for honour which engages the will of the
individual.
Though Chekhov (1860-1904) liked the Norvegian
playwright, he was more inclined towards the realistic depiction of
life. His concern was with the breaking-up of relationships in natural
world and the stillness that is at the centre of life. Thus, life as he
saw appeared more difficult in the world than to Ibsen. Therefore, he
wanted dramatists to depict life as it exists in real life.
John Millington Synge (1871-1909), a contemporary of Ibsen
and Chekhov, realistically staged the social problems. The Irish
playwright believed that human beings "feel their isolation in the
face of a universe that wars on them with winds and seas" (191 I, 52).
Through his plays he enabled playgoers discern life as a mixture of
sweet and sour. He is credited to have brought revolution in the Irish
stage by showing the peasant life with its oddities and peculiarities.

Lorca the Spanish playwright resembles Synge in many
respects as many of Synge's central concerns are treated in his plays.
His conviction is that external forces coerce human beings to the
destined end. His vision of life as shown in plays like Blood Wedding
demonstrates that "man is inescapably caught up in the world"
(Gaskell 1972, 107). Pirandello's play, Six Characters in Search of
an Author
is credited to have caused sensation among the Roman
audience. He has depicted that human nature is inconstant and we are
a society of actors who perform pathetically to live. By the force of
realistic characters and situations, he skillfully converted the stage as
the stage of the world where one can see himself.
In England it was left to George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
the greatest Dublin "debunker of social conventions" (Hunt 1978, 20)
to restore the vitality and force of the largely lifeless English stage of
the nineteenth century. He manoeuvred the stage effectively so as to
penetrate to a hitherto inaccessible middle-class audience. Shaw's
unconventionality, reason and truth were shocking to his audience as
he felt that all members of society are culpable and must accordingly
suffer their consciousness to be smitten before leaving the theatre.
Hence, in his plays there are no "conscious villains on whom the
audience can fix the blame and absolve themselves of complicity"
(Barnet 1975, 641). Besides penetrating the citadel of drama with

inimitable, unique techniques, he had converted the stage into a
forum for debate on vital questions of existence.
T.S.Eliot maintains through his plays that individual actions
are determined and man must see the existence of the past in the
present. In portraying sufferings due to defilement and lovelessness,
he too indicates to the agony of man from birth till death. Beckett's
Endgame is a study in human sufferings. The play seems to indicate
that human will cannot alter life in a meaningless world. Brecht the
German dramatist through the theatre of illusions, "encourages the
audience to accept life as it is, to respond with pleasure to people and
events instead of trying to grasp why these events took the course
they did" (Gaskell 1972, 147).
Through their works, these modern dramatists have rendered
individualism very vulnerable. The image of man as depicted,
presents him as
one potential for values as well as a detestable
waste. Dramatists between 1880 and 1930 have also shown that the
"bounds of theatre" could be "stretched to their limits and sometimes
beyond"(Goscoigne
1965, 10). It is by stretching the theatrical
horizon that they depict life in this material world as full of pain. In
their conviction, none could come to terms with the evils. The
pathetic fact is that "all through life we have to make choices which

limit us further" (Boulton 1988, 199). The irony is that in his brief
life man always makes the wrong choice. This speaks for the troubles
and tribulations of life. The view about man's condition one has to
draw from these playwrights is that man is "no more than a poor,
bare, forked animal" (Gaskell 1972, 21).
To be precise, in the modern stage one can witness his
problems, conflicts and contradictions as well. It also shows the urge
in everyone to be lifted and transported from life in this world "to
live in to the world elsewhere" (Reising 1986, 191). The sad reality
is that one has nowhere else to go. It is for the audience to arrive at
their own answers. Through their objective and realistic portrayal of
life in this world some of these dramatists encourage the audience to
"accept life as it is" (Gaskell 1972, 147). The significance of the
present study lies in unraveling of such an attitude implied in the
plays under consideration.
The present work is a study in comparison of the select plays
of Sean O'Casey and Clifford Odets. As these playwrights under
consideration belong to almost identical cultural, linguistic, religious
and historical backgrounds, a study of their plays does not fall
strictly under the genre of comparative literature.
Yet, as
playwrights O'Casey and Odets have more in common and hence a

study of their works in terms of thematic affinities, attitude to life,
characters and the pattern of their struggle will be of some value to
scholars of British and American drama.
The plays selected for the study are the first three plays of
O'Casey, produced by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin and the three early
plays of Odets produced by the Group Theatre, New York.
O'Casey's first three plays are, The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and
the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars. These plays are called the
Dublin trilogy because the subject-matter and characters have been
drawn from the Dublin tenements with its tragi-comic
idiom.
Affinity of themes, treatment and attitude to life draw them closer
than any other plays of O'Casey. The plays selected from Odets are
Waiting for Lefty, Awake and Sing! and Paradise Lost, which are
generally called the Depression Plays. They also share identical
themes, situations, characters and attitude to life and bear close
resemblance to the Dublin trilogy.
These plays depict the tragi-comic nature of life. Characters
and situations are mostly treated objectively. The concern of the
dramatists seem to be man's struggle against hostile forces of
society, how he reacts against them and manages to survive.
Stindberg said that literary depiction in the naturalistic vein enables

the spectator, "observe with indifference the harsh, cynical and
heartless drama that life depicts" (1998, 91). Dispassionate viewing
of these plays unequivocally enlighten on the audience such an
effect. Arthur Miller has said that "a writer of any worth creates out
of total perception" and "the very impulse to write springs from an
inner chaos, crying for order .. and ... meaning" (1998, 1 12). It is
this complete perception and innate desire to express themselves that
enables O'Casey and Odets hold the mirror up to nature. In the
creative process they affirm reality too.
The characters in the select plays are real men and women
either from the slum or shopkeepers' environment. There is a tragic
element in their day to day existence. While confronting mighty
forces arrayed against them, they are also pitted against each other.
Their environment, to a large extent, condition them. Hence they are
fated to undergo sufferings of every kind.
While the slum life in Dublin during the civil war, war of
independence and allied catastrophe are dramatised in the Dublin
trilogy, Odets's plays have been written under the influence of the
"Great Depression" that played havoc on human life for a brief
period in America.
Moreover these early plays have catapulted
O'Casey and Odets to fame and established them as leading

playwrights of the respective period. Above all the underlying non-
teleological thinking in these plays is stronger than in the other
plays.
A brief analysis of the life, background, formative influences,
and affiliations of these playwrights shall enable a proper
understanding of their concerns and attitude to life.
O'Casey (1880-1964) was born in a Dublin tenement, the worst
slum in the West at that time, as the thirteenth child of a poor
Protestant family of whom oniy five survived childhood. With him,
almost one third of the Dublin population lived in about five
thousand tenements, most of them declared unfit for human
habitation. "It's chief victims, the working people lived a nearstarvation
existence in disease-ridden, over-crowded slum
tenements"(Krause 1960, 4).
O'Casey braved the turmoil of living in these tenements with
poverty under dehumanising conditions. These early days of under
nourishment impaired one of his eyes. Until the success of his second
play Juno and Paycock at the age of forty-four, O'Casey was
destined to work as a manual labourer and undergo pain and isolation
that left deep scars on his young mind.

Though denied of formal education, he was committed
to
self-education. His concern for social, trade union, political and
literary causes induced him to embrace Jim Larkin, the trade union
leader as his early hero. The Irish Citizen Army (ICA) and the Gaelic
League in which he evinced keen interest, helped him get first hand
experience of nationalist politics. Under these influences, he
Gaelised his name as Sean O'Cathasaigh and later changed the family
name as O'Casey. Even while struggling to earn his livelihood, he
was a witness to the principal conflicts in Dublin between the
Socialists and the Church and the Colonialists and the Nationalists.
Getting disillusioned with the politics of anti-trade unionism of
the ICA, he resigned from it as its secretary in nineteen fourteen. The
terror of Easter Rising and civil war in Ireland alienated him further
from the politics of the nationalists. Being estranged, he spent his
evenings in reading Shakesphere, Shelley, Dion Bouccecault, Ruskin
and other great English writers and
the Authorised Version of the
Bible. Gradually he got himself actively involved with amateur
theatricals and opted for playwriting as a career.
Recognition came to him through the first play produced by
the Abbey called The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), after the rejection
of the three earlier plays by him.
"During the run of the play",

O'Casey was still "mixing cement on a road repair job" (Krause
1976, 37). He never turned back after receiving a royalty of twentyfive
pounds for his second play, Juno and the Paycock (1925). His
third Abbey production, The Plough and the Stars (1926), led to
disturbance in the theatre. The Abbey again rejected the next play,
The Silver Tassie (1928). These events led him to settle down in
England from where he wrote eight more plays, six volumes of
autobiography, few one act plays, a number of articles and other
works until his death at the ripe age of eighty-four.
During the nineteenth century Ireland's position was so
complex within the United Kingdom as a "metropolitan colony" (Mc
Cormack 1985, 7). Denis Donoghue aptly mirrors the plight of the
Irish in the Sewanee Review as follows: "The real trouble in Ireland
is that our national experience has been too limited to be true. Since
the plantation of Ulster there has been only one feeling: one story,
the English, how to get rid of them or failing that to circumvent
them, cajole them, twist their tails .... We have no industrial
revolutions, factory acts and no trade union movements. A limited
history, correspondingly intimidating mythology, a fractured
language, a literature of fits and starts and gestures ... No challenge of
a tradition" (1976, 153). To compound this situation further, there
was the Easter Rising, War of Independence and civil war by the

'Act of 1921' in the divided country. A large minority wanted to see
a reunited country but the troubles communalised and squeezed the
masses. It was dangerous to move inside Ireland as crossfire, raids,
street wars and encounters became the order of the day. O'Casey
acquired this bequest when he turned to dramatise Dublin life.
The Irish literary genius has been manifesting itself in England
since the seventeenth century, after the Glorious Revolution.
Profoundly affected by the continuing crisis, most of the Irish
intellectuals have migrated and settled down in England and
elsewhere.
The hostility between the two countries has not
dampened their spirits as the very fact of their contributing to the
literary might of the English language enabled the British welcome
them into their fold. Lack of a literary tradition in Ireland till the
nineteenth century is another factor that prompted the Irish men of
letters to settle down and write from England.
Swift, Burke, Goldsmith and Sheridan are some of the early
dramatists to be followed up by Shaw and Wilde, to settle down in
England. These early expatriate writers have expressed the lrish
experience, its crisis, corruption, insecurity and exploitation. Yet.
they have not lived and written from Ireland and hence their works
could not be called 'Irish literature' in this context.

Notable among the Anglo-Irish dramatists like Farquhar,
Steele, Macklin, Murphy, Goldsmith and Sheridan also presented this
distinction. between the 'natural Irish' and 'artificial British'.
Farquhar and Steele were prominent Restoration comedians.
Goldsmith has brought to perfection the sentimental drama and
remains "the most beloved of English writers" (Rousseau 1974, 69).
Through his plays Sheridan exposes corruption of all forms, moral
callousness and sentimentality. By the turn of the nineteenth and
early decades of the twentieth century, Shaw and Wilde were
exploiting the medium of drama to expose society and individuals of
falsehood and affectation.
When Ireland was made an integral part of England by the Act of
Union (1800), the search intensified for an Irish literary language, its own
literature and its independence. Dion Bouccicault had earlier established
the 'stage-Irish tradition'. Through his plays, he "rendered the violence
and instability of life in Ireland in such a way that these features did not
entirely destroy the enchanted pastoral quality ..." (Deane 1986, 104). The
inherent Irish genius and need of a tradition to tap it prompted W.B.Yeats
to revive the movement for the Irish Literary Nationalism by the turn of
the century.
Yeats, a native literary titan exploited the existing lore. From the
fragments of the fragile Irish 'National Theatre Society', he established

the Abbey Theatre (1904) with Lady Gregory and others. It was to
become "the most articulate, original and vigorous theatre to have existed
in the British Isles since the Elizabethan's" (Gille 1975, 171). It's aim
was to revive the Irish peasant culture with the real vitality of the native
speech.
Though Yeats contributed twenty six plays, he could draw
substance from Irish myths and legends and not from the peasant culture.
With the "stylized" characters, he could only revive the poetic drama in
the language with its symbols and images. Though by his plays he could
not convert the Abbey into a public theatre as desired, he motivated the
native genius in Synge to exploit it.
Synge is credited to have resurrected the Irish popular idiom
by exploiting the peasant life of Aron Islands. His plays, like that of
Chekov, defy comic and tragic distinctions, but pose challenge to
critics as it challenged the audience with its realistic representation.
By the dignified depiction of the suffering of the simple peasants,
their
superstition, credulity, drunkenness and ignorance, he has
enabled the Abbey to emerge as a popular theatre frequented by the
common man. He left the scene abruptly so as the Dublin slum
dramatist O'Casey could take up the challenge from where he left.
As a product of the Dublin slums, O'Casey successfully staged
the simple, ignorant city folk through his plays. A brief survey of his
plays will be of relevance to this context.

The first play of O'Casey to be accepted and produced by the
Abbey Theatre, The Shadow of a Gunman (1923) was written when
he was still working as a labourer, with the handicap of partial
blindness and pain in his eyes. The historic situation while writing it
was that not a night passed without the sound of gunfire disturbing
Dublin. On the date of its staging, the Abbey Directors were forced
to print a warning in the programme of the play to the apprehensive
playgoers, to assure them that the sounds of "lorry and rattle of
machine-guns were merely harmless stage effects" (Ayling 1985a,
11). The abject condition of the city and the pathetic plight of its
citizens are realistically portrayed in the play. The play
photographically presents the escalating violence, ambushes,
crossfires and raids and a host of slum dwellers caught in it; their
pathetic plight, illiteracy, poverty, drunken exuberance, heroic
pretensions and artificial life. It is a tragi-comic vision with neither
a hero nor a villain among them.
O'Casey's second play, Juno and the Paycock (1924), with its
more cohesive plot and comic vitality
has been successful than the
first. It takes one back to the days of the Irish civil war (1921).
Unlike the first play, it presents a more domestic situation.
The
play's main focus is the suffering, hatred and irresponsibility, amidst
the terror of a divided Ireland at war with itself. It shows how its

tragic impact is felt on a slum family and the way the inmates
encounter it.
The Plough and the Stars (1926), set on the happenings of the
Easter Rising (1916), created riotous scenes in the theatre. Its hero
Jack Clitheore, a dissenting IRA bricklayer, once appointed as
commandant, leads the Volunteers to the rising, defying the genuine
protestations of his young, beautiful wife. In the process he is killed
and unable to withstand the agony, his wife goes insane. Its sub-plot,
with a prostitute on the stage and a host of drunkards and boasters,
help expose the myth of heroism, luxury and unity in a largely
divided country.
The Irish intolerance and apathy to witness their own self on
the stage has created riots and invited criticism to the play from
every quarters. This, and the subsequent rejection of his next play,
The Silver Tassie (1928) have coerced the beleaguered O'Casey
desert Ireland and settle down in England.
O'Casey's experiment
with a different theme and characters proved disastrous to h~s
dramatic fortune. The Silver Tassie has neither been a critical nor a
popular success. Unlike women in the earlier plays, here the
universal motherhood is shown heartless and dangerous. Its deviation
from realistic depiction to expressionism makes it more subjective.

The latter plays with strange settings in an English idiom lack
force and conviction of characterisation and therefore failed to create
the desired effect on the audience. O'Casey's next play, Within the
Gates (1934) is a picture of life in London, the microcosm of modern
life. It is largely a struggle of forces totally opposed to each other, to
possess a joyous, homeless, young, illegitimate prostitute.
Her
father, a repentant Bishop, strives to convert her to a life of prayerful
song while a young poet-dreamer offers her a life of joy, dance and
sex. An Evangelist vies with them offering her his way of salvation.
Torn between the conflicting forces, the young girl, now sick, dies
dancing, which is a victory for the dreamer. Conflicting values,
poverty, unemployment and bitterness of religion are not
convincingly presented as in the Dublin trilogy.
The Star Turns Red (1940) is seen more of a propaganda play.
It exposes evil and expounds virtue. There is confrontation between
the communist workers and the fascist storm troopers with a section
of the Church supporting each. In the final confrontation the workers
win the struggle, though the struggle takes its own toll. The ire of
the play seems to be against the Catholic Church.
O'Casey goes back to the Dublin setting in Red Roses for me
(1943). The subject of the play is autobiographical. Ayamon, its

hero, is living in a dilapidated house in the working class locality
with his old mother.
The Irish transport-worker's strike (1913), in
which O'Casey took part is recreated with Ayamon taking sides with
the workers. The Irish life with accompanying poverty, pettiness and
quarrel, places man's life at the mercy of hostile forces in the play.
Still, it lacks credibility of characterization as seen in the earlier
Dublin plays.
Oak Leaves and Lavender (1946) is set in the war background
with unreal settings and archaic language. Purple Dust (1949) is also
out of touch with real life and speech. The Drums of Father Ned
(1959). with the sentimentalised stage Irish hero attests to O'Casey's
credo for opinion rather than exploring real characters.
Cock-a-
Doodle Dandy (1949) seems to be O'Casey's favourite play. It has a
symbolic hero and a fantastic cock at its centre of action.
It is
largely farcical with supernatural elements and therefore removed
from the earlier realistic plays. Behind the Green Curtain (1962) is
more of a social satire and a sensual exposure of cowardice.
During the last days of his career O'Casey appeared to have
regained a firm grip with the Dublin life. This finds expression in
his short unproduced plays like The End of the Beginning, Figaro in
the Night, Time to Go and The Hall of Healing. While in the first one

he ridicules religiosity, in the other pieces he graphically presents the
indecisive, ignorant, ineffectual humanity. Thus the plays of the
Dublin days are perceived as objective depiction of life as it is. The
playwright's subjective handling of the theme, his flair for opinion,
unreal characters and artificiality of the language in the subsequent
plays tend one to believe that the plays demonstrate what life should
be rather than viewing life as it is.
Odets is seen as a product of the Depression.
It is pertinent to
see in this context how the crisis rocked the society and invariably
manifest itself on the artist and his works.
America of the twentieth century was more of a country in the
making. Though the early drams dwelt on the theme of alienation, as
the cities developed and rural life faded, a sense of breakdown in
relationships became its theme.
During the last decade of the
nineteenth century it was a quest for man's relationship with fellow
human beings and with nature.
Its idealism built on increasing
affluence, democratization, romantic notions, want of social and
economic determinants were exerting pressures on the individual
mind. The weight of materialism and its ramifications cast a sense of
social and moral alienation that formed the substance of the drama of
the early decades.

The Economic Depression due to the stock market crash (1929)
caught the nation unawares.
It was like a bolt from the blue to a
hitherto prosperous nation which was never prepared to tide over
such a crisis. As it was least expected and was not used to such
magnitude of poverty and unemployment in its past history, the crisis
left everyone baffled.
The American aristocracy, hitherto enjoying
prosperity and related security, suddenly found themselves being
plundered by forces that were beyond their control. The victims
were the middle class and the working class, who were left orphans
one bad morning.
The millions of dispossessed, displaced and disoriented were
engaged in soul-destroying trivial labour. As they could no longer
choose the way, they went through the motion, as their destiny had
already been fated. Jack Conroy sums up the era in his novel, The
Disinherited this way: "Things that seem solid as a rock may be
fragile enough to collapse at a pinch. 'But you have got to pinch
first" (1982, 288). Knowing what to pinch and when to pinch was
also no small matter. This was a legacy and contemporaneity that
Odets inherited and belonged to. This American crisis over the years
gets reflected in his plays.

Clifford Odets (1906-63) was born in Philadelphia to Jewish
immigrant, working-class parents. Odets dropped out of school in
nineteen twenty-three and affiliated himself with Drawing-Room
Theatre Groups and finally joined the Left Wing's, Group Theatre on
the year of its inception, to pursue a dramatic career.
The Great
Economic Depression of thirties ruined many a family and Odets
found it increasingly difficult to live on. He was sharing a poorly
heated room with several other Group Theatre members. He saw
many individuals and families disintegrating with over fifteen
million youth unemployed and people fighting for a morsel of food
on the breadlines. The starved worker, financially ruined
businessmen and many of Odets's
friends "were increasingly
terrified, as if soon the walls would disappear, and they would
remain naked and alone on the cold empty streets of a night without a
morrow" (Clurman 1966, 114).
The Depression gave Odets the subject. The Group Theatre
gave him the propensity for lively characters through its integrity.
While serving as a model for "Workers Theatre", its optimistic
socialism and social enlightenment influenced him to associate
briefly with the Communist party.
This helped him aware of the
politics of the day.
With these formative influences, Harold

Clurman, the Group's director and life long friend, motivated this
small time actor to compete for a one-act play contest. Thus, Odets's
first play, Waiting for Lefty (1935) was born. He finished it in three
days, won the prize and subsequently the heart of the theatre going
public.
A cursory glance at his major dramatic works may assist in
understanding the major themes and concerns addressed by Odets. It
may also further the idea that the plays selected for discussion stand
unique as far as the struggle, estrangement, conflicts and attitude to
life are concerned.
Though his first play is apparently about the taxi-cab men's
strike, its theme has become the symbol of the entire generations'
protest.
It gives a realistic picture of the 'Great Crash' with its
accompanying poverty, breakdown, unemployment, homelessness
and the sense of depravity.
Though labeled as an agitation-
propaganda play, its forthrightness and original fire makes it one of
the most popular American plays. Odets's projection of a system of
values that robs men of their personal worth and destroying of
relationships is skillfully portrayed with innovative technique. Like
Waiting, his next play Awake and Sing! (1935) is also a critical and
commercial success.
Conceived two years earlier, it pictures the

plight of a family caught in the Depression. Like O'Casey's Juno,
the thwarted ambitions of its members, their frustrations and effort to
escape the environment are shown on the stage with force.
Till the Day I Die (1935) is an anti-nazi play depicting the
plight of a communist trapped by the Nazis. He is tortured and taken
out as a traitor, which his family and former comrades were made to
believe. This led to his suicide. By treating a contemporary political
problem, the play fails to present the issues affecting the common
man and hence is limited in appeal.
These three plays have taken Odets to new heights. Critics
have acclaimed him as the "Hope of America". His next play,
Paradise Lost (1935), reverts to the theme of the first two. Despite
fame and affluence, Odets's concerns have been still with the
suffering humanity.
In this play, the middle class becomes the
victim. They are bewildered to see that everything they want and
believe in life is denied to them. Leo Gordan is a helpless witness to
the ruin of his own family. While his son Ben, a former Olympic
champion is robbed of his wife and life due to unemployment, his
second son Julie, a promising young boy, becomes a wreck with
encephalitis and his classical pianist daughter looses her lover. His
own business collapses by the wickedness of his own partner and at

last his home is repossessed. Thus his family is evicted and thrown
on the street. Leo Gordon moves out to live with the working class
and accepts this life.
Odet's first phase of artistic activity ends with this play.
Inspite of financial success, and artistic acclaim, his concern for the
suffering common man continues through out the latter plays. Since
their subjects and form is away from the realistic purview, the study
is limited to the three early plays that generally view life as it is.
The Group's next production, The Golden Boy (1937) was a
spectacular success. It appeared as if Odets got back his stings. The
play presents a talented violinist becoming a boxer for money. At
the peak of his career he unwittingly kills his opponent.
When
success comes he buys a luxury car, gets a girl and thus deserts
genuine values of his family. The boxing world trades him as a
commodity.
He later realizes that by killing his opponent he has
killed himself. He hates himself, drives down with speed and crashes
to death. The audience viewing it are left aghast and relate this to the
fate governing human condition. Its subjective plot and incongruous
situations show the play as far removed from the plight of every man.
The subsequent three plays are products of Odets's 'personal
turmoil'.
Married to a successful Hollywood actress Louis Rainer

(1938), Odets has been divorced from her within three years. The
first play of the period Rocker to the Moon (1938) is aptly concerned
with the question of marriage and love. It is a triangular love and the
quest for love proves difficult due to the conditions of the time.
Night Music (1940) again harps on economic insecurity haunting
young lovers. The play is experimental and didactic and thus lack
the warmth and tenderness of the early Depression plays.
Clash by Night (1941) is also about love. Like Rocker lo the
Moon, it presents a love triangle. Odet's personal agony due to the
break in marriage and the falling apart of the Group Theatre (1941)
have been weighing heavily on him. The national agony, due to the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour has diverted people's attention
away from theatres by this time. The lack of connection between the
psychological fixation of the principal characters to the social
problem around makes the play a private tragedy.
The failure of the play made Odets move again to Hollywood,
thus ending the second phase of his dramatic career. Though Odets
was well established as a playwright by then, he could not withstand
the fall of his marriage. Above all, the Group Theatre, a symbol of
his artistic value was no more there to cater to his needs and extract
the best from him. In Hollywood he married another actress named

Beny Gayson (1943). Though well paid with six- figure income, he
was disenchanted and he confessed that his vision and landscape had
been made thinner.
Odets has retired back to New York and wrote The Big Knife
(1949). focusing on the exploitation and ruthlessness of Hollywood
life. The theme is built around a popular Hollywood star involved in
a hit-and-run accident; blackmailed to sign a contract. After signing,
he loses his self-respect. His agony is furthered when the company
pays to kill a starlet who was the sole witness to the accident.
Unable to withstand it, he commits suicide. The Country Girl (1950)
is the most commercially successful of Odets's plays. Here again
Odets exploits the falsehood of the theatrical world. The
psychological complexity of the play is stronger than that in Clash by
Night or Rocket to the Moon.
Another crisis struck Odets in nineteen fifty-two. Testifying
before the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HCUAA),
he was believed to have mentioned the names of his former
comrades. When the famous actor John Garfield was blacklisted, he
died, unable to withstand the label of a traitor. Though Odets did not
identify him, the guilt tormented him.

35
In this background he wrote his last play The Flowering Peach
(1954), a pessimistic play of affirmation. Here Odets revived the
family unit pattern of Awake and Sing!.
The play is a Biblical
adaptation of the story of Noah and the deluge. Warned of God's
intended deluge, Noah takes his family with a pair each of other
living beings in his ark. The initial comic nature of the play turns
serious when his son Japeth poses a rational argument and challenges
God as the killer. Noah, a staunch loyalist of God is forced to knock
him down and carry him in the ark. Inside the ark Japeth insists on a
rudder to steer the ark, while Noah is firm that God will steer it.
When it strikes a submerged object and leaks, Noah is forced to
admit that God also admits human assistance. Noah's wife maintains
her cool throughout.
Of his other two sons, one is portrayed as an opportunist, hoarder
and a playboy who loves Goldie, a girl brought for Japeth. Japeth, in turn
loves his brother's wife Rachel. Noah, though initially objects to the wife
swapping arrangement is forced to agree after the girls have become
pregnant and his wife dies.
The ark too lands on a mount in April, the
season ofjoy and birth. There is a change in Noah from blind adherence to
that of maintaining order through love. Japeth is no longer a rebellious son
at the end of the play. The play ends in Noah's affirmation as follows:
"... Now it is in man's hand to make or destroy the world ..." (FP 21).

Noah's last words are fitting valedictory to the mysterious life of
Odets.
A view of his plays reveal that the earlier plays have force and
conviction because of the social problems of every day life and his
later plays lack this force due to the largely private problems
focussed in them. Yet, Odets has always been writing about the
individual's struggle to maintain his dignity and identify in a largely
inimical world. Concern with the universal human problems give a
lasting value to his Depression plays. This makes three of the
Depression plays ideal for a study of objectivity in the light of the
non-teleological acceptance of life.
O'Casey and Odets as portrayed, have lived through the vastly
deteriorating native cities. They have also witnessed the struggle and
turmoil of the humble folks around them. Hence, whatever attitude to
life as seen in their plays is due largely to their adherence to such
environment.
Some of the critics of O'Casey and Odets maintain that there is
a Chekhovian vision of life in their early plays. J.L.Styan states that
in O'Casey's best works, he "achieved a Chekhovian objectivity"
(1981, 104). In another work entitled Dramatic Experience, he
compares Synge with O'Casey and states that O'Casey's plays are

tragi-comedies and naturalistic in the sense that he "came very close
to reporting the true sensation of living like Ibsen and Chekhov on
the continent" (1998, 109). David Krause finds a similarity in the
vision of life of O'Casey and Chekhov and holds them as naturalists.
He further comments that "both possesses the tragi-comic sense of
life" (1960, 53). The realistic presentation of the brutal facts of life,
the mixture of laughter and tears, detestation of idealism and opinion
and judgement bind them together, according to Krause.
To Gabriel Miller, the Chekhovian vision is what is allpervasive
in Odets's early plays. Like the matured dramas of the
Russian playwright, these plays also "centre on ordinary people
living quite unremarkable lives. They are not complex characters ....
As in Chekhov, the sense of personal seems all pervasive: ... while
the present ... consists of dreams of escape, like going to Mosco\v for
Chekhov's three sisters ... the concept of future is only a mirage"
(1989, 32). Odets himself has admitted to the Chekhovian connection
in an article to the New York Times (1935) and wrote as follows: "our
confused middle class today-which dares little, is dangerously similar
to Chekhov's people, which is why the people in Awake and Slng!
and Paradise Lost (particularly the latter) have what is called a
Chekhovian quality" (1935, 15).

From Chekhov's plays what is relevant to relate to this study is
not merely the form but the "conception of the world" in terms of
"what is real in human experience" (Gaskell 1972, IS). Other factors
that bind the plays of O'Casey and Odets to that of Chekhov's are the
deteriorating environmental settings, their plotlessness, focus on the
seemingly irrelevant. the futility, vacuum, frustration of characters
and the tragi-comic nature of their life. Also, like in Chekhov's
plays, a few characters brood over the meaning of life, understand
the conditions around them and accept it as it comes down. These
observations also help to establish the significance of these plays and
the attitude to life recommended in them.
Ever since the production of the Depression plays of Odets, the
Group Theatre directors, eminent drama-critics and scholars on
O'Casey and Odets have been indicating areas of similarity between
O'Casey's Dublin trilogy and Odets's Depression plays. In their view
Odets's treatment of themes,
characters, milieu and language in
these plays resemble that of the Irish master's early plays.
Harold Clurman is the first major theatre artist and critic to
cite parallelism between the early plays of both O'Casey and Odets.
In his article titled, "Three Introductions", to the Six Plays of
Clifford Odets (1939). he urged on the critics to be cautious while

inging in the Chekhovian connection to the early plays of Odets.
Adding further, he states: "if at all comparisons are --- helpful in
defining the nature of a playwright's talent, perhaps the name of Sean
O'Casey may fit better in this connection. Not only do we find in
Awake and Sing! some of the special tenement tenderness that lends
warmth to all the cold facts of O'Casey's Dublin dramas, but there is
also a certain quality of improvisatory spontaneousness, a tendency
to give to all the occurrences that are part of the character's lives, the
same importance and sympathy, whether they be intense suffering or
work a day routine" (1939, 421). Clurman continued to maintain the
same view in his article on Paradise Lost. This has resulted in the
spurt of critical observations connecting the early plays of both the
dramatists.
Odets himself has acknowledged his indebtedness to O'Casey
in his Journal entitled The Time is Ripe (1940). His candid admission
is a true revelation and it reads as follows: "in a small way I have
been influenced in my own playwrighting by O'Casey, but it is
mostly because we must be similar men: he lives physically, not with
the noodle" (1988, 16). Odets has been maintaining that his own loss
of dramatic talent after the Depression plays is akin to that of
O'Casey's lack of dramatic vigour after the Dublin plays. Both have
strayed into strange terrain after the early plays. The lack of realistic

characters, naturalistic backgrounds and their experimentation with
expressionism and symbolism in an unfamiliar idiom speak for most
of the later plays running out of favour with the audience.
Deriving substance from an unpublished preface written by
Odets to the plays of O'Casey, Miller comments in these words:
"Like O'Casey, Odets is no longer an impulsive artist, for he
recognizes that his writing now must be the result of the conscious
mind marching along side feeling and intuition" (1989, 237). Odets
himself admitted in the journal that he was writing about people who
are battered, trapped and living a miserable, blasted life. His
affiliation with the people, the place and their life are complete and
his early plays thus produced are swollen with the events of the time.
It is this similarity that Miller too points out in Odets's Depression
plays and thus his "themes" too, like that of O'Casey, "emerge
naturally out of a situation or a feeling" (1989, 237).
Eric Bentley, while reviewing Odets's last play, compares him
to O'Casey and designates both as poets of the theatre. Adding
further, he states that the real merit of these playwrights lies in the
fact that their plays have been "set down in living language ...
imaginative use of dialect, which in turn is a matter of (their)... inner
identification with the people who speak that dialect" (1968, 210).

What is laudable in both is that the words are aimed straiglit at tlic
heart of the audience with more jazz and punch. The vitality of the
language, the realistic depiction of incidents, characters
and
objective portrayal of subjective experiences show that these poets
have mastered the art of theatre.
Harold Cantor, in affirming Odets as a playwright-poet,
compares his language to that of O'Casey. According to him Odets
"added the indirect and contrapuntal dialogue of a drama by O'Casey
or Chekhov" (1978, 115). Ralph Willett, writing in the South Arianric
Quarterly comments that "Odets's dramas are formally conservative
like the best known plays of O'Casey" (1970, 71).
Like Clurman, Mendelsohn also sees similarity in theme,
characters and language in Awake and Sing! and O'Casey's Juno and
the Paycock. The critic states thus: "Awake and Sing! appears in
retrospect to contain much of the ebullience of O'Casey's Juno and
the Paycock, and the Odets play suggests O'Casey's in other ways as
well. There is, for example, the remarkably astute use of idiomatic
language, qualities for which both playwrights have been justly
admired. But beyond that is the mood, the state ol'chassis, tIi;11 cxisls
in both worlds; O'Casey's Ireland and Odets's New York are equally
out of joint" (1969, 33). Commenting on the dialogue of both the

playwrights he adds as follows: "Odets's ear for the cadences of first
generation and immigrant New Yorkers ... was comparable to
O'Casey's ear for Irish rhythms" (1969, 103).
Una Ellis Fermor, in her article "Poetry in Revolt" comments
that within twelve years of O'Caseys fourth play, "all his material
had been used and used memorably by Odets and Anderson in
America" (1969, 108). In her view, the deteriorating standard of slum
life which strife and wars activate in O'Casey's plays invariably find
dramatic treatment in Odets's plays too. Dispassionate view of these
plays also reveal that both are bitter about politics and man's
inhumanity to man and hold that these factors hamper man's
progress.
Inspite of the spurt of critical activity showing glimpses of
similarity in these plays, scant attention has been paid for in-depth
study of these plays in comparison. In focusing on areas of likeness,
the analogues attitude to life shown in these dramas have not been
concentrated upon. Hence, the attempt to study the plays in the light
of non-teleological acceptance of life may be of value to scholars of
drama. The following aspects are extensively discussed under
characteristic sections so as to bring home the hypothesis under
consideration.

The
first task is to present the causes end forms of the
struggles. The desperate struggle for existence amidst overwhelming
odds as presented in these plays pictures this world as a battleground.
In O'Casey's plays, the characters hail from the death-trapped
tenements of the Dublin slums. Sufferings due to lack of food,
raiment and shelter are unique in the Dublin plays. In Odets's plays
the economic crisis force the characters to struggle to have the basics
and also to have a life of love, dignity, freedom and normal human
relationships. While external forces wreck individuals and families.
the characters' own inadequacies enhance their struggles in these
plays.
Next, the discussion turns on how far the sense of alienation
increases their sufferings. The growing insecurity of being alone
dissociates these men and women from their fellow beings in these
plays. In Odets's plays, people stand baffled as the Depression struck
the society unexpectedly. The resultant conditions are insecurity.
dispossession and disillusionment, all of which bring disorder. The
indifference of money-minded capitalists to the plight of the poor
working people frustrate them.
All these lead to loss of faith.
bickering, isolation and breakdowns.

In O'Casey, it is the strife-torn society that is at war with the
poor tenement population. The Easter Rising, civil war and the
guerilla warfare hold the entire civil society to ransom. Their
moments of bravado and posturing are not born out of conviction.
Narrowness of their idealism too is in conflict with the practical
realities around them. As a result, alienation disorients individuals
in O'Casey's plays. Almost all the characters experience a sense of
isolation either because of personal or social conditions.
Consequentially, the next focus is on the conflicts in these
plays that are caused by man's self-love and his inhumanity towards
fellow human beings. The forces that are in conflict with the interest
of the individuals frustrate him. While economic forces are in
conflict with the characters in Odets's plays, they are the politicoreligious
forces in O'Casey's plays. In Odets the entire society is
divided into the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'. People with power and
authority are seen blocking the genuine aspirations of the
dispossessed characters. Material comforts and happiness for the
lower classes stay as illusionary as dreams. Hence they are cynical
of the affluent sections of society in these plays. Economic decline of
the middle-classes also makes sure that they slide down with the
marginalised proletariat.

In O'Casey's plays, there is a nexus between politics and
religion. While religion splits the society vertically as the Catholics
and Protestants, the poor among the Catholics are deluded into
embracing militant nationalism, which is an offshoot of bourgeois
Catholicism. Instead of relieving the poor from want and misery, it
hampers their progress and destroys them. It is further stressed that it
is the poor who suffer indignity under dehumanising conditions and
are forced to have moral compromises either to live or to attain petty
gains.
Following this, we analyse pacifism as a solution to the
problems faced by these people. During the points of conflict
between opposing forces in these plays, few characters strive to know
the reality of the conditions. They understand that instead of abetting
the strife and war, it is sagacious to advance peace. The awareness
that one must live with minimum friction with the environment
augments their role in these plays. They either stand aloof and
watch or act to ameliorate other's sufferings. They know that it is not
reaction but recognition that is important at moments of deep crisis
and conflicts. Hence they endure indignities and show enormous
courage in reconciling themselves with the environment.
We also highlight the fact that when dissension, strife and war
deeply divide society, it is futile to fight with or win against an

unequal army. The disgruntled, dispossessed masses embrace illusion
as reality. On the otherhand, those who are aware of themselves keep
aloof from fanatical movements, promote harmoily and construct life
around them.
Next, the analysis turns on how understanding, awareness and
recognition of themselves guide them towards acceptance of life as it
is. The pacifists in these plays are those who accept life nonteleologically.
This life accepting characters are analysed in the light
of the philosophical base of non-teleological thinking, propounded by
Steinbeck and Ricketts.
It is also highlighted how the non-teleologically
thinking
characters are forced by the wickedness of the world to live in a
brawling, quarrelsome and dehumanising environment.
They have
neither the materials nor the means to encounter the days to come.
Yet they gladly accept these conditions, neither cursing nor blaming
others. With the willing hands to work and reach out, they resolve
further to attend to humanity and activate life.
Finally, we turn to the question of the relevance of the vision
of life of the two playwrights to the present
context. The
playwrights' view of life as seen by some major critics as well as the
light shed on their attitude to life in their non-dramatic works is

pointed out to strengthen the argument of the present study. It would
be ideal to begin looking at the causes and forms of the struggle in
the ensuing section.

CAUSES AND FORMS OF STRUGGLE
Th' whole worl's in a terrible state o'chassis
Jack Boyle in Juno and the Paycock
The world has a profound dislocation
Leo Garden in Paradise Lost
Descending on the dehumanising Dublin scene in 1913 and
moved by the wretched condition of the poor masses. Jim Larkin, the
legendary labour leader thundered thus: "you'l crucify Christ no
longer in this townW(qtd. in Krause 1960, 8). The image of the cross
and crucifixion is apt and suggestive of the pathetic plight of the
lrish and the conflicts that led to much chaot~c conditions. The
atrocious debasement of lrish life was caused by the recurring
politico-religious
feuds whose victims were mostly Christians.
Larkin's anger and concern were born out of the fact that when he
landed in Dublin, its poor working classes were confined to the
wretched slums in a situation of hunger, illness, alcoholism, quarrels,
abuses and were living like beasts of the fields.

Larkin's was a divine mission with a view to liberating them
from the exploiters in the first place. To realize this goal, he
launched a series of struggles culminating in the "Dublin Lock-out".
which was undermined effectively by religionists and the capitalist
employers. The rest is part of history as the labour movement melted
down paving way for militant nationalism, with freedom from foreign
aggression as its prime commitment. The traumatic decade of Irish
history since then saw the Easter Rising (1916), the guerilla warfare
(1920) against the usurpers, and its own men killing one another in
the civil war (1922). These calamities unleashed terror in every walk
of Irish life.
In this context, Boyle's description of thc statc of
chassis, though a statement on the generality of the world of his day.
underscores the oppressive moral and military conflicts.
"The milieu produces the writer" (1978, 55), stated Satre in
U'l7at is Lirerature?.
Myron in Awake and Sing! sees "the whole
world's changing under his "eyes" (45). In Odets's first play, Sid
castigates the "bastards who's making the world a lousy place to live
in" (WL 27). Seamus Shields in O'Casey's Shadow is equally aware
that it is "dangerous to be in and ... equally dangerous to be out"
(29). It is the same sentiment Peter Flynn the old labourer shares
when he says that people are "pouring venom" (PS 169) against their
fellowmen in his Ireland. The strange coincidence is that all these

men are tired of and worn out by life. Their peculiar utterance about
life in this world is enriched by experience. The crisis in Irish life as
exemplified in O'Casey's Jack Boyle's observation is equally
generalized by Leo Gordon's statement about the "dislocation" of the
contemporary world.
The plight of O'Casey's and Odets's countrymen who were
swept off their feet in a swiftly changing environment was unique
when these plays were staged. Hence it is pertinent to note that both
as writers and as artists, they were also products of the social milieu
because it was this environment that shaped the course and destiny of
their characters to a large extent. It is the social and political
turbulence in the war-torn Ireland and the Depression-ravaged
America that challenges their rai-son detre. The events that led to the
greatest crises in these societies cannot be ascribed to a simple or
single reason. The Irish society was in ferment ever since it came
under the absolute authority of the English settlers and aggressors by
the end of the seventeenth century. A history of lrrsh Literature by
Seamus Deane portrays the plight of the Irish in detail. The Penal
Laws on the Irish Catholics robbed them of their property, civil and
political rights, educational opportunities and religious freedom.
To add injury to insult, the already discredited British
Administration in Ireland provided positions of importance and

power to the English men of no consequence and to the Protestant
loyalists.
As a result, the Catholic aristocrats and intellectuals
deserted the native land and settled in different parts of the
Continent.
This added to the woes of the already struggling.
ignorant, drunken poor as they were now bereft of effective
leadership. Thus, most of them were driven to the fold of the militant
nationalists. This was a means of escape for them during the early
decades of the twentieth century. The plight of the working-class
people worsened after Larkin's departure from the scene. There was
none to provide the right kind of leadership to restore people s faith
and help them find a better and fuller life for themselves.
This
vacuum is felt in O'Casey's Dublin trilogy too as none of the plays
has a hero and nearly all lack in vision and a mission in life.
Heirs to the turmoil in a societj of contradictions, injustice.
deception, ignorance, drunkenness and insecurity, they resorted to
violence as a way of life. This in turn affected their personal and
family life and worsened their plight. Those who got no chance to
carry the gun resorted to excessive drinking and indulged in
mocking, boastings, threatening with wild rhetoric of abuse and
vagrancy. This speaks for the tragi-comic nature of their life. As no
heroic action was possible among their ranks, their affiliations led
them only to escapism and illusions.
Their actions provoked

laughter, as boastings and drinking became their chief mode of
entertainment and way of life. Since O'Casey presents the essence of
the Dublin slum life, it is but natural that his plays exemplify this
tragi-comic aspect.
David Krause aptly notes as follows:
"O'Casey possesses
tragi-comic sense of life, for it is only by laughing with and through
their characters that they are able to cope with the overwhelming
burden of life" (1960, 53). In tune with this understanding of life,
his Dublin plays are set against the backdrop of the great crises of the
decade.
Hence the Easter Rising forms the background of The
Plough and the Stars (1926), the guerilla warfare serves as the
setting for The Shadow of a Gunman (1922) and the civil war is
dramatised in Juno and the Paycock (1924). It is this vicious social
situation that speaks for the form and theme of O'Casey's Dublin
trilogy too. By parading the tenement population on the Abbey stage
to reflect the social situations of these times, O'Casey also highlights
the desperation in their struggle against the overwhelming odds in
their society.
The American crisis of the nineteen thirties was unparalleled in
its history.
When the stock market-triggered "Great Depression"
struck the civil society, millions of people abruptly lost their homes

and savings. The homeless ones roaming the streets and the jobless
sleeping on the pavement was a common sight. The unemployment
figure that rose to thirteen millions by 1932 virtually stole the life of
faceless millions.
The predicament of the people as depicted in
Twentieth Century America, makes shocking reading. In this book, a
Chicago observer seeing the pathetic plight of a group of men
describes about how a crowd of some fifty men were fighting for
food from a garbage which had been set outside the backdoor of a
restaurant. It reveals the condition of the "American citizens fighting
for scraps of food like animals" (Reeves 2000, 101). It may not be an
exaggeration as the effects of the Depression was visible on every
individual and city.
This appalling social scenario produced a host of problems for
the individuals and families. Adding insult to injury was the unjust
social order and the indifference of the capitalist employers. The
agony of the common man got intensified as fighting for a morsel of
food in the bread lines and staying in shanty tin houses
(Hoovervilles) became common. The tragedy soon reached the
markets in Western Europe and other parts of the world, thus
shattering the dream of a vast majority of people. In the light of this
disorder, Odets's Leo Gordon's thesis of the "dislocation" of the
world could be apt and suggestive of the contemporary situation.

As family life was profoundly affected, it resulted in the
breaking down of relations. Since no profitable employment could
be obtained, starvation, insecurity, dispossession, depression of
spirits and bickering became the recurring pattern. This "entropy" as
recorded in a story of William Gass states the condition as follows:
"everywhere there is a sense of desolation, growing waste, increasing
vacancy - of places, and people - life running down"(qtd. in Tanner
1987, 261). The pathetic plight of Odets's characters is in no way
different. The worst affected lower middle-class, as Odets depicts
them, stood bewildered and frustrated. They were forced to barter
long cherished ideals and morals in exchange for basic needs of life
and money.
In such a hopeless situation theirs was a desperate
struggle for self-identity and self-preservation.
Intellectuals and artists too felt the brunt. Many of them like
Odets sought psychological solace as they were "afraid and energised
by the fear of annihilation". Thus they joined the Communist party
"in the honest and real belief that this was some way out of the
dilemman(HCUAA 1952, 3456). Similarly many felt the desperate
need to escape individual loneliness and to merge with a group. As
one who lived through these traumatic experiences, Odets reflects
them in the plays. Thus, in his first play Wniting for Lefy (1935),
Odets effectively fuses art and commitment, in the agitation -

propaganda tradition.
Its resounding success throughout America
attests the contemporary youth's desperate search for a group identity
and ritualistic experience as they were the ones who thronged the
theatre everywhere and formed the play's enthusiastic and vocal
support base.
The play Waiting, while dealing with the "class
struggle" also "analyse(s) the Depression difficulties and capitalistic
evils found in a wide spectrum of society" (Cantor 1978, 18).
Similarly, recalling the bitterness that he experienced in
nineteen thirty-three, Odets admitted thus: "we live in a strange dry
world.
A strong heart is needed, iron nerves to continue to be a
serious writer hereV(qtd, in Gibson 1982, 265). As a much stronger
nerve was needed to cope with the alienating families, many felt the
immediate need to escape it or break their nerves by being inside.
This forms the background of Odets's second play Awake and Sing!
(1935). Paradise Lost (1935), his fourth and last of the Depression
plays too shows how a middle-class family decays due to the historic
contradictions of the times. These contradictions as William Philips
records are " ... a time of sense and nonsense, idealism and cynicism.
morality and immorality, disinterestedness and power drive ..."( 1962.
204). Such contradictions deflate characters in the selected plays.
St~ggles owing to these factors exhaust and despoil the characters
and command the course of events in these plays.

In these plays, poverty dehumanizes men and reduce their act
of living to just a motion.
Engel's perception that "when society
deprives thousands of necessities of life and forces them under the
strong arms of the law under conditions in which they can not live.
until death ensues which is the inevitable consequence"(l892, 55).
holds good as a description of the pathetic plight of people in the
plays under consideration. Though living in better housing conditions
than the Dublin tenement people, Odets's characters too share the
curse of poverty on an equal footing. Gibson notes that in Odets's
plays "food deprivation and food intake are a steady obligation as
many of the apparently casual exchanges between characters center
on eating and starvingX(1982, 251). This observation is substantiated
by the Depression plays.
Poverty plays havoc in the families in each episode of Waiting.
It breeds domestic disharmony and quarrels in the "Joe Edna"
episode. Joe, an underpaid cabman is not able to earn enough to feed
his family despite slavery and sleepless nights.
As a result, his
children grow up with crooked spines and sick bones and look like
ghosts. This recurring pattern in the family threatens to ruin their
marriage of five years.
Edna, his wife relates the plight of their
starving children pathetically thus: "You got two blondie kids
sleeping in the next room.
They need food and clothes. I'm not

mentioning anything else.
But we're stalled like a flivver in the
snow.
For five years I laid awake at night listening to my heart
pound. For God's sake, do something Joe and get wise"(9).
Her cry
is a cry in the wilderness as Joe's long turn in work fails to alleviate
the poverty of the family. When Joe helplessly wishes to be a kid
again to bury his problems, the desperate Edna threatens to walk out
on Joe and children to her former boy friend. Poverty is the single
most factor that leads to bickerings and mistrust in this family.
The most positive and long cherished values like marriage and
child rearing are under threat due to the stress and strains of poverty.
More pathetic is the plight of the young hack Sid and his girl
Florence in the "Young Hack and His Girl" scene.
Sid could not
marry Florence even after three years of their engagement because as
a cab driver he cannot earn even to fulfil his physiological needs. It
is a case of marriage denied as her own brother indulges in unjust
coercion and coldly tells Florence as follows: "This ain't no time to
get marriedX(l8). In the end, they are forced to part as their meagre
earnings are desperately required to maintain the respective families.
The compelling circumstances of poverty frustrate her and den!
romance, love, babies and everything in life a girl longs for and
values in youth. The play while highlighting unjust labour standards
also shows "the effect of the Depression on personal relationships"

(Miller, 1989, 8). It is not only the plight of one family but the
malaise of the entire society that Odets depicts. Herbert Mitgang
writing in New York Times rightly points out that Odets is "forcing
the audience to see in the plight of these characters a reflection of
their own social predicament" (1954, 1). Their struggle worsens as
poverty leads to a series of catastrophe.
Clean and honest living is not possible in circumstances of
poverty, as the "Labour Spy" scene shows. Here,a clean living lab
assistant, Miller is forced to work on a poison gas plant where killer
gas is manufactured for war purposes. Miller's values are in conflict
with the poverty of his family. How an offer of wage hike is a bait to
work in a dehumanising and life endangering plant is evident when
Miller grabs the offer thinking that his wife would be happy about
the pay hike. But Miller's endurance is stretched to the breaking
point when his boss tempts him to spy on the chief chemist of the
plant with another offer of forty a month. Unable to cope with the
humiliating terms of the contract, Miller busts his boss square in the
mouth and quits the job.
Thus his family is destined to sink in
misery. Through these episodes Odets "delivers (his) indictment of
the hopeless condition of the lower classes" (Miller 1989.172).
Though we may laud Miller for holding aloft moral principles, his

indiscretion is bound to upset his family equilibrium and deprive
them of food.
Poverty is a hydra-headed monster as it assumes many roles in
its course of destruction in these plays.
While on the verge of
breaking the marriage of Joe and Edna, it negates marriage and love.
It also assumes serious proportions as threat of eviction and
homelessness looms large in the play. Edna complains of
repossession of furniture for non payment of installments to Joe, who
is already burdened with mounting rental dues. Sid and his girl could
not marry, not only because they do not make a living but also
because they cannot have a room to live together in. Isaacs, writing
in Theatre Arts, sums up the plight as follows: "their bitter struggles
at home, in the laboratory, in the office, in the hospital - all of the
situations that have driven these men out of other professions and
labors to try to earn a living at driving a taxi and to find at the wheel
only semi-starvation for themselves and their families"(l935. 327)
Bessie Berger in Odets's Awake and Sing' is not able to
overcome the struggle for existence though working like a '.niggerM.
Every move by Bessie in the play as a matriarchal head is born out of
the fear of eviction and poverty. Poverty denies even the basic needs
to people. Ralph the young boy always longs for a room and shoe

laces for the worn-out shoes. Moe the crippled boarder in the Berger
family frequently pleads for oranges. Jacob, the old father of Bessie
reports of streets filled with starving beggars. Instances of
deprivation are so numerous that none can realise the possibilities of
life in the play.
Poverty plays havoc in the life of the characters in Paradise
also. Pike the furnace man's life testifies as to how he is a victim of
poverty. He angrily protests, denouncing the conditions of the
country. According to him America is "the biggest and best pig-sty in
the world"(PL 191). The burden of the assertion is born out of his
experience of having lived on garbage dumps and in sub way toilets
and getting poisoned eating canned "prunes". Ben, Leo Gordon's
Olympic gold medallist son is cuckolded because he cannot meet
even the physiological needs of his wife. Unable to withstand this
agony, Ben takes recourse to suicide.
These are poverty-induced
suicides, mainly due to their
inability to earn money. Contrary to their hope, their paradise as
viewed by Cantor, is "an artificial one" and "it rapidly turns to ashes
and dust" (1978, 33). The happy foundation of Ben's rnarrlage built
on love could not withstand the onslaught of a loveless society.
These promising young one's are entrapped within a decaying social

system which in turn breaks the familial ties. The young and
energetic Ben's plight is desperate. The pattern of decline from love
to death is pathetic and truly tragic.
Struggles due to hunger and poverty devastate O'Casey's
characters in the Dublin plays. O'Casey himself abhorred a situation
of poverty as he had been its victim all along his life in the Dublin
tenements.
"Three weeks before Juno and the Poycock was
produced, I pawned my trousers for five shillings and earned wages
insufficient for the nourishment of a dog" (1926, 5), confessed
O'Casey to the reporter of Daily Sketch. In this context of personal
poverty when O'Casey brought to light the struggles of the "plain"
people of Dublin, he did so without exaggeration. The squalor of the
tenements of the times was an acknowledged fact because Dublin in
those days was considered one of the unhealthiest cities in the world.
A situation of desperate poverty is seen as intensifying the struggle
of these characters. In Drums Under !he
Window. O'Case: 's
indignation over poverty is revealed thus: "Poverty itself destro! s
the flickering personality, a simple certain life might have saved
Poverty must goW(1981e, 640).
Struggle due to poverty reduces the characters in O'Case!
to
mere puppets. Some of them are just going through the motion of life

and wait for final peace, that is death. This itself is agonising as their
entire energy had been channelized into realizing their ambitions.
The resultant violent conflicts and unbearable contradictions make
them frustrated and they stand divided against themselves. It is mind
boggling to see how sufferings imprint their ugly mark on the life of
these characters.
Commenting on poverty as one of the major themes of
O'Casey, Barbara Hayley says thus: "poverty is presented as
depriving not only of material things but also dignity, joy and
integrity. It fosters the characters' worst faults-anger, ignorance,
idleness, drunkenness and vulgarity". Adding further the critic says
that being trapped under dehumanising poverty, the poor victim finds
it "difficult to raise above it materially or intellectually". It is this
battered people who wish to escape their poor neighbourhood.
Hayley aptly points out that the playwright in the Dublin trilogy
"paints the claustrophobic atmosphere of the tenement"(l981, 80).
The drunken evasiveness of most of the poverty-stricken slum
characters in these plays testifies to the burden of this observation.
In O'Casey's Shadow almost all characters suffer due to
poverty and deprivation. Davoren, its protagonist is a homeless,
migrant worker. As an unpaid boarder with his "peddler" friend

Shields, he literally starves with his lot. Tommy Owens is destined
to live on others' mercy.
The threat of eviction looms large in
Shields' tenement as the Landlord serves notices for repossession of
the tenement room for failing to pay eighteen weeks rent dues. But
Shields is indifferent to the threat of eviction because living inside
the return-room or outside makes no difference.
O'Casey's slum
settings are mostly unfit for human habitations and as rightly
observed by Nora in Plough, are "vaults - that are hiding th' dead,"
instead of homes that are "shelterin'th' livin"'(PS 107). In such
inhuman conditions they are fated to suffer starvation.
Sean O'Casey's "continual theme is the sufferings of the poor"
(Simmons 1983, 55). Suffering indignity one after another, they are
robbed of all finer qualities. Hunger threatens to break love and
heaps indignity on the partners alike. Juno Boyle in the play Juno,
out of motherly concern had to endure indignity at the departmental
store every time she goes to borrow food stuff on credit. Captain
Boyle and his friend Joxer Daly are afraid of being trapped like rats
by Juno whenever they steal the food in her absence.
In O'Casey's Juno, like in Odets's Waiting, borrowed furniture
are taken away.
Juno and her invalid son Johnny, unable to
withstand the shame, keep the men off for a while. Juno even

frantically runs out to fetch money or Jack Boyle, her irresponsible
husband. As she fails in both, her furniture is repossessed and in her
absence, her son is also taken away by the irregulars for reprisal
killing. The total impact of poverty is felt more keenly in Juno than
in any other play in the trilogy. The stage direction itself sheds much
light on the impact of poverty on every member of the Boyle family.
Juno Boyle in favourable circumstances would have been a
handsome, active and clever woman. But the stress of poverty is felt
in her body and mind as "her face has now assumed that look which
ultimately settles down upon the faces of the woman of the working
class; a look of listless monotony and harassed anxiety, blending
with an expression of mechanical resistance" (JP 47).
Juno's
daughter Mary is seen frantically struggling to escape the poverty
stricken environment. Poverty triumphs over the influence of the
books she had read. Her attempts to attain habits above her station
ends in failure despite her moral compromise. Several characters in
O'Casey and Odets undergo such torture due to the desire to escape
poverty.
Mollser, the consumptive child of Mrs.Gogan in Plough, is a
victim of starvation. The poor girl's desperate query to Nora in the
first act "if I'll ever be strong enough to be keep-in a home together
for a manW(PS 125), is heart-rending. She has been dying a slow

death since childhood due to malnutrition and sickness and when
finally she embraces lasting peace at fifteen, she is only a frail ghost
of a girl. Her mother, a charwoman, frequents the bar or republican
meetings when the girl desperately needs her motherly care. Her
mother's atrocious debasement is also disturbing and upsetting to the
sick girl in the tenement.
One of the most disgraceful manifestations of poverty is
drunkenness. The many sides the course of poverty takes get vividly
portrayed in the Dublin trilogy. Many of the tenement characters in
these plays are victims of drinking and stand alienated and despised.
Hemmed in by ambiguities, these ignorant, poor ones remain elusive,
wayward and displaced.
Politics and drunkenness go hand in hand with the slum
characters. The insight of Donal Davoren in Shadow sheds light on
the closeness of these aberrations. He aptly comments as follows to
Minnie Powell: "A man should always be drunk Minnie, when he
talks politics- it is the only way in which to make them important"
(SG 11). For most of the characters, drunkenness is not only a \vay of
life but also a legacy passed on by father to the son. It is this state of
affairs that O'Casey denounces through his Dublin plays. O'Casey's
ire is turned on the nationalists who further exploit such addicts. In

O'Casey's dispassionate glance, the drunken ones' irrational and
irresponsible actions aggravate their own plight and that of others.
The inebriated windbags take recourse to politics without
commitment. It is illustrated aptly by Tommy Owens and Adolphus
Grigson in the play. They swear loyalty to patriotic politics, cast
aspersion and slander on their rivals. Grigson always has a bottle
ready in his pocket to prove that he is "born in a bottleV(SG 32). The
drunken ones are hypocrites and trembling cowards. They resort to
drinking by borrowing and flattering others. By drinking excessively
they evade work even if available. Thus they struggle due to loss of
memory, inconsistency and depression of spirit; they let down their
dependents and turn into pernicious mortals.
Mrs.Grigson's unbearable ordeal at the hands of her drunken
husband disorients her. As she is totally dependent on Mr.Grigson,
she withstands anxiety and subordination, "in order to avoid being
rejected ... and left to rely on herself' (Harwell 1980, 241).
The
submissive and responsible women in the Dublin plays suffer the
worst due to such irresponsible, drunken men. While Juno suffers on
account of the tormenting by Boyle, Tommy's boasting of his
Proximity to a general in the IRA at the Blue Lion pub results in the
Black and Tans's raid and the death of the innocent young girl

Minnie Powell. Thus the drunkards, unworthy as they are also abet
incidents and situations which prove fatal.
The Boyle family is one of the most problem ridden and its
Captain Jack Boyle is drunkenly evasive, pitiless, cold and priggish.
Always standing on the edge, ready for flight towards the pub, he
never bothers to captain the problematic ship: the family. In his
unwillingness to shoulder burdens or face upto reality, he stands out
as a lifeless rotten, pub-peacock. He resembles Bouccicault's
character in the Shaughraun "who never did an honest day's work in
his life but drinking" (Simmons 1983, 55).
Boyle too goes on
wasting Juno's earnings with his comic partner Joxer Daly. The
double-ness, hypocrisy and ambiguities of Boyle could be traced to
loss of commitment and balance due to excessive drinking. Drinking
kindles his imagination and dream to such an extent that he cannot
withstand reality without a few jars of whisky. In turn his family
members suffer the consequences of his drunken indifference.
The drunken fanatics in the play Plough, in their maddening
fight for heroic glory create their own universe and pursue its own
phantoms, leading to the all round chaos. While destroying Nora. her
child and Mollser, they destroy youthful energy, love and the
harmony of family life. Drunkenness prods their petty and jealous

nature into making sarcastic comments and venomous onslaught on
Nora's efforts at self-improvement and reforming slum life. They
cannot put up with anyone better than them. Fluther Good, the
drunken carpenter, questions the very sanctity of marriage by casting
aspersions on Nora's unflinching love for her husband. The sad
contradiction is that while deriding love within marriage he allows
himself to cross the boundary and seek pleasure outside marriage.
Such drunken one's distort the very notion of morality, order,
arrangement and decency.
The century long strife has drained the life-blood of the Irish.
Hence there is sluggishness and general apathy towards self-
improvement.
They are used to haunting the pub at dawn and
returning at dusk with a few bottles to drink away the night, only to
wake up and repeat the routine as best illustrated by Tommy,
Grigson, Jack Boyle and Fluther. Thus, wasting their time and energy
they rejoice at other's sufferings too. By shutting every avenue to
betterment they sink back to primitivity wantonly.It is in vain to
expect a sense of unity and fellowship even though they live under
one roof. Their erratic and wayward life style defies description.
In the light of the ridiculous and irresponsible actions of
almost all but Nora in Plough, Juno Boyle in Juno and Davoren and

Shields in Shadow, it has to be seen that they contribute to their own
sufferings. They fall either by drunken exhilaration or by fanatically
patriotic fervour. Shields concludes thus: "this is a hopeless
country ... the Irish people all over....treat a joke as a serious thing
and a serious thing as a joke" and they, "aren't, never were, an' never
will be fit for self-government3'(SG 7). As spoken by the one who is
not drunk and never loses his balance, this is his 'apotheosis", and
truly reflects the state of the Irish suffering.
What Harold Clurman commented on the life of Shaw's
characters in Heart Break House seems relevant to illustrate the
plight of O'Casey's characters in this context. Clurman's observation
runs as follows: "... all were aware that they are living in a loomy
world, which they are expected to take seriously but can't. As they
progress they become aware of the need to act mad in ordcr to
approximate reality. To achieve their liberation - their world must be
destroyed" (qtd. in Innes 2000, 248). In the Dublin plays, the
drunkards, the revelers and fighters strive hard for mutual
annihilation, either willingly or unwittingly.
Struggles owing to the irresponsibility and inhumanity of one's
own family members tend to prove that there is not even a moment's
respite to the miserable victims. Such indifferent and inhuman ones

are swayed by false values and are corrupted by a system that
sustains dissimulation. Being intoxicated by senseless heroism and
wars over decades, such characters are maimed and cheated of their
humanness.
Hence, unwittingly they add to the miseries of their
fellow human beings. Those at the receiving end bemoan like a violin
out of tune.
Indifference of the other members of the family pushes the
already over worked mothers into further misery. As Juno is a
working-class mother in the true sense and is forced to assume the
matriarchal role due to the irresponsibility of her husband and
children, her restless agony is more pronounced.
Her misery is
compounded by the fact of having to work during day and night. As
a devoted mother she is forced to work for wages insufficient to feed
everyone in the family. While her workless daughter, invalid son and
work- shy, husband drive her sick by pestering her, the added load of
housekeeping is killing her. Poverty denies her dignity and gaiety as
she is the one in the house with no friends, no visitors and no holiday
or outings; good or bad. So, suffering due to lack of friendship and
entertainment is another area of concern.
The fate of most of the mothers against the irresponsibility of
men is to sink into domestic drudgery while wanting to see life. By

others' irresponsibility, they are forced to reserve for themselves the
task of exhaustive physical labour. It is the same routine, getting
breakfast and dinner and washing up. Juno perfectly fits in to the
mould of a "free wage Caliban"(Gross 1969, 256). She has to do a
thankless job, which is neither acknowledged nor rewarded.
Her
share is restless anxiety, which is a boon of others' insensitivity as
the play testifies. Its terrible consequences are, growing nervousness:
fits of breakdowns and the urge to escape.
As the Dublin plays have the major conflicts of the country as
their central theme, insecurity and indifference are major concerns in
these plays. The recklessly drunk patriotic boasters, the nationalists
and ruthless British forces vie with one another to add to the
suffering of others. These irresponsible actions have a direct bearing
on the health and life of their dear and near ones. Grigson's distorted
rendition of the scripture verse: "the woman shall be subject to her
husband" (SG 33) is to keep his wife in perpetual fear, penury and
servitude. Johnny's republican principles not only left him crippled
but an insecure, frightened recluse and a perpetual liability to his
working and starving mother, Juno. Similarly Jack Boyle's drunken
exploits and indifference drive poor Juno and the pregnant daughter
away from the security of their home. O'Casey views these shiftless

ascals as fools and not knaves and sees "a universal frailty in them"
(Krause 1960, 78).
In Plough, Jack Clitheroe's fancy for an officer's role in the
Irish Citizen Army paralyses Nora, his young wife and leads to her
neurotic breakdown and the death of the stillborn baby. When his
wife is pregnant and craves for his closeness and security, he haunts
the pub and then plunges into the hub of political and patriotic
activities. Thus, when he is not engaged in his commandant's duties,
he is talking and wasting his time at the pub with fellow patriots.
This dangerous collusion between politics and nationalism, results in
a chaotic life for all, as the life of the minor characters in the play
shows. The one who got no chance to carry the gun and always
waiting for the call also make life miserable for the innocent and
poor one's left in the tenement.
Struggle due to strains, discord and lovelessness is another
area of concern. In Odets's Awake, Bessie cannot put up \vith her old
father, because
he does not earn but remains a burden for her.
Bessie's obsession with money and success drives her old father to
his death. It is curious to note that she is prepared to give her
pregnant daughter in marriage even to the one-legged racketeer Moe
Axelord. But she prefers the weak and inept Sam because he would

play second fiddle to her daughter Hennie. The irony is that her own
husband, the incompetent Myron, has to cling on to her because he
no longer brings money. When Ralph loves a poor innocent girl
Blanche, she threatens to throw the boy out on the street. Monetary
consideration is the compelling factor here and the girl happens to be
an orphan with no money or wealthy relations.
Hence life in the Berger family is "printed on dollar bills" (AS
48), though Ralph and Jacob wish it otherwise. Those who fail to
read this and adhere to such principle have no place or even role to
play in the conduct of the family affairs. Qualms of conscience and
values long cherished are out of place in this family drama.
Disintegration sets in the family as old values are driven to death.
Money rules the roost and sets its own values. Mother is scornful of
father and abandons her child. Wife turns against husband and love
is stifled and thwarted. According to Miller, every character in the
play is "searching for a sense of family - a home" (1989, 45). Their
desperate struggle to live finally results in the dissolution of the
family nest. As Moe views the situation, those who make a "break"
tend to live life as they wish and others "spend the rest of life in a
coffin" (AS 99).

74
In the play Juno also, the struggle for existence ruins
harmonious relationship and love. It results in the individuals
bartering moral principles. Juno Boyle, failing in her attempts to
make her husband Captain Boyle work and look after the family
when poverty is whistling from every corner, yearns that at least he
loves the children. Yet, the Captain's fatherly care is never given to
his children. He is insensitive even to the plight of his fallen
daughter and coldly commands his wife to drive Mary out, for
bringing disgrace to the family when she pleads with him to accept
her.
Again Mary's own brother Johnny inhumanly taunts and
torments her for falling so low. Ironically, he himself is a traitor
who betrayed his comrade and is now living on the mercy of Juno.
This heartless indifference even amidst struggles of every kind
prompted Beverly Nichols to comment that man's inhumanity to man
is the "central concern of O'Casey's plays" (1974, 39). The case in
point is the callous indifference and lack of human sympathy from
the brother and father that finally force Mary to leave the house.
Herbert Goldstone states that all the characters in these plays
are "undermined by an insidious corrosive force ... or moral chaos
brought on by successive national crises and the stifling, divisive,
environment" (1985, 95). The sad reality of characters like Rosie in
the Plough is to fend themselves by selling their body. As the society

around them is deeply mired in conflicts and selfishness, none is
concerned about the plight of others. Gus Michaeles in Paradise.
relates his ordeal of being thrust in to the cell for no fault of his by a
drunken officer who cooked up a fictitious tale of Gus molesting a
girl in the subway. This poor girl was really a prostitute plying her
trade in the crowded trains. It was nothing strange in such a society
when prostitution was the only profession offering steady
employment. As artists, O'Casey and Odets speak out their mind
exposing the ugliness that is part of life
Struggles due to illusions compound the woes of the already
traumatized characters. Dreams are often exploited in literature to
"convey information or desires .... It is the cryptic underside of our
conscious waking existence, ... while our critical faculties and our
grip on reality are numbed ..." (Brook 1983, ix).
In Odets's plays
struggles are due to unfulfilled desires whereas in O'Casey they are
caused by ineptitude, appalling insensitivity, drunken indifference
and mindless exhilaration of war. For years together Odets's own life
was one of unrealizable aspirations as he affirmed thus: "veril?.
verily. I tell you, life is a dreamn(qtd. in Gibson 1982. 251)
Whether it be Ralph's desire for a room and his girl or that of Sid's
life with his girl or Jacob's love for the records - these were also the
dreams of Odets. As admitted his dreams in 1935 were the same as

those "mentioned in Waiting for Lefly - a room of ... (his) own, a
girl ..., a phonograph and some records" (Odets 1991, 85).
Incidentally Odets's Depression plays too were produced in the same
year.
This was the time when dreams were shattered, marriages
broken or denied, love frustrated and values nullified. As none of the
genuine desires or needs of people could be realized, the only way to
satisfy these ambitions was through dreams and flights of fancy to
Utopian idealism. Those who could not attain desires as hoped for
were forced to have all sorts of compromises, immorality, nepotism,
lies or distortions.
Some illusionists add to their own misery in these plays. Once
they fail to realize their ideals they either break-down with
depression or learn to live with what is already fated for them. A
close analysis of the life of the dreamers and idealists in the plays
shows how interesting and curious turns their life takes in the course
of their whimsical flights. Melville portrays one of his characters
lamenting over her futile aspiration thus: "Always in me, the solidest
things melt into dreams, and dreams in to solidities" (qtd. in Tanner
1987, 52-3). It holds good in the case of Odets's characters too.
Their standing is slippery and when they fall they fall very low.

In Awake, which is the story of the life battles of the three
generation of Berger family, it is their dreams that bring then?
together transcending generation barriers. The old generation's idea
is represented by Jacob, a old sentimental dreamer. Jacob preaches
and fails to set examples.
In the Depression triggered family
economy, there is no scope for the realization of his dreams. To live
in a desperate situation they must be really doing what they must
instead of seeming to do what they will. But Jacob while wishing to
make Ralph graduate from his own university helps only to sustain
his illusions.
Ralph who represents the third generation of the Berger family
in his flair for fantasy is also a psychological equivalent of Jacob.
The stage direction hints that "he is romantic and sensitive"(AS 38).
Ralph "is trying to find why so much dirt must be cleared away
before it is possible to get to first baseV(AS 38). In taking time to
"try" and "find", he dissipates.
By wasting his time he ends in
misery. Failing to clear out the dirt around him, Ralph rneekl! brings
himself around to live in it.
Ralph's dream of tap dancing and
birthday parties suggests his dislocation and living out of tune with
time. Jacob rightly points out that Ralph's wish is to have his name
in papers. Like Jacob, he too shows no inclination to work for it
Instead, he blames the present and seeks refuge in the future through

omantic dreams. Jacob too cries over lost opportunities and longs
for realization of dreams in the future through Ralph. Thus both are
hopelessly disjointed from the present. While Jacob escapes reality
through death, and only after that Ralph prefers to live the "rest of
life in a coffin" (AS 99) as Moe views it.
Hennie as a dreamer is never sure of herself and struggles due
to her flair for fantasy. Like Ralph, she too frequently alludes to
movie images, which themselves represent the dream world. She is a
victim of the seductive strength of the American dream. Even in her
fallen state, she refers to the one whom she slept with as the Prince
of Wales, thus perpetuating a fantasy world of lies. Her dream for
the pleasures and luxuries of life as revealed through the desire for a
mansion on the riverside prompts Moe to call her the Queen of
Romania. Her dreams are shattered in marriage. Yet within marriage
she continues to dream. It is only when she decides to leave the
house that she lands up in reality.
In life, says Moe, "there's two kinds, the men that's sure of
themselves and the one's who a'intn(70). The dreamers in Odets are
the one that are not sure of themselves who either end their life or
escape like Hennie or drag on as old shoes like Myron.
Myron
represents the second generation, which is not "sure of themselves".

His wife dumps him as of no use as she did her father. Both.
according to her are fit for menial errands and hence she relegates
them to the background. Myron too is a failure and takes recourse to
movies which according to Harold Cantor, "are a necessary dream
factory because they make life bearable" (1978, 41). The movie
provides Myron, Gus Michales, Ben Gordon and Libby and all other
dreamers in Odets, with a means of escape from harsh realities.
Prolonged paranoia could be witnessed as these dreamers some
times take panic retreats. A classic case in point is Julie in Paradise.
As a young boy he tries to make quick money and indulges in
speculative games in the stock market on the paper. If he is not able
to move forward, he is panic stricken. Speculation becomes an
obsession and recurring failures reduce him to a terrified, incurable
maniac. Though Odets hints at the stock market crash of the tlme, as
being the cause it was a general craze of the times that had seized the
youth.
Ben is another dreamer in the play who could not realize an!.
of his expectations. In the first Act he starts with a bang, full of
hope of success. He marries the girl whom he loved and declares that
his, "future's all mapped out" (PL 177). But he ends with a whimper
as crises strike him one after another which he could not cope \bith.

In the world he lives in, only money brings success. Incompetent
even to earn a dollar, his dreams of a safe berth waiting for him in
Wail Street collapse under the burden of their own weight.
This
peculiar dimension of a struggle due to the conflict of reality and
illusion takes tragic turns in Odets's plays. Ben's suffering and death
is merely a symbol.
We also see Libby waking up from her dreams suddenly. At
the outset, she declares thus: "I want fun out of life" (PL 174). As
she was always for the pleasures of life, when she shakes herself out
of her illusions she realizes that it shall be Kewpie and not Ben who
could sustain her.
As the real world is shorn of the sanctity of
marriage and human relations, she too swims along with the current
just to exist at the bottom, unmindful of Ben's tragic plight.
Indecisiveness and procrastination also take a heavy toll in the
plays under consideration. An amusing parallel is seen between Leo
in Paradise and Jack Boyle in O'Casey's
Juno. Though Leo
understands man in a fallen world, he deems it beyond his control to
set things right. It is drunkenness that corrodes Boyle morally and
physically.
Yet, what looks similar is that both, as fathers, fail to
assert themselves at appropriate moments to minimize the damage to
their children. While Leo worked hard to build the business edifice,

the concession and incentives offered to his workers, which he could
ill afford, ruin his business. As he is humane and considerate, he puts
self-interest behind him but fails to act in tune with the trend of the
times. He is more concerned with the ethics of business and labour
standards that he dismisses the insurance agent who offers to help
him by setting fire to the premises and claim damages.
Boyle could not assert his fatherly role even if he wished. Juno
suffers on account of his indifference in general and her final cry of
anguish, "ought to leave a permanent scar on the complacence of the
world" (Atkinson 1981, 78). It is Boyle and his society that ruin
Juno. Boyle and his friend Joxer Daly, as Allan Tate observed of
modern man "came to prefer the senility and irresponsibility of the
barbarous conditionn(1987, 5). Their's is life at the primitive level
where they live without any real desire to make life \~orthwhile. In
heartlessly driving out his daughter and wife. Boyle also refuses to
arrive at the hoped for perfection and slides further in drunken
forgetfulness at the end of the play. Notions of human love touch him
only in romantic flights under intoxication.
Thus we see, dreams serve as vehicles for many of the gra\r
and deep needs and conflicts of individuals. This results in insecurit)
to themselves and their families and intensifies their struggle.

Hence, there are crises of all kinds. Illusions, drunken indifference
and lovelessness thwart their attempt to unite.
Thus the family.
instead of being a unifying force, tends to break and leave them
lonely.
What is distinct in O'Casey and Odets as social dramatists and
sets them apart from others is that they dramatize the problem itself
rather than offer solutions.
As they have been witness to people
selling themselves out due to problems of life, their primary concern
is to focus on such problems that trap and dehumanize people. It is
pathetic to see how these characters breaking out of the family trap
are quickly caught in the web of society. The tragic reality is that
death alone liberates them from this tangle.
Homelessness and insecurity is another area of concern for the
characters in O'Casey and Odets. In Odets, people feel insecure and
unprotected within their homes. The economic decline of appalling
magnitude renders them jobless, homeless and underpaid. A poem.
irreverently titled Twenty-third Psalm and caustically called "Hoover
Prayer" views the insecure nature of life aptly:
.... I am in want
He maketh me to lie down on park benches;
He leadeth me beside the still factories,

He restoreth my doubt in the Republican Party
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
Shadow of destruction, I fear evil;
Thou preparest a reduction of my salary; thou anointest my
income with taxes; my expenses runneth over.
Surely unemployment will follow me all the days;
and I shall dwell in a mortgaged house forever.(qtd.
in Lane 1999, 285).
This shows how unprotected the Americans were during this severely
depressing period. A parallel condition prevails in Ii'uiring for Lefry.
Joe can not hold his family together and Sid cannot have a room or
his girl. Dr.Benjamin is thrown out of the hospital and forced to
make a living as a cab driver. The lab assistant Miller too joins the
discontented cabmen. They cannot make both ends meet either due to
unemployment or underemployment. The insecure nature is
confounded by the ruthless bosses and exploiting unions and they
live sulking and struggling.
In Awake, it is the family that engenders and keeps its
members in a stranglehold. The mother overburdened with famil!
responsibility and domestic drudgery becomes somber. Her son is
desperate to get out of the home as he feels insecure due 10 the
mutilating conditions inside. His love is thwarted by his domineering

mother and his father had never in his life had a thing to tell him.
While Bessie laments that the son has sucked away her life, her
father Jacob is submitted to humiliations. Even Myron, according to
the son Ralph has to sit in a comer and wag his tail like a dog.
Above all, the pleasure-conscious daughter Hennie has never slept at
home at nights until she got pregnant sleeping under a "board walk"
with a travelling salesman, a stranger. Thus, the family instead of
uniting tends to splinter.
Even the nonmembers in the family do not feel at home in the
Berger family.
Sam, the foreigner, trapped into owning another
man's child as his, feels insecure. Moe, the petty "racketeer" boarder
laments that he has never had a home and hopes to have one through
Hennie. The irony is that Hennie could not give even Sam a home
through marriage. Finally everyone feels threatened and strives to
escape seeking a home outside the family. Once out of the family
trap, they fell victim to the social trap. Hence there is no respite or
relief for these pitiable ones. In Miller's view, there is always a
"longing for the security and order of a real home" (1989, 229) in the
Depression plays.
In Paradise, half a dozen characters living in a mortgaged
house are evicted and rendered homeless when the curtain falls. The

semblance of security they enjoyed in their home was usurped by
steadily deteriorating economic conditions. Odets's younger
characters like Sid, Joe, Ralph and Ben, feel threatened and stand
isolated.
In an interview with Herman Harvey Odets stated that
unable to withstand the pressures and forces, "man is on his way
down"(1978, 209). The pressures and forces of society and family
kill the finer quality in the youth and cut the life-supporting system,
thus immersing them in the sea of struggles.
The tenement setting of O'Casey's Dublin trilogy poses the
greatest threat to the life of the characters. While fated to crave for
food and clothing, the tenement is in conflict with itself. While
starving and fighting among themselves, some of the tenement
dwellers turn patriotic volunteers and contribute to the annihilation
of the suffering, innocent masses both within the home and outside.
The "irregulars", by killing their own comrades kill the fountain-head
of life. Hence the plays mirror the anger, cruelty and desperation of
men seeking to survive in a world where they are pitted against one
another, even while confronting the mighty aggressor. This exposes
them to insecurity of every kind. According to Una Ellis-Fermor the
crowded slum life in the early plays of O'Casey while forming their
way of life and habit of mind, sets "disintegration of standards".

which is carried "further by the impact of civil war" and therefore,
"throw(s) values back again in the melting pot" (1969, 108).
Invasion of privacy, insecurity and homelessness are the
primary concern in Shadow.
Basically its characters feel insecure
due to the unprotected nature of the tenements. The dilapidated state
of these ruined houses poses a permanent threat to life.
With no
proper walls to bar access from all sides, the dwellings offered little
privacy to their occupants.
The unsophisticated and ignorant
inhabitants lacking in manners and etiquette invariably invaded one
another's privacy. As every tenement contributes volunteers to the
IRA, they are potential targets for raids. The ruthless Black and Tans
and the British Auxiliaries could enter the bedrooms even at late
night during the "troubles". In this play they search Minne Powell's
room late in the night and arrest her. Later she is killed in the
crossfire.
The civil war in which brother killed brother and fostered
militancy in the tenements divided the nation sharply. Thus, the same
Republican patriot of the tenement fought and killed their own
friends and even their own brethren.
This senseless reprisal as
portrayed in Juno, resulted in many agonized mothers losing their
sons as in the case of Juno Boyle and her neighbour, Mrs.Tancred.

The heart rending prayer of both, "Sacred Heart O'Jesus, take away
our hearts o' stone, and give us heart of flesh!"(JP 100) is born out of
the pain, suffering and insecurity. In these plays, "insurrection is a
means of escape" from the "horror of life in the slums, from hunger,
loneliness and humiliation"(0'Flaherty
1950, 173). The events in
Plough substantiate this observation further.
The ignorant poor resort to drunken revelry, looting, arson and
raise fear and anxiety in the innocent ones. The rifle shots from the
streets that kill Bessie Burges in Plough, speak of death looming
large inside the tenements.
The search for security begins in the
opening scene when Nora tries to fix the lock in her door. This is
violently resisted by Bessie. This points to their willingness to lie
exposed to invasion and insecurity and thus reveal their indifference
to self-improvement. When Jack Clitheore hurls Nora, he inflicts
cruelty on his own spouse and leaves her fearful and insecure. 'The
guardians of home and family instead of safeguarding their \\I\ es and
children tend to kill them. The death of Nora's stillborn child is
typical of this mindless violence.
The nationalists, "by shooting at the people and by pro\ ding
the shelling and occupation of Dublin by the British, are responsible
for turning the difficulties of slum existence into impossiblities"

(Schrank 1986, 216). Bessie's reassuring reply to her anxious query
about the safety of her own dwelling place fails to ease Nora. Nora
cannot feel safe even in her neurotic state in the company of her own
uncle, cousin and neighbours like Fluther, Bessie and Gogan. Earlier
she had been saved by Fluther from this lunatic fringe that was the
main source of threat and insecurity. Nora's life testifies that the
benevolent image of the individual is gradually lost in the
mechanical and faceless mob.
Hence, in O'Casey's plays, the chief source of threat to
people's life and security as Shields reveals is " ... kathleen ni
Houlihan ..., for she's a ragin devil now, an if you only look crooked
at her you're sure of a punch in th' eyeW(SG 28). Shields' thoughtful
insight sums up the fact that the greatest threat to the life of the
ordinary people comes from within the tenements and from the
warring brethren outside. O'Casey's dismay at people contributing to
their own destruction is graphically viewed in Drums Under the
Wtndow where he says that at the end of the rebellion, Ireland, "was
a deserted city now, but for those who fought each other" (1981e.
655). These are the only trophies the hapless Irish could inherit at
the end of Plough.
Distrust and betrayals that govern human relations in these
plays supplement to their despicable struggle. What worries the few

humane ones is how these characters are covered with blood and dirt,
sin and shame owing to pushing and pulling, climbing and crawling,
thrusting aside and trampling underfoot, lying, cheating and stealing.
Being utterly insensitive to the feelings and needs of the other people
they perpetrate self-advancement by tormenting the others. It is the
conditions of the times purely man made that make these characters
grope desperately.
Their heartlessness, falsehood and hypocrisy
threaten the very fabric of morality.
A fitting example is Johnny Boyle, a 'die-hard' Republican
himself betraying his friend who was commandant of the battalion of
which he served as a quarter- master. Though a professed patriot, he
fails miserably to combine creed and practice.
His own killing in
reprisal reveals how ruthless and inhuman the patriots are in dealing
with own comrades. It speaks of the betrayal of mutual trust and
oath of allegiance.
Mary deserts Jerry for the more elite, philosophical Bentham
and in turn she is abandoned. Her misplaced love is due to failure to
grasp the real. Those who indulge in and promote treachery have no
control over it and pay a heavy price for their betrayals in the play
Juno. Thus though their plight worsens they are ironically not avare
of it. By indulging in irresponsible tricks they debase themselves and
the environment and further the chaos.
The ultimate victims of

etrayal and hypocrisy are the women. In Juno, Juno Boyle and her
daughter are "both victims of male peacockery" (Durbach 1985,
119). which is devoid of mercy, kindness and moral responsibility.
In Plough, survival patterns alone govern the actions of
characters. Intrinsic values, lives and projects are lost amidst their
bickering, quarrels, boastings and betrayals. Jack Clitheore betrays
marriage and trust by leaving his wife in the company of the
indifferent, drunken, ignorant mob of his tenement.
Mrs.Gogan
makes life unlivable for her daughter by deserting her when she
needs motherly care most. Miseries and misfortune pile one upon the
other and reach a breaking point when betrayal becomes the order of
the day in the plays under consideration. The rebellion itself betrayed
the masses as at the end of the rebellion the already heart-broken
people living in the wretched slums could inherit only graves and
gutted buildings.
In Odets, economic factors dictate human actions and the
struggles due to bickering and betrayals could be traced to this. In
Waiting, Lefty is killed in betrayal because the strike under his
leadership would ruin the economy of the cab owners. In the --Young
Hack and His Girl" scene, the young hack Sid has to part from
Florence considering his declining fortunes and inability to earn. He
is forced to desert love as he is convinced that marriage will bring in

added responsibilities and money is required to meet these
obligations. Dr.Barnes in the "Interne" scene, could not come to the
rescue of Dr.Benjamin when he is sacked. When the hospital
management closes the poor ward and kills a poor patient by treating
her as a very fine specimen only, the doctors betray the confidence,
hope and the trust their patients had in them.
In Awake, the worst victim of betrayal is the lonely sensitive
foreigner, Sam. He is coerced by the Bergers whom he trusted and is
trapped in to a marriage with Hennie who never liked him.
Even
while carrying an illegitimate child, Hennie is swept along by
passion unmindful of the human cost. When she could not attain
happiness in marriage, she blurts out the truth and elopes with the
one whom she hated like hell all her life.
Thus she betrays love,
marriage and runs away from "bondage", deserting even the newborn
baby.
Bessie betrays fatherly love by forcing Jacob to die and
thwarts love by blocking Ralph's marriage. Moe perpetuates the
racket by "hijacking" another man's wife. Jacob is different from the
others. Unable to digest and withstand the worship of mone!.
betrayals and immoral coercion all around him, he runs awa!
the
from
the bondage and seeks death as a way of release. These events prove
that the sufferings due to moral turpitude and the degradation of.
family life have to be endured in a world of indignities.

Sam Katz in Paradise, betrays Leo and defrauds him of his
money. It is betrayal of a friendship nurtured over thirty years The
plight of Leo's family is solely due to betrayals. In this play the
material world conquers the moral world and every phenomenon
subSe~eS the purpose of the material world. The decay of the
characters in such a moral wasteland is inevitable. What appears
common in both the playwrights as seen in the study of characters is
that their struggles are mostly due to the pressure exerted on them by
society. Also, they cannot respond effectively to the crises they
encounter in day to day life. While Odets probes the impact of the
economic crisis more on the self and family, O'Casey focuses on the
effect of the social crisis and human inadequacies in life in general.
By the inter- play of characters in different situations we are enabled
to feel the worst of poverty, tears, desires, desolation and ruin. The
resultant condition is a state of dullness in their life
What Brandt
says about Ibsen's characters who suffer the, "sorrow and weariness
of mean dull life in which nothing happens"(l998, 99), holds true to
the struggling characters in O'Casey and Odets.
Atkinson, the O'Casey critic attributes the sufferings of
characters to "poverty,
irresponsibility, temperament, kindness,
treachery and civil war (1981, 12). Lady Gregory, O'Casey's
benefactor who experienced life in Dublin declares more

authentically as follows: "when a nation falls through war and
especially civil war", there is only "suffering" for the, "women, poor.
the wretched homes and families of the slumsW(Gregory 1985b, 138).
Though the American critic traces the root of the miseries to
individual follies and foibles, the co-founder of the Abbey attributes
it more to the social malady.
Careful examination of the Dublin
triology reveals that both these factors are contributory as well as
complimentary to the struggles and sufferings of the characters.
The continually uncultured and chaotic environment is what
O'Casey's characters have inherited. It is this factor that is strikingly
different from that of the environment in Odets's plays. In Odets, as
the economic calamity struck them like a bolt from the blue, they are
left bewildered and baffled. It is also worth noting that the economic
crisis struck the society in general and its effect is more intensely felt
by the poorer among its victims.
As they are not equipped.
intellectually or financially,
to face such a sudden onslaught they
suffer and succumb. They are mostly seen as victims of an unequal
economic system that defeats and take away the essence of life.
Unlike in O'Casey it is mostly the men who are victims of this
crisis.
Living in a society where it is not hard work. but
racketeering, back stabbing and moral compromises that are
rewarded, it is futile to protest and fight back.
Those who endure

can withstand every ordeal taking it as part of the scheme of things.
Those who do not endure end their life. Their's is an economic
tragedy unlike the one in O'Casey's plays which is caused by war.
Edith J.R. Isaacs in an article entitled "First chapters" aptly sums up
the trend and states that Odet's people suffer from a "permanent
spiritual lack, sharpened by an immediate economic crisis"(l991,
53). Subservience to materialism which their society treasured most,
despoiled the lower middle class of real values of life and left them
personally incompetent to meaningfully confront the crises that crop
UP.
Yet, what is strikingly similar is the nature of suffering. As
the effect of the calamities in both the societies gravitate towards the
personal and the familial, the sufferings caused by them too is
analogous. What is agonizing is that their plight drives them to live
like animals. As every avenue is blocked, they grope in the dark
desperately, stand estranged and experience depressions that
deteriorate the situation further. Their alienation is acute, as they
can trust or depend on anyone. They have to fend for themselves lest
they be betrayed. It is worth discussing the sufferings due to
alienation to comprehend its impact in its entirety.

(!Jaus~s anb forms of
Ali~nation

Chapter Three
CAUSES AND FORMS OF ALIENATION
The most serious illness that afflicts human beings is not
physical ailment but the psychological malaise born out of the
gnawing insecurity of being lonely, unwanted and neglected.
The
sense of isolation and alienation as a result of this is more
pronounced in individuals of the modern world. The term alienation
defies definition and is aptly pointed out as "one of the most difficult
words in the language"(Williams 1976, 33). As a term, it is fully
loaded and encompasses overlapping possibilities.
In general, it
connotes a sense of loss, a state of isolation or estrangement
springing from a condition in which the self is placed in a position of
anxiety, insecurity and anguish. Though emphasized in literature of
the past, man's suffering due to alienation is very much a theme of
concern in works of modern times.
Man's alienation could be traced back to the act of
disobedience and distrust of the first Man in tasting the forbidden
fruit of knowledge. For Christian theologians like St.Augustin and

Martin Luther, this is the first instance of man's alienation from
God's grace. Subsequently, events of inter- personal estrangement
are shown in the book of Ephesians in the Bible thus: "They are
darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their
hearts" (1987, 4:18). This passage about the heathens of the time
throws light on alienation in the theological context. For centuries
together the term continued to have theological significance. Frank
Johnson points to its different dimensions when he says "man is seen
as not only separated from God but as separated from meaningful
experience with men, institutions, nature and himself"(1973, 8).
In the modern age, alienation as a term is widely used in the
subjects of theology, philosophy, sociology and psychology.
It is
Hegel who gave a philosophical orientation to alienation by imbibinc
the "concept of alienation from pessimistic Protestant theology"
(Wittgenstein 1953, 117). Subsequently Ludwig Feurback and Karl
Marx have transformed alienation from the philosophical and
theological perception to mean a secular and materialistic idea. Mar\
stresses in his early writings two forms of alienation: alienation from
labour and from the products of one's labour. Walter Kauffman is of
the view that Marx was greatly concerned with man's
dehumanization, "his loss of independence, his improvement, his

97
estrangement from his fellowmen and his involvement in labour that
is devoid of any originality, spontaneity or creativity"(l970, xiii).
Marx views that these factors are responsible for man's alienation
from his essential nature.
Bertolt Brecht, the modern dramatist
coined the term Verfremdung
to mean in English disillusion,
estrangement or alienation and used it as a technique in his plays.
Economic expansionism under favourable conditions of
scientific and technological advancement in the recent centuries
broadly divided man as workers and capitalists, creating two
opposing classes in the Marxian sense.
Exploitation of labourers by
capitalists, colonization, slavery and other repressive acts witnessed
all over the world widened the chasm, alienating each class from the
other further. In the rural sector too man had to live in hostile
conditions. While struggling to meet his basic needs, the sheer
drudgery of the monotonous and meaningless life in the industrial
sector fostered alienation.
In the rural sector. repressive and
dehumanizing living conditions, hunger, poverty and exploitation of
every kind contributed to the alienation. This condition of the
modern man is aptly summed up by Erich Fromm in Escape from
Freedom thus: "Modern man is an automation and while being alive
biologically, is dead emotionally and menta11y"(1969.
281). This
exactly sums up his alienated life.

These conditions reduce man to the level of a competitive
animal fighting for survival and in the process losing his real self. He
stands bewildered and baffled at moments of crisis in his life.
Sociologists call this condition 'sociological alienation'.
Melvin
Seeman sees alienation manifesting itself in five inter-related
operational conditions like "powerlessness, meaninglessness,
normlessness, isolation and self-estrangementn(1959, 789). Another
sociologist, Taviss, speaks of two kinds of alienation, namely the
social and self-alienation.
Social alienation emanates from the
discovery that social systems are oppressive or insufficient to one's
aspirations and ideals. Self-alienation refers to the loss of contact of
the individual self with any inclination or desire that is not in
agreement with the prevailing social patterns.
As a result, the
individuals are forced to compromise themselves in accordance with
the social demands or feel incapable of controlling their actions. The
effect of self-alienation on the individual psyche is potent enough to
impede his mental makeup and hence is more deleterious on
individuals than social alienation. Psychologists call this condition
'psychological alienation'.
From the psychologists' point of view, self-alienation
manifests itself in an individual's acts of estrangement, uzithdrawal
and detachment.
They also view alienation as one's inability to

adjust to the environment. The lower the adjustment, the greater the
alienation. The mentally ill person is diagnosed as one experiencing
intense alienation and when it worsens it is termed 'schizophrenia'.
Thus, while Hegel deduced the concept of alienation from
theology, Marx modified Hegel's concept and introduced alienation
in a sociological context to refer to the estranged labourer. In course
of time, this concept was observed to give a psychological dimension
to the problem of alienation. In short, the sociological context of
alienation presents the essence of all views. This concept of
alienation is central to the discussion of the problem of alienation in
the select plays of O'Casey and Odets. The Depression plays and the
Dublin trilogy reflect the respective societies where alienation
springs from social causes and issues. Since the characters in these
plays are inalienable part of society, it is worth discussing the
sufferings inflicted by alienation on these characters.
It is commonly agreed that effective characterization ol an
estranged individual is possible when the writer in question himself
experiences a sense of alienation in his literary career.
From the
perception of psychologists, it is the inner turmoil of the writer's
personality which is the only fact behind his fictional creations.
Therefore, knowledge of the artist's inner turmoil during the process

of creation, against the background of his social situation will give us
an insight into or understanding of the problem of alienation. Hence
it is pertinent to trace the experience of alienation suffered by
O'Casey and Odets during the creation of these plays.
A sense of disenchantment, disillusion, dismay and utter
helplessness marks O'Casey's
character throughout his life in
Dublin. The controversy that marred the production of the last of the
Dublin trilogy, The Plough and the Stars, saw him standing
completely alienated from the nationalists, the religionists and the
fellow writers. Recalling this bitterness due to the controversy,
O'Casey declared thus: "I was an alien in my own land" (1985, 140).
He was pained by the fact that the nationalists are misleading the
masses who are trained to look with suspicion those who differed
with the leadership. O'Casey himself was active in the movement
before the Easter Rising. He was alienated from the nationalist
movement when the leadership of the ICA fell into the hands of
James Connolly. Earlier O'Casey felt comfortable to wotk under Jim
Larkin, for he too shared his view that, "An injury to one is the
concern of allW(qtd. in Krause 1960, 9).
Larkin's departure to
America paved the way for the organization being taken over by the
extremist bourgeois nationalists under Connolly's leadership.

O'Casey was bewildered to see the very enemies of the
working class who thwarted the labour revolt of nineteen-thirteen.
now steering the movement away from the cause of the labour. His
fond hope was that the labour movement would educate and liberate
the workers from misery and ignorance. This was belied.
His
alienation was more marked when the
liberation movement's
leadership led the workers to tragic turns of violence, bloody wars
and death as manifested by the Easter Rising, the guerilla war and the
civil war.
Thus, the welfare of the common masses no longer
concerned anyone. As a playwright committed to the welfare of the
suffering ones, O'Casey bemoaned his powerlessness to stem the rot.
His autobiographical volume, Inishfallen Fare Thee Well bears ample
testimony to his bitterness and alienation.
002976
The failure of the national liberation movement to serve the
genuine needs of the suffering masses by educating, mobilising and
providing the right kind of leadership alienated the masses from the
very movement itself. The ignorant ones were defeated by illusions.
myths, false and worn out heroics, petty prejudices and were thus
obliged to survive in, "inhuman conditions of poverty and ignorance
in which they, as workers, were obliged to exist" (Mitchell 1980, 20).
Thus they stood alienated from reality of every kind and these
repressed masses have become characters in O'Casey's Dublin pla) s.

These characters in turn reflect the very traits of the alienating
society. Though the estranged O'Casey quit as secretary of ICA in
1914, its impact on his personality and art is pervasive.
Another institution that betrayed the Irish poor as well as
O'Casey was the Church. Ever since the movement for liberation
was launched, the Catholic establishment in Ireland was hostile to the
interest of the working class poor and was more pronounced in its
affinity to the bourgeois and capitalists.
It ruthlessly hounded
Dr.Michael O'Hickey and Dr.Mc Donald, the two ardent churchmen
for standing firmly for truth, liberty and commitment to the cause of
the poor. When they espoused the cause of the Irish language and
evinced interest in the labour causes, the church establishment
castigated them for putting principles before prudence. Even earlier,
the Church had not taken kindly to Parnell, the home rule movement
leader and drove him to his grave. It stood by the employers when
Larkin launched his labour movement. During these days the Church
establishment justified
"the right of ownership" as "one of the
teachings of the Church"(Krause 1960, 13). Thus, the Church
instead of guiding the flocks, sided with the wolves and helped
harass its own flock.
The poor stood alienated from the Church.
O'Casey and many churchmen were bewildered by the merciless
dictates of the alienating Catholic Church.

At the same time the other two movements, the Gaelic League
and the Irish Republican Brotherhood in which O'Casey was actively
associated with, too betrayed him.
The self-professed patriots in
these movements earlier sided with the Church in denouncing
Synge's Playboy of the Western World as immoral. Now they silently
supported the Church in its organised protest against O'Casey's play
The Plough and the Stars. Thus, by this time O'Casey stood,
"alienated himself from the organizationsn(Krause 1960, 30) on
which he had pinned his hope. Being frustrated further, he nursed
his inner turmoil for over a decade and finally settled for voluntary
exile from his own land. In another interview to Joseph Halloway, he
admitted in 1926 as follows: "I have to find a place for my feet
somewhere"(qtd. in Hogan 1967, 269). This search for the self and
home continues in his characters too, as the plays exemplify.
In Clifford Odets: Playwright, Gerald Weales gives a
scholarly analysis of the playwright's nature, his plays and society
and concludes that "he was a restless man" (1971, 187). Many a
critic iterates the uncertainty and search for roots in Odets and this
points to how alienated Odets was in his personal and artistic llfe.
As the son of Jewish immigrant parents, this instability, search for
roots and endless quest for his self was inherent in him as was in the

Jewish immigrant writers in America.
Odets's alienation was
psychological whereas O'Casey's was sociological in nature.
The sense of estrangement began at home. As a youth he had a
stormy relationship with his father.
This was as a result of his
artistic inclination and his father's desire to see him attain material
success like him. This conflict heightened his anxiety and he felt
estranged from his father and his home. Thus, leaving his home, he
sought refugee at the Group Theatre which gave him a feeling of
belonging and provided him an extended home.
Gabrial Miller's
work, Clifford Odets shows how Odets lost the sense of protection
and goodness when the Group Theatre finally collapsed in 1941. His
disenchantment and sense of frustration was further induced by the
social and economic calamity inflicted by the Depression.
At the
height of his artistic success given by the Depression plays, he was
stricken by the inherent vacillation, and went in search of another
home in Hollywood.
It was a kind of sell-out and ironically
Hollywood was more a centre of alienation than any other.
In her biographical study, Margaret Brennan Gibson, the
psychologist throws more light on his sense of discontent and
alienation. She projects Odets's problems, his endless quest for a
place, his unhappiness and threat to quit and his obsession \\ ith the

oken middle-class as factors responsible for disenchantment. Also.
the haunting thoughts of his mother who died of a broken heart and
the often repeated attempts to commit suicide, are factors that have
made him a disgruntled and divided man. Most of these traits are
revealed in his characters too, as the Depression plays show. Odets
equated his search to the "search of millions of Americans for some
way out of a horrifying dilemma" and the "extraordinary ferment
around him" (Mendelsohn 1991, 59-60). In the same interview, he
stated about his early plays are thus: "painful attempts to not only
find my identify -- not only to locate my self -- but to write down the
nature of the neurotic illness to try to come to some clear, objective
sense of myself and my inability to handle and deal with life"
(Mendelsohn 1991, 71). This strengthens the view that his was selfalienation.
His repeated confessions and candid admissions at every stage
of' his life are more a revelation of the sense of estrangement.
The
urge to escape was also prominent in Odets during the early days of
his career.
In his own admission, he attempted suicide at three
different stages of his life. It was more of an obsession and a ploy to
seek release by death to escape the alienation. At least one character
each in the plays Awake and Paradise takes recourse to death by
suicide as a way of release. His search for home through marriage

also ended in estrangement. His love and subsequent marriage to the
reigning Hollywood star Luise Rainer in 1937 ended in their
separation within two years. Again, his second marriage to Bette
Grayson in 1944 could last only for seven years, till he got a son and
daughter through her.
Gibson's observation on his tribe, the Jews in Philadelphia as,
"homeless, and frightened, the Eastern European Jews had to manage
their fear, their sense of isolation, estrangement and rejectionW(l982,
17) points to his preoccupation with a sense of social isolation. This
psychological schism which Odets inherited and carried along
distanced him further. Another interesting case of his estrangement is
seen in his association with party politics. He joined the Communist
party in nineteen thirty-four, in search of an ideological affiliation so
that he could get a new identity in response to the harrowing social
upheavals of the Depression. But he resigned by the end of the year
because of disenchantment and later confessed to the House
Committee on Un American Activities that he "has no party to
belong toS'(qtd. in Weales 1971, 107). The brutal vehemence and the
shrieking pain of loneliness that his characters reflect and experience
in his plays could therefore be traced back to their own creator.

I o7
Commenting on the condition of life after the first World War,
priestly declared thus: "The World I know, the world worth
living vanished in 1914, and since then we all existed in a series of
vast mad houses shrieking with hate and violence, stinking of death"
(qtd. in Knight 1962, 355). In an individual's perception there is a
craving for a life of peace and security after the Great War which had
vastly disrupted human connections. The characters of O'Casey and
Odets experience this and come to the tragic perception that they are
left vulnerable in the world. This has become a potential factor for
being estranged from their families, community and finally from
their own selves. As modern social dramatists of the turbulent times,
O'Casey and Odets give expression to these alienating factors in
their plays.
Careful examination of the Depression plays of Odets reveal
that the major factors that alienate his characters spring from
economic deprivation. Other traits of social and self-alienation could
be attributed to the sense of insecurity due to the havoc played by the
Depression. The sudden collapse of the economy of the country due
to the Depression is felt keenly by the families and persons in these
plays.
Joe in Waiting for Lefty, feels the heat of the shrinkins
economy of his family and laments over his inability to maintaln the
family and feed his children. Starvation, sickness and dispossession

loom large in his household. There is endless bickering between
husband and wife. This episode is just a sample, showing the
economic holocaust causing havoc and disrupting human relations in
all other scenes of the play.
Squeezed of their energy, dignity and threatened
with
joblessness, homelessness, dispossession, repossession, hunger and
poverty, these victims of the underside of New York city stand
bewildered and distanced from every institution of value.
Their
moral life is severely tested as loveless marriages, denial and delay
in marriage and broken families have become the order of the day.
Losing every means of survival and every bond, six or seven
characters representing different backgrounds and status but
suffering alike, finally come to the centre of the stage and cry
vehemently in unison which is aptly orchestrated by the similarly
broken and disconnected audience.
Theirs is a cry of anguish, agony and frustration as they have
been victims of exploitation under an unequal economic system that
had cheapened their lives and which they had been taught to accept.
What they experience is mental agony, wastage, feuds and perpetual
rancour that alienate one from the other. Gabriel Miller sums up that
the play abounds in words and "images of escape and flight vie with

overwhelming sensations of claustrophobia and constriction"(l989.
60). It is pertinent to note that the sense of alienation that begins
from social factors culminates in self-alienation with dire
consequences to their person and mind. As a result they fail to locate
their place and are unable to handle and deal with life and hence
experience neurotic illness.
Money is the most treasured object in American life during the
Depression era. Inability to get it alienates human beings and the
sense of loss reverberates in each and every activity of these
individuals.
It makes them melancholic and results in endless
fretting and fuming. This depravity leads to quarrels, bickering and
breaking-in of relations in the family drama of Awake and Sing. The
internal injury and pain undergone by the confused and unhappy
young people expose the fragile nature of the family in the play. The
cause for estrangement is basically the family economy and the sense
of deprivation is experienced by every member of the family. Aniidst
this chaotic life it is odd to see Bessie Berger proclaiminp "1 like n]!
house to look respectableW(AS 59) and she is striving to defend the
impossible as the course of the play proves.
It is respectability that is eroded when her aggressive actions
force her alienated father to commit suicide and she unscrupulousl!~

connives with her capitalist brother Morty to show off this as death
due to accident to claim the old man's insurance money. Another
deadly blow is inflicted on the family esteem when her young and
only daughter gets pregnant, sleeping with a stranger. Again Bessie
covers up this disgraceful act and schemes with her "lonely" husband
to marry her off to a desolate foreigner, Sam Feinschreiber. At last
her wanton deeds are exposed by her alienated son Ralph and the
disenchanted daughter. Bessie's angry retort to them shows that in
her maniacal obsession with respectability she lets go of every thing
good and valuable in life.
In the stage direction itself Odets speaks of her "quick
exasperation at ineptitude", and fear of "utter poverty" (AS37).
These are alienating influences that show she is living in constant
apprehension. While Myron, her husband is "heart broken without
being aware of it", their daughter Hennie "travels alone" and is
"fatalistic about being trappedV(AS 37). Ralph. the young boy is
baffled at the intricacies of life itself. These clearly denote that they
are lonely in their own right and are utter]? disillusioned and
frustrated. They are individuals who find themselves alienated from
each other and suffer from a loss of personality, family and self.
There is failure to understand and accept each other and thus their
best laid schemes miserably fail. They meet despair and

Ill
disillusionment in trying to establish human relationships and the
sense of futility and meaninglessness permeating the world overtakes
them. Thus, they find themselves alienated from the world and from
their inner selves.
Sartre's famous line on the nineteen thirties of America as
quoted by Alfred Kazin in Contemporaries, "the broken connection
between man and the world" (1962, 24) aptly describes the state of
the alienated individuals in Awake and Sing. Alienation between the
feuding classes, the have's and the have-nots,
as represented
respectively by the aristocratic Morty and the poor Bessie highlights
the class division.
There is always an urge on the have-nots to
transcend the class barrier and reach the upper level.
But the
pressures of economy wrench them down. Morty is a shrewd judge
of material values and stands alienated from moral values. His sister
Bessie Berger in her fanatical strife to reach his level sacrifices all
scruples and morals. Living in a penthouse with a Japanese butler to
serve him, Morty flaunts his taste by sleeping with dress models from
different fashion showrooms. In her foolishness, the young Iiennie
deems it is lady like to sleep with strangers on pavements Her proud
and awkward show-off brings her dishonour and yet she is
remorseless. As she has inherited her mother's traits, this streak of
wilfulness persists and finally she deserts her child and husband to

gratify her biological urge.
The irony is that while Morty takes
pleasure in counting and adding to his dollars, which run into
millions, Bessie and her daughter live in utter penury.
Bessie's angry retort to the unhelpful Morty, "you got money
and money talks. But without the dollar who sleeps?"(AS66), shows
the unbridgeable gap and alienation between the two classes and also
points to how she attributes values to the dollar, disregarding real
values of life.
It is the thirst for money that corrupts Bessie
absolutely and her alienation from all finer spirits of life makes her
lonely at last in her own family, which she once ruled ruthlessly. As
an ardent follower of his wife without a sense of self-respect, her
husband occupies the empty stage "alone", unable to comprehend
what transpired late that night. It is like Captain Boyle collapsing on
the empty stage, heavily intoxicated and alienated from his family
reality as the curtain falls finally in Juno and the Paycock.
As the curtains part for the opening scene of Paradise Losr.
the steadily declining fortunes of the middle-class Gordon family are
visible.
Here again we see a group of tormented, unhappy
individuals trying to act like a family amidst the overwhelming
burden of economic degeneracy.
As the action progresses we see
death, desolation, sterility and neurosis overtaking the famil!.

Finally, the burden of economic chaos brings them to the street. Thus
the once affluent and respectable Gordon family, now devoid of all
respectability, collapse under the alienating influences inflicted by
economic loss.
Pike, the furnace man sums up the tragic fate of
those subjected to the alienating economic situation thus: "A person
starves to death in it. Not enough alkaline. That's what it means.
Hunger and deprivation ..." (PL168). We are driven to the private
and inner world of the alienated individuals; the cleavage is wide and
deep in their world.
As in Awake, in Paradise too, they confront the greatest crisis
in life. We see the wish for "running away from bondage, and a
search for independence and power; and embracing even death as a
means of release" (Cantor 1978, 36) as they are thwarted in every
attempt for release and deliverance in the play. The most tragic is
the plight of Ben, who is unable to earn a livelihood inspite of his
Olympic gold medals and physical prowess. It is awful to see this
gay spirited, powerful youth betrayed by his marriage partner.
cuckolded and left to stand alienated from every familial and societal
tie.
His spirits decline, life degenerates, and he becomes the ver)
symbol of self-alienation. As every avenue of life and release from a
sense of alienation is closed, he finally gives himself to death
willingly.

Another classic case of an alienated individual is Ben's
younger brother Julie, a promising stock market clerk. His obsession
with money and success prompts him to speculate market trends in
paper work. The game of speculation alienates him from every thing
around him and transforms him into a mental wreck. Endowed with
sleeping sickness, he haunts the stage as a walking corpse in the
prime of youth. His alienation is total at the end of the play as he is
perpetually seated in a wheel chair. His burden is that he could
neither live nor die. According to Clurman, this play is about the
disintegrating middle class, "which distrusts its own values" by not
being "altogether attuned to" the "consciousness" of its own class.
Commenting further, he adds that "they are all a little mad ...
enveloped by a mist of nostalgia" (1939, 424) which alienates them
from every thing around. The fateful irony of the alienated ones in
the play is that none of the younger generation could sleep and every
one complains of sleeplessness at one stage or the other in his life.
The plight of the young beautiful pianist Pearl is more pathetic
than that of the others. The sense of loneliness tortures her and she
is even ashamed to come out of her room. Unable to marry Felix to
whom she has been engaged for two years, she has to accept the fact
that he is forced to desert her in search of a means for his livelihood.
While a sense of homelessness permeates Felix's thoughts and

actions, Pearl is fatalistically trapped inside the family as every
attempt to escape the hateful surroundings is blocked by the
condition. While talking to Menedelsohn, Odets declared that all his
plays "deal with "homelessness in a certain way ... I've always felt
homeless. 1 have never felt that I had a home. And if that is
centrally true of me, and I know it is, that will necessarily come out
in the work" (1969, 119). Harold Cantor observes of Pearl thus:
"Embittered Pearl's sense of loss is expressed through her
intermittent off stage playing as she joins her family in its slow
process of fossilization and disintegration" (1978, 78). It is worth
noting that "fossil", "sterilization" and "anaesthesia" are terms
referring to characters in the "Interne Episode'' in the play Waiting.
Sam Katz is another lonely, divided person in the play.
He
hides his true self and shows only the fictitious side of his life. He is
reluctant to reveal that his self is corroded by his deformities. His
sexual pretensions and the fantasy tales that he cooks up with his
wife's blessing shows him as one alienated from his own self.
In
turn. his actions to cover up his fantasy life expose him as a villain.
It is pathetic to learn at the end of the play that he swindled his
friend's money, mostly to meet his medical bill. His final exposure
by his wife is agonizing. Her confession that "for seven years Sam
Katz did not sleep with a girl" (PL 215) is really moving. The agony

of childlessness, Sam's impotency, sense of insecurity, and his
pronouncement that "Home is a prison" (PL 215) tend to prove that
inspite of alienating experiences of every kind, he chooses to live.
The delineation of the inner turmoil in characters in Paradise shows
that Odets, "was exploring the tormented psycheW(Jenckes 1991,
117). It is beyond doubt that in Paradise, the characters suffer from
psychological alienation.
The general impression one gets while studying the problem of
alienation in these plays is that most of Odets's characters though
physically in the chaotic world, have mentally not acclimatized
themselves to the changing world and continue to think that they live
in the happy days of the American boom. While the values of the
world are fast changing, most of them grope in the dark with neither
the knowledge of the world nor any grasp over the essential problems
they face.
Thus by mixing up their priorities these characters
automatically alienate themselves from the centre of life. Being far
removed from realities and normal human activities, they strive to
live their lives and have their needs fulfilled under the impression
that they still count as citizens.
In reality they are completely
isolated.
Their's is a family founded on alienation with diverse,
conflicting priorities that never shall see them sharing a common
ground.

Only a few characters with rare insight towards the end of the
plays comprehend the reality and tend to live with acceptance. As
this is an ever deepening crisis, a solution too eludes their grasp.
Edmund Fuller says that "in our age man suffers not only from war,
persecution, famine and ruin, but also from inner problem, a
conviction and meaninglessness in his way of existence"(l958. 3).
The sufferings due to the latter cause are widely prevalent but elude
solutions. Like niost modern American writers who are seized of the
gravity of the issue, Odets deems this question of alienation as the
greatest problem confronting his men and women.
The alienation experienced by O'Casey's slum characters is
due to failure on all fronts. While struggling in desperate poverty
and ignorance, they are trapped amidst the violence and death
perpetrated by fanatical nationalists and colonial forces. This is one
potent source of alienation, central in all the characters.
Unlike
Odets's
characters who enjoy a more dignified social status.
O'Casey's people are from the slums, doing menial labour to make
both ends meet. I-lence a sense of alienation is in-built in them due
to exhaustive ph>sical labour, general depravity and lack 01
an)
meaningful contact with the politics of the world. It is worth nollng
that most of them do not have a personal history or a cher~shablc
heritage to cling onto and deribe inspiration from. It is pert~nelit to

quote here George Lukacs' observation on the theme of alienation of
the characters without personal history. According to him such a
person is fatefully "thrown into the world meaninglessly,
unfathomably.
He does not develop contact with (his world); he
neither forms nor is formed by it"(1972, 477). Most of the characters
in the Dublin plays lack personal history, tradition or lineage.
In the Shadow, neither Donal Davoren nor Seumas Shields has
a home, family or relations.
The play provides no hint about their
origin even. All around them are just neighbours. A sense of
loneliness that emanates from the longing for relations influence
their habits and actions. In turn it develops into a sense of hatred
towards fellow human beings. Ample evidence is provided in the
text to show that they are distanced and alienated from everyone else
and even from their own actions.
Davoren's initial proclamation,
"The people! Damn the people! They live in the abyssn(SG 25),
shows how deep is he alienated from the common mass. Such
comments could emanate only from a hopelessly alienated individual
who prefers to live in an environment of strangers.
Shields distinguishes the good from the bad. He prefers the
innocent ones, but denounces the fanatical mob that mars the peace
and life of others. The presence of the gunmen and the occupying

forces create a fear psychosis in him. He is a man possessed and
thinking of death and mysterious "tappings".
It is a mental
hallucination that nobody else can hear. But for Davoren, he would
have turned a neurotic wreck and died of fearful sensations. Hence
his is an alienation from society. While Davoren partially overcomes
self-alienation by his creative involvement, Shields stands
completely alienated, as he has no associations or involvements, save
the partial pedling business. Sleeplessness is his affliction and he
suffers from this like a psychopath. Shields is a quite complex
character most of the time and Davoren accusing him of
"inconsistency"(SG 40) in the play. Shields' fear psychosis,
individualistic way of living, mechanicalness and defeatism prove
that he suffers loss of identity and turns into an alienatee by
separating himself from the ~vorld. Such characters who marginalise
themselves are, "living under the shadow of deathW(Hassan 1961, 6).
The life affirming quality in Davoren is his passion for colour
and beauty. This is born out of the poetic instinct in him and this
clearly distinguishes his sufferings due to alienation from those of
Shields. Though he stands aloof from the politics and religion of the
day, this fascination for beauty and colour draw people towards him.
Again, it is this instinct that draws him towards the beautiful Minnie
Powell.
It also shows how desperate he is in his search for

meaningful relations. For a brief while his search for home, peace
and love ends in Minnie, but alas! this fleeting moment of comfort
ends soon when Minnie is killed in the violence.
We see that
Davoren too shares Shields' contradictions and inconsistencies till
the middle of the play.
In Minnie's death, Davoren realizes how
deadly alienating his environment is and he declares thus: "It's
dangerous to be in and it's equally dangerous to be outW(SG 29).
Hence it is apt to note that as individuals without personal history in
an alienating society, Davoren and Shields suffer the tortures of the
damned and carry with them the characteristics of the alienated: a
crisis of identify, the loss of it and a search for it. This is the crisis
of alienation confronting all the characters in the Dublin trilogy.
Alienation is also the historic condition of O'Casey's Ireland.
Centuries of colonial domination deprived the Irish of the real facets
of native civilization and its unique values.
The alien culture
trampled down the long cherished values and peace.
The socio-
cultural confrontation through the centuries sapped the energy and
vitality of the people. In course of time their real culture \\,as pushed
under resulting in a distorted, mixed vision of life for them. Within
the limits of this experience, the Irish stood alienated from their real
nature and ability. The fast changing socio-political and economic
scene of the world in the twentieth century urged in them a yearnlng

for freedom and independence. While experiencing unstable
conditions, the peasants and workers involved themselves in the
liberation struggle. This was a means of escape from the loneliness,
frustration and estrangement but led to alienation from reality. Prone
to violence by nature due to these alienating causes, the Dublin slum
characters were easily carried away by fanatical aberrations.
Thus
they joined the violent movement and sank in misery.
Maik Hamburger in her article entitled 'Anti-Illusion...'
compares the technique of alienation used by Rrecht and O'Casey,
states thus: "whereas Brecht's emphasis lay on the story and he used
the technique of alienation to expose social mechanisms, O'Casey in
the Dublin plays was placing his emphasis on the characters and he
used his technique of contrasting styles to expose socially displaced
emotions or to channel the emotions of the spectator"(l981, 8). The
critic is of the view that alienation is not only experienced by
characters but is a conscious technique of stage craft used by
O'Casey to heighten the sense of loss and displacement.
The
contrasting style used by O'Casey in the Dubl~n pla) s is to enhance
either a farcical or a tragic situation.
When a comedian heightens a tragic situation in comic scenes.
that itself is a technique of alienation. This technique employed b)

O'Casey
in low comedy situations put great stress on such
characters' sufferings due to alienation. Seurnas Shields' complains
that his business associate Maguire is late, looks farcical and dubious
when he himself is under the sweet arms of Morpheus till noon and
decides not to wash himself in the morning due to laziness. This
comical self-contradiction assumes a serious realistic tone when
Maguire leaves his bag and in a gesture of despair Shields exclaims
thus: "Oh, this is a hopeless country! There's a fellow that thinks that
the four cardinal virtues are not to be found outside the Irish
Republic3'(SG 7).
The technique used by O'Casey heightens the
tension and shows Shields preparing himself for serious and tragic
insights.
It is tragic irony to see Shields' alienation from the
Republican causes with which once he was deeply involved, carrying
the gun, paying rifle levy and teaching the Irish language at nights
when he was in the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
This sense of
estrangement is experienced and expressed by all the patriotic
volunteers who associated themselves with the gun culture in the
Dublin plays.
The tragic plight of Johnny Boyle, his seclusion and neurotic
fits due to fear for life from his estrstwhile republican comrades
shows how the alienating effect torments his soul in Juno. Similarly,
Jack Clitheore in Plough, though enamoured of the glory of a

commandant in the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising, is
baffled to see Captain Brennan firing over the head of the Irish men
and women. Captain Brennan's angry retort "Irish be damned" (PS
154) is a proof to show how far the movement stands alienated from
the masses. The masses' alienation from the movement is borne out
by the mob looting, plundering and attacking the volunteers who
defend their life risking their own in the streets.
Jack Clitheore's misplaced love has an alienating effect. By
neglecting his loving wife Nora and being enamoured of mythical
'Cathleen', Jack stands alienated from natural life force.
The
Volunteers in the play stand alienated from the real cause of the
Rising due to self-love. Lieutenant Langon, ripped through the belly
in the fierce fighting complains that, "Everyone else (is)
escapin"(PS155), fearing their lives. Captain Brennan with whom he
shares his despair deserts the comrades at the siege of the post office.
Later he runs for his life from the enemy soldiers and poses as a
civilian before the raiding forces in Jack's tenement.
The distancing technique used by O'Casey
in this play
heightens the sense of mutual alienation and also enhances its tragic
effect. The opposing pulls in the life of these characters estrange
them further.
The gunmen Volunteers are neither committed ones

nor dropouts. Cohen says, "To be involved is to be committed to the
society" and "to drop out is not only to question the society but to
question the question, to make a readied break"(1982, 425). But these
alienated Volunteers in the play neither reject their original situation
nor involve themselves earnestly with it. This dilemma separates
them from every thing and turns them into alienatees.
Ronald Ayling, examining the distancing technique used by
O'Casey in his plays, is highly complimentary of the playwright's
effective use of this device as a significant stagecraft in his article,
"Character
Control and Distancing ...( 1970)". Ayling calls for
concerted attempt to study this aspect of O'Casey plays. He also says
that in Plough and The Silver Tassie, O'Casey profitably uses this
device to distance some of the dramatis personae and their actions so
that the spectators are not swayed by their histrionics but concentrate
on the theme of the plays. Like Brecht, O'Casey was distrustful of
the hero's ability to get the audience to focus on the issues. Earlier,
they had been carried away by the histrionics of characters like
Shields and Jack Boyle than be critical of them.
O'Casey's concern in these plays was that the audience must
derive critical insights while viewing the actions and their social
implications than simply be amused by the pranks and fantasies of

the stereotyped characters. O'Casey wanted the spectators to see how
these worthless characters by active involvement in political
movements have lost their identity. But the response to his earlier
plays belied this hope. Even well balanced critics of O'Casey turned
sentimental in their assessment of such an irresponsible, grotesqueanti-hero,
Jack Boyle. Ayling concludes that "O'Casey's wish to
communicate the universal significance of poverty and modern
warfare and his awareness of man being both an individual and mass
at one and the same time" (1985b, 187) prompted him to focus on the
theme than on character by the most significant use of distancing
effect.
In a society of injustice, dissipation, illness and poverty,
characters like Johnny Boyle in Juno, Jack Clitheore, Lt. Langon and
Captain Brennan in Plough and Maguire and Minnie Powell in
Shadow break-down under pressure. They fail to know that "killing
is achieving minimal formalities of revengem(Martin 1987, 66). This
engulfs them in the mire of death and destruction.
distance between action and achievement gets wider.
In turn, the
Their death
distances their families from the essence of life.
These alienatmy
actions provoke the ire of the opposing forces and In turn they raid
and kill the tenement population invariably.
What is left for Ihc
ordinary mortals is a sense of loss, waste and discord. The anguish

due to such loss is deeply felt by the saner ones. Davoren's sad
query: "are we going to know what peace and security are?"(SG 29).
shows this.
Dropping out itself is a potent source of alienation. A loss of
connection or contact and loss due to seclusion impair the growth.
Davoren's statement that he has no connections, knows nothing and
does not want to know, shows that he reacts thus "against the
nationalist patriotic politics of this day" (Mitchel 1980, 36). The
terrorist tendency of the movement and the inadequacies of politics
prompt such characters distance themselves from them. Their
alienation is due to the inadequacy of the movement, which they feel
is potent enough to kill. It is also due to the loss of faith in their
ability, and all encompassing melancholy. These exert pressure on
them and in turn they wish themselves elsewhere.
Experimentation with drugs, immaturity, evasion and
selfishness are also signs of alienation in O'Casey's characters.
Their ironic confusion of values, drunkenness, violence and
trivialities show them as confused individuals. In Margeson's
opinion such a character is, "pursuing his own course in isolat~on
from others or in collision with them (1967, ix). The drunken ones
are fretful, abusive, boastful, and selfish in these plays.
Heavy

drinking men like Grigson in Shadow, Captain Boyle in Juno and
Fluther Good in Plough are drifting. By haunting the pub to escape
work and family responsibilities, Captain Boyle is unsure of his
identity and becomes childish.
He has spent a lifetime trying to
evade social ties, which he needs during the weakness of his old age.
He is like a primitive, living in savage conditions and his alienation
is total when Juno, his bread-winner and sustainer, walks out on him.
Grigson, the Protestant Orangeman, stands alienated from the
religious creed and customs of the neighbours.
While remaining
loyal to their enemy, the Colonizer, he stands frightened and lonely
and cut off from his neighbours.
Thus by dropping out, he
experiments with drugs and soon becomes addicted. His drunken
brawls and physical assault of his wife in an inebriated condition
show him up in a poor light. His wife is an exploited partner in an
estranged marriage. Cohen's observation of the dropout ones, as
leading a "life of doddering self indulgence"(l982. 432) is
significant in this context. Tommy Owens, a drunken boaster in the
play, standing out of reality and all connections, is another individual
unsure of his identify and priorities. He "weeps with self
pity"(Simmons
1983, 46). It is a clear sign of an alienatee.
Sociologists categorize the alcoholics, dropouts and the ones who

lack spontaneity as the other-direction oriented persons and hence
alienatees.
Raymond Williams states that the tragedy of modern man lies
in "a terrifying loss of connection between men and even between
father and son, a loss of connection which was however a particular
social and historical fact, a memorable distance between his desire
and his endurance and between both and the purpose and meanings
which the general life offered him"(1966, 13). Modern psychologists
see this loss of connection between men and the environment, his
distancing from his milieu and his own self as a distressing
experience of alienation. A man who is distanced is estranged from
the centre of life. Such a man, instead of charting and deciding the
course of his life, just goes through the motion of life. The operating
forces on his life lie elsewhere and he has no control over them.
Such a person is out of touch with himself and men around
him, and thus stands removed from his own world.
By being
estranged from the centre of life and from their own selves many
characters of O'Casey and Odets remain as outsiders in their own
family and society. Even while living inside, they do not belong to
it. Mitchell is of the view that in O'Casey's slum characters, there is
first and foremost an "attempt to physically get out of slums"(1980,

45). As they fail in their attempt, they abandon it. Yet again, being
forced by circumstances to be inside, they face tremendous conflicts,
dilemmas and tensions. Thus, their only choice is melting like
raindrops within the slum culture and life. Even for such a melting
they have to have multiple reconciliations.
We see none of
O'Casey's characters escaping the tenement life however desperately
they struggle to come out of it.
A classic case in point is his women characters like Minnie,
Mary and Nora, in the Dublin plays. They strive to escape through
love. Ironically their's is a loveless society and thus they feel
betrayed and stand estranged. In their society, love, instead of being
the panacea for all ailments, becomes a potent force of alienation.
Davoren possessed with love for life could not arrest Minnie's death
when she offers herself as a sacrificial victim for all enduring love.
Mary Boyle uses love as a ploy to escape the drudgery of the slum.
Hence she hops from Jerry of the slums to Bentham of higher status
and society. In turn, she experiences only betrayal as she has given
her body in advance in her frantic quest for escape. Nora's love is
unreciprocated. Her husband is estranged from human love. Instead,
he is overcome by a killer instinct and stands alienated from Nora's
genuine love.
It is also a case of misplaced love, as, in Jack
Clitheroe's view, revenge killing for his country is of first priority.

In her frantic search for love within marriage, Nora is rewarded with
schizophrenia. Nora is the only woman character experiencing
greater alienation due to mental illness in the Dublin trilogy.
The men characters in the Dublin plays feel estranged from the
slum environment.
As insurrection was part of the daily life of
Ireland, most of these alienated men embrace it as a medium and
means of escape. As Tommy Colgan in Liam O'Flaherty's novel
Insurrection opines, they view insurrection as a means to escape
"from the prolonged horror of life in the slums; from hunger and
loneliness and humiliation"(l950, 173). O'Casey's men placed in an
identical situation share the same fate and hence join the movement
mainly to escape the slum environment. For them, it is not an act of
faith and discipline. Unlike the women escapists, the men involved in
the violent movement could not survive.
Death is the inevitable
outcome once the wrong choice is made. For them death is a relief as
already they have been reduced to life less things. Simmons views
their condition thus: "The unprotected nature of tenement life where
there are no cushions of money and privacy and garden walls, where
police are threatening figures rather than guardians of property.
where hunger and violence and drunkenness are familiars"(1983, 62).
The unending dilemma arising out of unprotected nature of their life
remains unresolved till the end of the plays.

The pain of life owing to such alienation is terrible and
Davoren gives vent to it at the end of Shadow thus: "Ah me, alas!
Pain, pain, pain, for ever! ... it's still more terrible to think that
Davoren and Shields are alive!"(SG44).
This pain of living itself is
universalised by Jack Boyle as the curtains are drawn at the close of
the play as follows: "th"
whole worl's ... in a terr ... ible state
o' ... chassis!'' (JP101).
Similarly. Mrs.Gogan's last words in the
company of the whimpering Nora are pitiful: "come on with me.
dear, an' you can doss in poor Mollser's bed, till we gather some
neigbours to come an' give th' last friendly touches to Bessie in th'
lonely lyin' of her out"(PS174). One of her companions being dead
and the other is mad, powerless even to live or die. The human crisis
perpetrated by human eccentricity wherein they lost their identity and
companions has resulted in their frantic craving for personal
connections. This endless search of Man from cradle to the grave, as
Emerson rightly puts it is due to the society which is ''in conspiracy
against the manhood of everyone of its members"(l987, 17) and
reduces the individual to a cipher.
The tremor in human relations thus felt and echoed in Odets's
characters, binds them with O'Casey's.
What Odets portrays is the
effect of socio-economic factors in alienating individual
relationships. Sam's cry, in Awake and Sing!, "I'm a lonely person.

1:
Nobody likes meW(AS94), is pivotal to his alienation. Through this
we are transported to the private, inner world of the other alienated
characters too. Ralph in the play too resigns to his fate and prepares
to live like a dog, uncared for and unwanted. Jacob, the old Marxist
idealist is perplexed to see his daughter Bessie's aggressiveness. He
could not digest Bessie forsaking moral values for materialistic
considerations. At last, a sense of defeat overpowers him.
Being
cowed down by the materialists like Bessie and Morty, he stands
lonely and Tootsie the favourite dog is his sole companion till his
death.
Financial insecurity leading to personal and social insecurity
always haunts Odets's characters. According to Harold Clurman the
pressures of the business world "with its fundamental uncertainty,
hysteria, indifference to and impatience with human problcms as
such, its inevitable ruthlessness, its ultimate killer tendencies" (1939.
431) are responsible for the estrangement of these characters. The
sense of alienation leads even to hysterical heights when their
genuine aspirations are not met for lack of money. Julie Gordon in
Paradise is hopelessly ruined by hysteria.
Many of the young men
and women like Odets, feel "life is dead in the body". They are also
aware that they "have nothing, have never had anything" and their
fate is "to lie sick in ... heart" and "despair", (Gibson 1982, 271).

The other alienating influences like, sleeplessness, betrayal by
marriage partners, turmoil and crisis in love, and restlessness could
be traced to the financial insecurity they commonly share.
The
sickening melancholy arising out of the feeling that nobody loves and
understands them and their surcharged temperament expose them as
fearful, withdrawing, confused and hating people. As these are all
destructively alienating traits, and hence in their life "dissolution is a
natural lawn(Bigsby 1982, 39).
As writers directly confronting the human condition, O'Casey
and Odets show how stranded among proliferating contradictions
their people encounter the game of life.
In their society the
contradiction in preaching and practice has become a fashion as seen
in its "preaching liberty and practicing slavery"(Commager 1978,
xiii). There is also this contradiction in preaching material-well being
and perpetuating penury.
These overlapping and contradictory
influences are alienating in their own right and enchance the meaning
of alienation as seen in the characters. In their society there are no
enduring bonds, "where jobs are hard work rather than careers" and
"ideals are hypocrisy or veiled forms of oppression"(McCarthy 1988.
2). When money is worshipped at the cost of moral well being, man
becomes the victim of the intrinsic hypocrisy of his own society.

The discussion on the causes and forms of alienation shows
Man primarily as a product of the society.
Its influences and
pressures are visible in every manifestation of human conduct.
Hence his very identify itself could not be separated from the
influences that operate on him. This itself is an indicator that the
individual's nature is primarily fixed. Alienation is complete in those
who are not aware of this. As evident from the life of these
characters, the individual life is inseparable from the influences that
are partly acquired and partly inherited.
This strengthens the view
that the individual actions are determined; taking the term in its
broadest conventional sense minus philosophical fixations around it.
In the context of the shaping forces operating in their environment,
these characters are caught in a web of conflicting as well as
contradictory and mutually alienating influences
It is worth
discussing the conflicts that these characters encounter in life as a
result of such alienating factors.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS
No other generation belonging to the countries of O'Casey and
Odets had to deal with such perplexing and crushing conflicts as
those suffered by their characters. Poverty and degenaracy as shown
in the works under study sprang from the wide gap between the rich
and the poor and the acute human suffering due to wars. As poverty
continued to afflict the suppressed, they lived in squalor, misery,
insecurity and illness of every kind. The affluent section of society
remained indifferent to the plight of their unfortunate brethren. Even
the conservative Winston Churchil of England sensed the "fines of
clevage in the community" as "being social and economic" (Ashley
1982, 161) and urged immediate attention. As the struggle of the
poor was an everyday reality in an unequal society, the unbridgeable
gap between the conflicting classes widened day by day.
It is not strange that playwrights of these turbulent early
decades of the twentieth century gave artistic expression to these
conflicting interests. As playwrights from marginalised backgrounds
nurtured by the milieu, O'Casey and Odets present the domestic and

136
social conflicts that baffle their characters. The forces in conflict
against their interest are perceived to be economic, political and
religious. Through these plays, we see how "the blind and in
eluctable economic and political forces beyond the control of the
individual" (Fredori 1967, 371) are in conflict with their interests.
Speaking to David Krause towards the end of his life, O'Casey
opined that "the world is full of powerful people who want everyone
else to bow down before them and be tactful" (1974, 43). According
to him such powerful people are either running business empires, the
State, the Church or manning institutions. Such organizations are
therefore inherently opposed to the needs and aspirations of the
common man and always seen in conflict with his interests. O'Casey
also firmly believed that "religion was erecting barriers between
brothers while preaching the brotherhood of man" (O'Donavan 1966,
189). The terrifying religion-related conflicts in Ireland, during the
second decade of the twentieth century testifies to O'Casey's
conviction. Therefore it is nothing strange that the Dublin plays too
dwell at length on such conflicts.
The principal force that is in conflict with the working clasr
characters of O'Casey's plays is the institution of Church. The feud
between the Catholics and Protestants on the one hand and that

among the poor of these respective groups as manifested in the
Dublin trilogy on the other, bear ample testimony to this. The
centuries of struggle in Ireland could also be traced back to the
conflicting religious interests. In immortalizing the plain people of
Dublin, their fear, hope, anxiety and bickering, O'Casey also
faithfully present the contrast between creed and practice of
Christianity.
Orthodox religion dominated the minds of the peasant-workers
of Ireland and they looked to religion for resolution of their domestic
and social conflicts. It is Christianity that had risen from a slavesociety,
provided the base for feudalism and also the different phases
of capitalism, which substituted feudalism. Among the practitioners
of the same creed there was also the clarion call for equality and fair
treatment of the oppressed and an end to the practice of treating
human beings as things. Thus O'Casey was "fascinated by the
complex conflicts thus alive inside Christian thought and continuall)
intruding in Christian idiom" (Lindsay 1969, 197). The anarchy let
loose on Ireland during the freedom struggle and the terrifying
upheavals was sponsored by the Catholic Republican nationalists and
the alien protestant power. At the receiving end were the unfortunate
proletarian Protestants and Catholics. These poor, ignorant workers
were cheated and lured away from the true struggle and made to

serve alien causes. Thus the workers were steadily demoralized and
disillusioned.
The plays show that at home these hapless workers are
struggling to have both ends meet. Economic deprivation, ignorance
superstition and drunkenness are their real trophies. The occupants of
the crowded slums of Dublin are in want and misery. Under the
burden of these inadequacies they are crushed. Having destined to
live in such abject conditions, they are spiritually and physically
violent and eruptive. They are seen always feuding, fighting,
dreaming, drinking and wasting. These conditions heighten the
conflicts in the domestic front. Unconcerned of their plight, the
bourgeois nationalists and religionists emotionally excite them and
thus they are aptly trapped in the social conflicts.
According to Lindsay, in the Dublin plays O'Case)
was
"artistically vindicating the position he had politically held
throughout the years in question" 11969, 194). He himself has
emerged from the Dublin slums and experienced the agony of living
in inhuman conditions. Hence he had been emotionally close to the
people he was writing about. Having had first hand experience of life
in the deteriorating Dublin slums, O'Casey espoused the labour cause
by involving himself in almost every organization that worked for the

welfare of the workers. Hence the condition, the needs, the fears,
ambitions and weaknesses of the very people became central to his
theme. What worried him was that these poor workers were living in
the irredeemable abyss, but none of the centers of power were
working with commitment to redeem them. It was only Jim Larkin,
the labour organizer who sought to educate and liberate them
economically. Yet, the very ICA he founded to alleviate the workers'
misery by organizing, educating and fighting for their welfare,
slowly slipped into the hands of its own class enemy. Hence, keeping
himself aloof from every movement, O'Casey committed himself to
the cause of the poor suffering mass of the work force. With this
avowed mission he focused on the conflicts inherent between the
labour and its opponents in the three Dublin plays.
What was more distressing to O'Casey was the fact that the
Church itself was perpetrating the class division and had become an
instrument to turn brother against brother in the Irish wars. The three
Dublin plays dramatise "the confused and violent dissension of the
Irish movements - nationalist and socialist, loyalist and rebellions,
Protestant and Catholic" (Gille 1975, 176). The ignorant workers
caught in these conflicts are cowed down.
It is worth noting how the working classes are swayed by
religious and nationalistic fervour in the plays under consideration.

In Shadow the small time pedlar Maguire is straining every nerve to
eke out a living. Inspite of this painful life, he commits himself to the
cause of nationalism and manufactures bombs adjacent to Shields'
tenement. He places one bag full under Shields' table, thereby laying
the trap for the raid by the fearsome occupational forces at late night.
Minnie Powell is another wage-slave, working from dawn to dusk to
meet her needs. She could not afford a cup of milk and sugar to ease
herself at moments of drudgery. Yet, she is carried away by fanatical
nationalism and misses no opportunity to hail the gunmen on the run.
The stage direction amply illustrates that the bare "fact in her life" is
"poverty" and to drive it out, she is "forced to earn her living" (SG
10). In her pettiness, vanity and folly, she forgets the facts of her life
and gives herself passionately to the fanatical credo. Her final act of
dragging Maguire's bombs to her room, though spurred by her
passion for Davoren, is done deliberately to save the comrade in
trouble. Ironically, she is a victim of the mischief of her own
Republican comrades.
She is another innocent wage-slave "goaded to destruction by
men of words" (Malone 1969. 73). It is Shields who rightly perceives
the force in conflict with the interest of the workers. Though he 1s
regular in Church attendance and a "daily communicant", the
violence all around him contributed both by
the Republican

nationalists and the occupational forces, all ardent Churchmen in
their own right prevail upon him to ask, "Is there no Christianity at
all left in the country" (SG 19). He knows fully well that it is an
inter-religious conflict. While the Catholic nationalists fight to
establish a bourgeois Catholic state, the alien power and its Irish
Protestant loyalists strive hard to jealously preserve the Protestant
theocratic state. Shields' involvement with the Republican movement
taught him the bitter lesson that the nationalists are not working for
the economic emancipation of the proletariat. It is a fact that they
promote violent upheavals to assert religious supremacy and to covet
economic and political power for themselves from the aliens.
Being aware of the true import of the uprising, Shields is
overcome by fear. The real meaning and significance of religion
eludes him even though he takes recourse to religion at moments of
personal crisis. He too is a divisive religionist and selfish to the core.
During his days of involvement with the nationalist movement he has
been a partisan religionist. Now, being afraid of his life. he is
searching for meaning and seeks security in religion. Hence the
frightened Shields' prayers and protestations over his failing to pray
adequately deny him any comfort. But his thoughtful observatiorls
about patriotism, religion and life throw light on the nexus between

142
religion and politics. He is convinced that this unified force is
responsible for the plight of his tribe.
The role of the Church in sabotaging the first ever movement
of workers amply illustrates how far the interests of the Church stand
contrary to the interests of the poor. The Catholic Church in Ireland
consistently opposed the 'Dublin lockout' of 1913, where the demand
of the workers was for better wages and working conditions. Leading
capitalists owning multiple business concerns were the great pillars
of the Church. Over seventy priests holding shares in the Irish
Transport Company added a curious dimension to the unholy nexus
between the Church and businessmen. It was in this context the
Church establishment justified the abject poverty of the poor and
called it as the design of providence. The liberal Catholic writer
Ryan commented that the "Catholic ecclesiastics as impassioned
defenders of worldly properly" were "bidding the poor to be content
with the prospect of heaven in the next" (1912, 274). It speaks of
how practical Christianity was applied in the every day life of the
people.
The sordid episode of the priests preventing the poverty-
stricken children of the striking workers from leaving Ireland b?
picketing railway stations and docks shows the callousness of the

church authorities towards its devotees. The Catholic clergy were
afraid that the workers children would be converted to the Protestant
faith in England. Ultimately the first-ever organized protest of the
workers failed due to the handiwork of the Catholic religionists and
the capitalist employers. The Church, by equating Larkinism to
Socialism, saw to it that every avenue for the emancipation of the
workers was blocked. Ironically, the very same religionists and
capitalists in alliance with the bourgeois middle-class now provided
leadership during the three major upheavals for freedom. The poor
working men, unable to identify the true intention of the Church and
businessmen, only helped them establish the bourgeois theocratic
state, though unwittingly.
Jack Boyle in the play Juno often alludes to this unholy nexus.
He is forthright in his comments about the clout and authority
enjoyed by the clergy in Ireland. Though hopelessly drunk and
mindlessly evasive, he asserts to his comic partner thus: "the clergy
always had too much power over the people In this unfortunate
country" (JP 61). The unusual clarity of this declaration, free from
the usual verbal distortions shows how he is aware of the burden of
the painful truth. He is equally convinced that the local parish prlest
goes out of his way to fix him in a work. It is not that he IS concerned

of the plight of the Boyle family but because Johnny Boyle was an
IRA comrade who did his part for his country.
According to Captain Boyle, the clergy want the common man
to work "from morning till night, so that they may be in better fettle
when they come hoppin' round for their dues!" (IP 61). In Boyle's
opinion the clergy took every opportunity to denounce the freedom of
the common man. He recollects and denounces the clergy for
preventing the famine-affected people from seizing the corn and let
them starving during 1847. Also he remembers how vehemently they
castigated the Fenians who fought for Home Rule during the late
nineteenth century. The very priests said "hell wasn't hot enough nor
eternity long enough to punish the Fenians" (JP 61). It goes to prove
that the Church was blocking the genuine aspirations of the common
man and worked in tandem with forces opposed to the interests of the
working class. Unfortunately, neither Boyle's own son Johnny nor
his neighbour Robie Tancred infer the true intentions of the
religionists and patriots.
In the Plough the Republican nationalists use religious idioms
to lure the common man towards the violent insurrection. The boicc
of the Speaker in the play says "bloodshed is a cleansing and
sanctifying thing and the nation that regards it as the final horror has

lost it's manhood" (PS 128). The rhetorical fervour of such
eulogizing impresses the workers to such an extent that they deem
nationalism as a romantic cult.
Jack Clitheore, Brennan and Langan are three wage-slaves who
are mesmerized by the Speaker's rhetoric. They relegate their
mothers, wives and children to the background and plunge headlong
into the terrifying conflict. "Their faces are flushed and their eyes
sparkle" and "they speak rapidly as if unaware of the meaning of
what they said" (PS 141). It shows, how for the workers are carried
away by the effect of the speech. It is ironic that the real meaning of
such bombastic rhetoric is always elusive to the ignorant mobs.
Unaware of the true intention of the nationalist Speaker, the workers'
blustering about nationalism seems ridiculous. O'Casey himself is
bitterly sarcastic of their pseudo-patriotism and commitment. In the
words of O'Riordon, O'Casey shows "an ironic contempt for human
stupidity" (1984, 83). These ignorant workers fail to infer that it is
purely a religio-political conflict and their involvement could cost
them dearly.
How far religious images are misused to goad the workers into
bloodshed is further illustrated by the speech. The voice of the
Speaker adds: "such august homage was never offered to God as this:

the homage of millions of lives given gladly for the love of the
country. And we must be ready to pour out the same red wine in the
same glorious sacrifice, for without shedding the blood there is no
redemption" (PS 129). God, wine, sacrifice and redemption are terms
of wider significance in the Bible. The patriots in their bloodthirsty
pleading seem to take inspiration from the revengeful God of old
testament for whom, the barbarians of pre-historic times offered
blood sacrifice for absolution and favour. The irony is, the
perpetrators of the present day Wars, be it the Great Wars or the Irish
Wars, profess to be deriving inspiration from the Church of Christ.
The call to sacrifice the innocent ones by linking it to the sacrifice of
Christ looks odd. It goes to prove that the religionists and
nationalists misuse religious symbols to covet power and glory by
sacrificing the hapless workers.
In the plays, the innocent workers, once lured into the violent
movements are misguided to kill their own brethren. Thus they stand
party to several clearly defined conflicts. The other conflicts
highlighted in the plays are -'labour principles versus practice" and
"nationalism versus humanitarianism" (Hayley 1981, 81 ). '1 he
drunken mass of the work force, once involved in the terrible
upheavals, act against the interest of the fellow human beings.
Bloodthirsty nationalist leadership has taught them to be butchers

and merciless murderers. In the plays, most of the unfortunate
victims at the hands of the IRA volunteers or gunmen are their own
kith and kin.
In Shadow Minnie Powell, the darling of the tenement is not
killed in the raid by alien forces. Though arrested by the raiding
Black and Tan's, she is killed in the crossfire. The impact of the
armed rebellions is aptly illustrated by the insight of Shields thus:
It's the civilians who suffer; when there's ambush they do not know
where to run. Shot in the back to save the British Empire, an' shot in
the breast to save the soul of Ireland" (SG 28). That the nationalists,
the acknowledged saviours of the soul of Ireland have no respect for
the very souls they profess to save is the crux of Shields' agoniz~ng
cry. In the play, "Catholic acquiescence" and "IRA Coercion", along
with "guns and bullets" are clashing against the interests of the poor
preoccupied with "idleness-drink" and "poverty" (Rutherford 1989.
74).
It is the same fanatical fervour that motivates Johnny in the
play Juno, to betray his comrade and neighbour, Tancred. Earlier
Tancred, the Republican gunman betrayed his friend and neighbour.
Mr.Manning. Johnny himself is maimed in body and mind owing to
his involvement in the violent movement. In his mindless

exhilaration of war and heroism, unmindful of the poverty of his
family and the future of his sister, Johnny relegates his familial
duties to the background. His violent and eruptive nature bursts out
and he treats his sister and father with contempt. In her fallen state,
when Mary craves for sympathy and accommodation, Johnny, along
with his father, heartlessly drives her out. At last he himself is
brutally murdered by his erstwhile Republican comrades. Such
actions of the nationalists prove beyond doubt that they lack the
human touch.
Jack Clitheore is another nationalist who is insensitive to the
suffering of his wife. Captain Brennan and Lieutenant Langon also
abdicate their family responsibility and show their inhumanity. To
the newly wed Clitheore nationalism is an escape route to realize his
ego. Like other Irish working-class people of the day, he too nurtures
romantic illusions glorified in myths and legends. His act is like the
"glorious deeds of rebel patriots who kissed their beloved coolness
farewell and went-off to sacrifice themselves for the greater love.
Kathleen ni Houilihan" (Krause 1960, 70). It is Clitheore's brutality
in nationalistic fervour that is solely responsible for his wift's
neurotic breakdown. The ignorant workers' real needs are not met by
the insurrection. Instead, their actions further their own and their
family's plight.

It is apt to note that the workers' interests are always in
conflict with that of the nationalists. Their suffering is an integrating
force that brings them together, a force stronger than the
"disintegrating force of ideologies, nationalities and religion which is
tearing them apart" (Scringeour 1978, 104). The forces of
disintegration ruthlessly operate in the tenements and failure to
identify the enemy in conflict causes misery. Unmindful of this, the
poor ones believe that the bourgeois nationalists shall redeem them.
Unfortunately, they are drafted into the religio-political conflicts,
which in its arrogance entrench them in the mire of their own blood.
According to O'Riordon, through these plays, O'Casey also
highlights the "international struggle between labour and the capital"
(1984, 247). In the plays, the theoretical socialists like Devine in
Juno and the Covey in Plough espouse the cause of the labour. The
Covey reminds his fellow working-class that the nationalists have
misguided them. Jerry Devine keeps himself aloof from the divisive
religionists and militant nationalists. He is a common figure in the
labour movement who holds that economic freedom is the basic
requirement of the working-class.
To the Covey, "there is only one war worth havin', th' war for
th' economic emancipation of th' proletariat" (PS 134). All other

slogans are meant to dope the workers. Ironically the very socialist
theoreticians fail to practice what they preach. Devine takes to his
heels once he knows that Mary has fallen so low. Earlier while
pleading for her love he declared "humanity is above every thing"
(JP 95). Such theoreticians are dry and coldly inhuman. Their
lectures are meant for the socialist rooms and in practice their
"humanity is just as narrow as the humanity of others" (JP 96).
The Covey is equally indifferent to the plight of fellow
workers, even while preaching equality and universal brotherhood of
man. He misses no opportunity to taunt and torment the old Peter. He
is also inhuman in dealing with the prostitute, Rosie Redmond. He
takes part in the drunken revelry and joins the other tenement poor in
looting the shops under the cover of the Easter insurrection. It is
Fluther Good, the drunken carpenter who corners him and reminds
him of his insensitivity and inhumanity. Through these characters,
O'Casey shows the conflict between preaching and practice. Here
O'Casey tells the whole human truth and set the "proletariat in a
critical perspective" (Lindsay 1969, 193). By the combined onslaught
of the bourgeois nationalists, divisive religionists and pseudosocialists,
the poor Dubliners are pushed under.

The plays also focus on the conflicts between the religious
opponents. The slum characters are always touchy about religious
issues. The vertical divisions in society on religious lines reverberate
in the plays too. Though most of the characters are representatives of
the Catholic creed, a few opponents help view the religious conflicts
in the right perspective. There is fierce clash whenever religious
issues are mentioned. Mrs.Gogan rightly perceives this and says,
"there's always the makin's of a row in th' mention of religion" (PS
113). She herself is involved in a running battle with her Protestant
counterpart in the Plough. These feuding religious rivals make a
mockery of religious creeds and sacraments. Bessie and Gogan take
their religious battle to the bar and profess allegiance to their
respective creed over a few jars of whisky. Mrs.Gogan, a charwoman,
while encouraging the Republican fighters in the bar also deem it her
prime duty to defend the Catholic creed from the venomous verbal
slings of her rival, the Protestant street-fruit vendor, Bessie. In her
fanatical religious fervour, she even throws the newborn child on the
pub before readying herself for the fight in defense of her faith.
Bessie, standing on the other side of the polarized relig~on,
displays more than manly fighting spirit, drunken with liquor and
religion. She too bestows upon herself the dual task of defending her
faith and her tribe from the Catholics. She is proud in proclaiming

that she had lost her husband in the Great War and sent her only son
to defend her country and its faith from the alien forces. Her
matchless courage is in display in the pub where she fights a lonely
battle against the uneasy coalition of the pseudo-socialist Covey, the
timid old Peter, the drunken Fluther and Mrs.Gogan.
Both women swear allegiance to the same Holy Scripture, to
the saints and profess to have never crossed "th' borders of the Ten
Commandments!" (PS 135). But alas!, the sanctity of the very
religion is lost in their vulgar display. Looking back at their common
legacy of poverty, ignorance, domestic drudgery, want and misery,
their religious fervour and patriotism seem ridiculous. Their
misguided patriotism only undermines their institutions of marriage
and religion.
Adolphus Grigson in Shadow is another Protestant loyalist. He
takes pride in inflicting cruelties on his wife under the authority of
the scripture for the simple reason that she starves herself to feed
him. Even at the most fearful night of the raid, he casts her on the
floor and boasts of subjugating her. He too proudly proclaims that he
has the sanction of his religion to ill-treat his wife. By casting
aspersion on his wife, he willfully shows marital life in poor light.
Yet he too is worried that nobody cares "about the orders of the Ten

commandments" (SG 35). But he slanders at ease the fellow
tenement mates. In projecting such unworthy characters, O'Casey
seems to take upon himself the task of retrieving them from the
anaesthetic effect of "myths, false and worn-out heroics, illusions,
prejudices, weaknesses and self-comforters" (Mitchell 1980, 20).
What O'Casey takes to task is not Christianity, but the unchristian
Christians, not the Church at large, but its clericalism. He is outraged
at the "trinity of the Irish taboos - religion, sex and patriotism"
(Krause 1960, 39). The hapless working-class, deeply mired in the
conflicts, pay a heavy toll.
The religionists and the patriots are impervious to the needs of
the body. Neither the Irish chauvinists nor the idealists could bother
to alleviate the misery of the beautiful young girl, Rosie Redmond
with neither a roof over her head nor bread on the table. The only
avenue open to her at the turbulent and volatile times is to trade her
body for a living. O'Casey juxtaposes the scenes of Rosie luring
customers in the Plough and the patriots eulogizing on the glory of
sacrifice and bloodshed. Her fellow workers pun on her poverty.
The fanatically religious and nationalist bigots fight over the
issue of prostitution but do not think it over. The dogmatic philistines
would neither alleviate the misery nor allow freedom of choice. The

poor ones are destined to adhere to what is imposed as moral code
and norms of cultural and religious ethos.
Breaking down the
barriers of theological constructs is beyond the poor working man's
ken.
In these plays we see prostitution as a means of survival for
under paying and over working conditions. Thus the poorest of the
working women who are forced to resort to prostitution to keep their
body and soul together cannot be considered sinners. Rosie Redmond
who sells herself to meet the bare needs of existence is no different
from Shaw's woman in Mrs. Warren's Profession. What is ridiculous
is how her bourgeois landlord exploits her by hiking the rent
whenever she brings in a new customer. Thus the common lot of the
Irish poor is shown to be in perpetual conflict - a conflict between
the need to sustain one's life and losing the same life to the crass
selfishness of his class enemies.
Most of the tenement characters take refuge in religion or
patriotism when confronted with personal crisis. What they have is
only a distorted view of religion and nationalism. The cynical Shields
either complains to God or tries to cajole him when haunted by his
own inadequacies. Whenever tapping is heard in the room he seeks
religion to restore his confidence. During the days of his Republican
involvement, he castigated the very Church for failing to rescue the
Republican leaders like James Stephens. When disillusioned with the

violent movement, he indulges in remorseful prayer as a means of
escape. Thus the true meaning and significance of religion is always
elusive in his life.
Captain Boyle in Juno makes a mockery of religious creeds
and practices. His submission before Juno Boyle at the hint of
fortune, "I'll never doubt the goodness of O'God age'n" (JP 66) is
hypocritical. He intends trading God and religion as a commodity. In
his country the religious and nationalist leadership have encouraged
such double-ness and hypocrisy. In the misery of Boyle, the Church
is seen as the enemy that demoralizes and betrays the Irish. God and
Church become his own when fortune smiles at him. What Coughlin
says in another context, "the temple still remains the private property
of money changers. The golden key has been handed over to them for
safe keeping - the key which is fashioned in the shape of a double
cross" (1999, 361), seems strikingly relevant to explain the attitude
of the religionists and nationalists. In Captain Boyle's Ireland, the
religious and nationalist leadership coexists and as moneychangers,
they control and rule over the destiny of the have-nots.
In the trouble-torn world of Juno the brothers are fighting with
brothers. What they fight over is the "much abused mystical body of
Christendom" (Kelley 1983, 119). The much maligned Christian

virtue of martyrdom came to be equated with savage killings. Johnny,
a merciless killer, is terrified at the prospect of loosing his own life.
At those moments of fear, he seeks refuge at the votive light near the
wax model of the Virgin. His prayer before the Virgin lacks piety and
sense of remorse. His agonized terror and foreboding is born out of
his conviction that "the reassuring light of the votive lamp in front of
the statue of the Virgin has gone out" (O'Riordon 1984, 55). He is a
symbol of human unkindness and the living God has forsaken him
right from the beginning.
The traumatized lrish saw the fighting over flimsy reasons by
the Catholic and Protestant brethren as the height of savagery. It goes
to prove that the Irish are touchy about religion and can be ruthless
barbarians on issues related to religion. The clout and authority
enjoyed by the Church is seen in its wily and venomous instigation of
all of the working-classes, the practitioners of the same creed to fight
against one another. The Dublin plays lay-bare the sufferings of the
tenement population that are caught in the conflicts. While exposing
the plight in all its naturalness, O'Casey throws overboard the "rags
of various political and social formulas" by his "sincere
and
passionate feeling for the common people" (O'Hegarty 1969, 67)
O'Casey critic O'Riordon comments that lrish people have

"slaughtered each other with vigour and venom, in the way that
Christians do, have done and will do again" (1984, 39).
What is required in the trouble-torn Ireland is, return to the
days of apostolic simplicity and decrease of litigation and venality of
justice, repentance, forgiveness, tolerance and unflinching love for
humanity. Established religion must be the high wall to defend
humanity against tyranny, inequality, colonial subjugation and
slavery. It is in this context that O'Casey himself "identified the
enemies of the people as the Church and business and order"
(Williams 1952, 153). Unfortunately this identification and
realization has not dawned on the very people. Hence they perpetuate
revolution and anarchy. While unraveling such terrible upheavals
O'Casey also shows the "society at war and the individual adrift"
(Barzun 1969, 121).
Bourgeois authoritarianism makes a mockery of the economic
emancipation of the poor. The poor are a mere tool in the hands of
the self-seeking rich. Emerging from the Dublin slums with the tag of
slum dramatist affixed to him, O'Casey firmly believed that
economic emancipation was more important a need than political
liberation. This was a view contradictory to that of the bourgeois
nationalists who used the working man as a tool in their violent
campaign for political liberation.
Theirs was a selfish motive, to

have power transferred from the alien forces to the middle-class
bourgeoise. Therefore O'Casey saw the religious establishment and
the bourgeoise controlled Irish Liberation Movement as the real
opponents of the proletariats. This conflict in interests caused only
suffering and alienation where the poor were concerned.
Discussion of the plays in the light of these shows how the
poor suffer, ignorant of the root cause of the malady. The tragedy of
the poor lies in the fact that they are lured into the movement for
political liberation and work with youthful idealism and zest.
However, their leaders never shared this idealism and commitment
but were only exploiting them to further their ends. This conflict
between ideals and practice betray the poor. While in O'Casey's
plays nationalism and religion are in conflict with the interests of the
workers, in Odets's, it is the mindless economic capitalism that
marginalizes and isolates the working class.
It takes another form in the United States. Odets was primarily
a playwright of the decaying middle-class of the Depression-ravaged
America. Being the representative of the same class, he too shared
their fear, hope and frustration. While the lower-class was resigned
to the fate of poverty and ignominy, the upper-class was mindless in
pursuit of prosperity and opportunity. It was the lower rung among

the middle-class that was trapped in between. They ended up as
materialists without the power or money.
The undisciplined material and political growth conferred
enormous power and authority on the upper segments of society and
that was a great cause of concern.
The Growth of the American
Republic portrays clearly how the political leaders were chosen for
their alleged business acumen and the Universities vied with one
another to award honorary doctorates on bankers and industrialists
for attaining material success. It also exposes the nexus between the
Church and Business, revealing in the process, how the teachings of
the Church and schools were controlled by the ideals of the Rotary
Club; a conglomeration of businessmen, politicians and
professionals. The irrefutable lesson of history that power corrupts
became real in the nineteen-thirties, when the corrupt capitalists
controlled the Church, the State and sat in judgement on the poor
workers. Ultimately the working-class was forced into a condition,
wherein their homes gradually break under the strain of financial and
social disaster.
The most successful exponents of money seeking ambition
were the bourgeois middle-class. In the Odets era, this ambition of a
class became the malaise of a whole society. Bessie Berger in Awake

and Kewpie in Paradise are obsessed with it.
Odets, like the
Naturalist Zola, depicts these as the "determining forces of societyv
(Larkin 1977, 42). In the Depression plays. the dramatist is calling
in question the society itself. The laws enacted are perceived to be
safeguarding the interests of the money seekers. Jacob, the Marxist
idealist, laments over the fate of the have-nots caught in this frenzy
and asks Bessie, whether she "found a piece of earth where" she
"could live like a human being and die with the sun on ...
face?"(AS73).
The ambitious Bessie and the capitalist Morty could
only retort, saying that he is intoxicated with books. He is worried
that the ascendance of the labour is always checked and that thus
they are held in perpetual penury by the money seekers. A highly
competitive society had a price fixed for every thing whether it is
values, morals or love.
Bessie fixes a price for Ralph's love and
marriage. The frustrated young boy is thus forced to forsake love
and marriage, as he could not pay a price for it.
The clash of interests extends to the rich-poor relations too.
The moneyed ones from the commercial and industrial sectors always
look down upon the poor labourer with suspicion and contempt. 'The
latter's voice of protest is seen as a threat to their power and
authority.
The cab owners in Waiting employ spies in the labour
union to thwart the cabmen's strike and even employ a gunman to

kill the labour leader, Lefty. It is not only to quell the fermenting
agitation in the taxi cabmen's union but to create a sense of panic
among workers throughout the country. Sam Katz in Paradise blocks
every attempt of the workers to get an increase in wages.
Finally
when Leo Gordon commits himself to the increase, he swindles the
business firm and leaves the Gordon family bankrupt. As a moneymaking
capitalist, Sam is scared to survive without money and the
authority which money bestows.
The employers thus employ even unscrupulous means when
their position is threatened. The fragile nature of the economic
capitalism shows that it could collapse like a pack of cards. Leo
Gordon's business empire cannot take even a slight increase in
wages.
It proves that the rich ones can hold on and increase their
wealth rapidly, only by exploitation and unethical means. There is
no place for slow and steady growth by legitimate means of trade in a
society crazy for quickies.
When the embittered Edna, in Waiting
asks her frustrated husband that, "...the whole world's supposed to
be for all of usn(WL lo), Joe knows that in theory she is right. But
he is very much aware that only two percent of the populat~on control
fifty percent of the wealth, and yet remain indifferent.

Like all other working men, Joe knows that the employer is
always successful in thwarting the design of the labourers because all
powers are at his disposal. The unrestrained capitalism practised in
his society is seen in the unprecedented prosperity of the wealthy to
the detriment of the poor. It is a conflicting condition with "excess
of both wealth and poverty" (Goscoigne 1965, 17). This results in
abuses of all kinds; sickness and malady for the working class and
healthy leisure and affluence for the capitalists. Periodic revolts are
of no avail.
The vanquished labour feels the corrosive effect in
social and family life. None of the working class members in the
three plays are able to maintain normal relationship with the other
members of their family. The ill-fated families could not be rescued
from the piling debts, broken plans and thwarted ambitions.
Everything is warped and perverted.
Equality is a long forgotten dream in such societies and liberty
is a myth. Fraternity is realized in sharing the misery. Neither the
cab owners in Waiting, nor the millionaire Morty in Awake is
inclined towards showing even sympathy with the suffering ones.
Morty considers his father at his declining age as a liability. Hence
it is vain to expect him to share his wealth with the Berger children.
When Jacob painfully points out that none in the house is able to
realize life's potentials because "economics comes down like a ton of

coal on the head" (AS71), Morty taunts him, ridiculing and equating
him with a comedian like Charlie Chaplin. Morty, thus exemplifies
the core of American capitalistic values manifesting himself, "as a
businessman, which means every craft for itself, every man for
himself'(Clurman 1966,163).
The clash between these conflicting forces is so pointed that
even taking a stand in favour of the suffertng working-class itself is
considered out of place and time.
Whether it be the cabmen in
Waiting, Jacob in Awake or Pike and Gus in Parad~se, all are
irrelevant to the class opposing them. Hence the working-class poor
in these plays feel frightened, and shrink to their shell with their
spirits dissipating. It is this denial of a basic human right namely,
equality, that eats into the system. Clurman calls "the idol of success
as the supreme God"(1966, 233), in clash with basic human values.
When success is worshipped. those who fail fall by the wayside
Money is the only reality in the material world.
Odets is
dismayed at the heartless indifference of the bankers, financiers and
American institutions, who cynically exploited those uho are
desperate for work. The ethic of capitalism governing the countr?'~
economic order, in Odets's view, is in conflict with the interest of the
workers. Like him, many writers of the thirties have seen the laissez-

faire philosophy confronting the hapless working man, sucking his
vigour and vitality. John Gossner states that while Waiting is "anti
capitalistic and pro-labourn(1959. 951), the other Depression plays
have the lower-class and the lower middle-class frustrated and ruined
by economic determinism. The scanning of the plays shows that the
running competition turns man against man and brother against
brother.
In the class-conscious bourgeois societies of O'Casey and
Odets, the weaker ones have no control over the environment. In the
encircling gloom of religio-polical chaos and the Depression's
aftermath, the unfortified poor are cast by the wayside. In an earlier
unproduced piece, Odets wrote "There is no God, there's only a
cosmic pimp. Some people call him biology" (qtd. in Miller 1989,
21). In a situation of moral and economic breakdown, such a
sueeping statement is ascribed to the futility of religion that lost its
moral authority to fortify the flocks at their greatest trial.
As the
crisis due to Depression deepened towards the middle of the thirties,
religion was sacrificed at the altar of material success.
A trait widely prevalent in Odets's characters is that they have
less time to indulge in rituals of religion.
It is not religion that
influences their way of life, but materialism.
Materialism means

success n: n;i> ccsi.
I?ilit!:'s c!~i'.ractcrs cau~h? in thii ~~hirlpool
strive !'or money. \,li,!:ry
i;: the only means for their survival. Hence
Odets's characters nre always in search of it.
As they are the
i\,cab:!inps and under-pri\ilcged. 1l:e)- arc blocked nn the way by the
moneqed ones. Tkose who win the race for n.0nt.y. get all the glory
:cm. No\% their so!e concerr. is :o preserve their ?lacs and stay secure
a: the !?elm. The falien aces are fr:istrate? acd forced to flee their
homcs or scc their livcs ar!d hmi!ies shattered. Those iiho reached
the top alread) are unconcernsd about !heir plight. iience conflicts
are inevi:able.
Odets by dramatizing the life of the marginalized and fallen
ones also shows the inevitable conflicts between the two opposing
classes of his society. Confrontation between !abouier and employer
remain central to Odets's Depression plays.
While the conflicts
betxveen these two groups itself is the subject of liJa'nitir?g, these
confrontations and the sense of defeatism felt by the labourers in
their family situation. form the central theme in Awake and Paradise.
Thus. while focusing on the causes and consequences of the social
evils of the time, Odets also portrays the "workers as betrayed". both
by their leaders and protectors and by "the employer" (Horton 1974,
252). Power and capital are always in conflict with the interests of
the lower middle-class characters and the heightened frenzy of the

conflicts reverberate in the clash between the morally
uncompromising poor and those who sold themselves for materialism
and power.
Harold Clurman aptly sums up the real cause of conflicts in
Odets's plays.
According to him the middle class man at the
receiving end is aware of and is hurt by the wrongs, and perceives
"that everything he intimately believes is being denied", by the upper
classes, "who cultivate an elaborate mechanism to perpetuate the
general fraudM(1939, 423).
Though written in the context of
Paradise, the class enemy always is the upper class in the other plays
too. While in Wartrng the class at the receiving end is the lowest and
the lower among the middle-classes, in Awake, it is the lower among
the middle-class that bears the burnt.
In Waiting the suppressed poor are inclined to react, unable to
withstand the humiliating conditions and indulge In action by striking
work.
Yet the impediments that block their aspirations remain
unconquered as the enemies are ruthlessly powerful with enormous
means at their disposal.
Gabriel Miller states that the corrupt
employers' economic opulence "stands sharply in contrast with the
lack of furniture" (1989, 173). in the dwellings of the poor. The
contrasting conditions show up in the perpetual feud between the
employer and employed in every eptsode of the play.

The urge for money making, a co-relative of mindless
capitalism vitiates the moral atmosphere in Awake and Paradise. It
is a cause of concern for the impassioned observers like Jacob and
Ralph in Awake and Leo, Pike and Gus Michales in Paradise. Bessie
with her sole concern for money, shakes and demoralizes the very
family of which she is the sole guardian. Kewpie in Paradise, with
neither a sense of remorse nor ethics is a symbol of the quick money
malaise, perpetuated by materialism. The inevitable victims are love,
family, friendship and values.
The forces of good represented by the poor are always at
loggerheads with the money minded characters.
Ironically, the
opposing forces operate from within the family in these plays and
hence dissension is rife within. Money minded ones in the family
circle are always in conflict with the value conscious fellow
members, who do not sell their soul and body for comforts. Ilence
the crisis due to the conllicting classes affects the family and
personal relations and at times is rulnous to the mind. It is the effect
of the "external economic pressures on family"(Mendelsohn 1969.
XVI), that is reall) tragic to the have-nots.
The examination of the plays under study drives home the view
that the calamity is man made. It is man at the centre of the society.

dri\.en by power and wealth, who is making life impossible for fellow
human beings. Possessed with such primordial urges, he establishes
unethical alliances with other men of similar drive and thus forms
organized power centers with unity of purpose and perpetrates
atrocious actions to hold on to power.
The uneasy coalition and
nexus among the varied organizations prove to be mutually beneficial
and hence thrive on that condition. Established religion, fanatical
nationalist
forces, and the capitalist establishments are widely
perceived to be in an unholy alliance and hence stand impregnable.
At the receiving end is the weaker ones. Weakened hy poverty and
allied miseries, they remain powerless to defy the constraints of
society erected by the ever-reigning trinity.
While continuing the
class struggle they are destined to fall and thus pushed under. And
the conflicts continue. Peacerul resolution of thc conll~cts is the need
ofthe hour. In the next section we see hou a fen characters in the
plays mellow down and realize that pacifism is the only solution
when conflicts of greater magnitude befall the hapless humanity.

PACIFISM: A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS
Being products of social evolution and destined to write during
a disastrous era in world history. O'Casey and Odets have been
convinced that calamities like war and strife are purely man-made
and man has to contend with what he himself helped create. Hence
their writings bear the message that poverty and degradation have to
be eliminated to make the world a better place. In Juno, while
Mary complains about God's insensitivity to human sufrcrings. Juno
Doyle fittingly counters it replying as follows: "...what God can do
agen' the stupidit> o3men"(JP 99). l'hus. shc effectively seals the
Ignorant protestation of her daughter.
Endurance, compasslon and couragc in thc face ol
o\,cr\vhelm~ng odds are considered l~eroic qual~ties b)
O'Casey.
Characters \\ho possess thew traits alone can pas.; on the rtage 3s
O'Casey's heroic drama115 personae. I'aying glowing tr~hute to the
greatest apostle c*l pcace. Mahatma Gandhi, the sage or the twentieth
century. O'Case) hails h~m as "a great man, a saint, a great saint"
(Cowasjee 1974, 100). To him, and to all at this lime, the Mahatma

was a symbol of non-violence who practiced it successfully to
liberate the feuding, ignorant and struggling masses from one of the
mightiest of world powers. Gandhi's message dwelt deep in
~'Casey's mind and he felt it was very relevant to the resolution of
conflicts in the present world.
Valency, drawing on the crux of Plato's observation that the
structured cosmos was relapsing to chaos. opined thus: "the world
has at no time been a convenient habitation" (1980, 419). The
twentieth century theatre aptly depicts the chaotic human
environment and man's struggle to cope with it. The changes
happening in society happen under pressures and competition
hetween man and man only intensifies it. Living through such
pressures and swifi changes, the characters In O'Casey and Odets are
wen falling v~ctims to the fighting, exploratory and expansionist
instincts of fellow men. In these plays strife and wars are promoted
to assert material possession, religious hegemony and to retain
control over nations. Such calamities affect the hapless characters
most adversely. The warring forces by dividing the world into hostile
camps prevent humanity from realizing its full potentials.
It is essential to note that only those people who worship hair-
truths seek to have the heroic life a national ideal, while others

sought to live by compromise. B!
presenting such characters on
stage, O'Casey also depicts a fen saner ones who tend to live h!
compromise and moderation and thus become messengers of peace.
Odets presents conflicts of a different nature perpetuated hy evils of
capitalism and war. He pleads eloquently for sharing the \renlth of
the world by all and for peace.
The characters in the select plays are involved in strife and are
at war with one another. They encounter harriers at every point duc
to such conflicts. In such a contexl life depends on the carefi~l
cultivation of the environment and thc knowledge and understanding
of what is going on. Those who fail to con~prchcnd the \rholu arc
wedded to false heroism and idealism and fall by thc wayside of life.
Moderates like Davoren, Shields, Juno and Nora in O'('asey's work\
and Myron. Kalph. Gus and 1.eo in Odet's play endure ipnoniin!. and
lead a colourless life. By advocating rc1r;iint. modcri~tion ;~nd
understanding, they become the torchhcarcrs of peace and I~arn~c~n!
Their dispatch is loud and clear: to live IS to with\tand and choosiny
the extreme is an end in itself. David Krause is of the view Illat likr
Larry Doyle in Shaw's John Birll'r Other I.slond, the tragic ligurc III
O'Casey "becomes truly tragic whcn he 1s able to \cc hl\ oirn
image .." (1985, 36).

The principal tragic figures in O'Casey realize the folly of
bloodshed and insurrection. O'Casey detested war and denounced it
in strong terms in Inishjallen Fare Thee Well. This autobiographical
volume shows that he was pained by the fanatical fight over a petty
clause in the Treaty (1921). The Treaty had sought to divide Ireland
into "Free State" and "Ulster",
which in turn divided the very
Republican patriots who now fought against each other ruthlessly. It
is the masses caught between the two factions who lost much. l'he
feud in resolving the crisis wreaks havoc with the lives of people like
Mrs.Manning, Mrs.l'ancred and Juno Boyle in Juno. l'he devastating
effect of war and rebellion shatters the lives of these three tenement
niothers.
Right from the opening scene of the play, it is Juno \\rho is
realistic in her approach to the Irish c~vil war. l'hough Mrs. I'ancred
IS cowed down by the death of her son. Juno is nnt blind to the fact
that it was the same Robie Tancred who k~lled in ambush
Mrs.Manning's only son, a 'free stater'. Viewing Mrs.'lancred's
sufferings through the eyes of her irresponsible husband. Juno
declares that "she deserves all she got" (JP 8 1 ).
What Juno has failed to realize was that her own invalid son
was a 'd~e-hard' Republican who betrayed Robert Tancred. When

death visits him through the 'die-hard' mobilisers for letting down
his friend, Juno relates her agony. Her plight is equated to that of the
other mothers who have earlier suffered the same pain. The hapless
mothers are unaware that their sons, once best friends have turned
into bitter foes. O'Casey's contention is that false heroism and
lingoism while destroying man's commitment to his family also takes
away life in the prime of his youth. The pacifist message of his plays
is aptly portrayed by Hayley in these words:
"they must avoid
excesses like false heroics and false jingoistic nationalism and they
must free themselves from the bonds of convention inorder to realise
themselves" (1981, 92). The ignorant tenement dwellers are party to
the hloodshed as they are after glory.
The cold blooded killings in the play Juno remind us that while
the tenement is reeling under poverty, Ignorance and such other evils,
what adds injury to insult is: "the scales of sorrow, balanced by the
bodies of ... dead darling sons" (JP XO)
I he treacherous kill~ngs and
bloodshed IS juxtaposed with the perenn~al evils pervading the
tenements. For the desolate mothers, the anguish is immeasurable as
they are the ones who carry the dead sons to the grave when curfew
is on. Therefore when lack Bokle reacts coldly to the death of
Tancred saying that he has nothing to do with them and these are
only the botheration of the government, Juno rebukes him and

luntly tells him that it is their business and botheration as it affects
only their life.
Working mothers like Juno undergo struggles and hardships
just to keep body and soil together. On the other side, the 'die-hards'
and fanatical nationalists embrace death in search of glory and
honour elsewhere. While Juno thinks that death has to come
unforced, the war-mongers hasten their's and others' death under the
illusion that it leads to eternal glory. To those who love life, death of
their near and dear ones is a terrifying and fearful experience. Hence
the mothers' plea for eternal love in the place of hatred and a feeling
heart in the place of cold indifference, strikes the right chord.
The experience of these mothers though apparently
~ndividualist~c in the context of the play is in fact strikingly
un~versal. It
is the same with mothers all over the world. Brook
Alkinson, the American critic considers the criticism that 0'C:asey
hates people as misplaced. According to him. the plays proclalm
unequivocally that his hatred is "confined to people and institutions
that in his opinion impeded or Impaired the normal joyousness of
human existence" (1981, 9). 'The course of events in the play Jur~o
proves that love for life, family, friends, capacity for cheerfulness
and natural vitality are hampered by the civil war.

Viewing the impact of war on all aspects of life, O'Casey sees
suffering as the common lot of people. While observing the suffering
ones with sympathy and understanding inspite of their vices. he is
convinced that for a working man peace is the prerequisite. The need
of the hour is people who are prepared to pay any price for peace.
Throughout the turbulent lrish wars, O'Casey had acclaimed the
pacifist Francis Sheeny Skeffington while stigmatizing the so-called
martyrs of the wars or self-professed patriotic nationalists. He has
paid glowing tributes to this pacifist even in his first published work.
The Slorv ofrhe lrish Citizen Army (1919). He is hailed as "the living
antithesis of the Easter Insurrection: a spirit of peace enveloped in
the flame and rage and hatred of the contending elements. absolutely
free from all its terrifying madness ....(I919, 54).
In a similar veln O'Cascy has drawn Juno I3oyle as an
enlbodimenr of human suffering who cndures all hatred and
~gnorniny. O'Casey pajs glowing tribute to her commitment and
compassion. Her endurance in the lice of the greatest hard.;hip\
shows her as a universal mother figure. She casts off all sham and
narrowness even when dealing with her family members. In
denouncing Mary's militant trade unionism and Johnn? 's
nationalism, she exposes the hollowness of every idealism. She is the
only character who IS undaunted by the tragic turn of events and

never deviates from the path of peace even during personal
bereavement.
The most outstanding feature in her personality, according to
O'Riordon, is "to be brave even at the eleventh hour" (1984, 40).
The critic also adds that "Juno is a suffering martyr" never involved
in intense action outside the family cause. She is also a "mediatorial
maternal" force uniting her family while its own members are pulling
in opposite directions and thus stands out as a "heroine of unusual
strength" (1984, 48).
Like Juno Boyle, Nora in the Plough also goes the downward
journey for viewing life in all its practicality. Both are convinced
that workers should have nothing to do with politics. Odets too
reinforces this view through the episode of the prosperlly party in
Parad~se. O'Casey's contention is that workers have lo fig111 to
liberate themselves from want and ignorance and if at all they light
for freedom it is 10 be without weapons
Nora understands that the hateful rebellion and armed
struggles of the Easter Rising are not beneficial for the workers.
Hence she passionalely pleads with her husband Jack Clilheore to
shun the violent path. He is captivated by the sight of
Captain
Brennan carrying the flag of the Plough and the Stars at the head of

the marching Citizen Army Volunteers. It is the Covey who promptly
detects this and remarks that only those with the "mind of a mummy"
(118) could be mesmerised by the marching of the ignorant workers,
posing as warriors. Nora longs for atleast an hour of peace with her
husband in her tenement. Unfortunately, her privacy is intruded upon
and happiness spoiled by the fellow hoarders in the absence of her
husband. The war clouds gathering around Dublin hampcr peace and
send distress signal to the family.
Through these events, we can assume that the war that engulfs
the tenement is due to the lust for personal power. 13y posing as
fighters,
captains and lieutenants, the workers thrive on exulted
glory. Nora knous that they are hypocrites and lashes out at the
heroic pretenders. Commenting on this Seamus 1)eane says that
O'Casey strongly condemns "the male illusions which dr~\c
Dubl~ners to go to fight for an ahstril~t~on callcd
Katl~lccn
NiHoulihan. while thcy arc incapablc of lool~ng ;illcr the pcoplc III
their own Pamilies and neighbourhoods" (1986, 163). It is th~s rcal~t!
that prompts O'Casey to warn ot' the dangers of working men taking
ideological and political positions.
The fanatical nationalistic fcrvour of the men and \\omen In
the play reduces the slum to a bedlam during the Rising. Clithcorc I\

killed mid-way and Bessie, another abettor of war and bloodshed dies
at the hands of her admired, loyalist forces. It is she who proudl!
proclaimed that she had sent the only male member in her family to
the Great War to defend democracy in an alien land. She has not
learnt her lesson even aAer being widowed by war. With vengeance.
she proclaims that sending the only son for sacrifice is an act of
patriotism. Thus, through this play O'Casey exposes the excesses of
patriotism and heroism that hamper peace. While denouncing in
unequivocal terms lrish nationalism, O'Casey also castlgatcs Br~t~sli
chauvinism. The fact that he has written The Silver Tussic. h~s nc\t
play on the tragedy of war itself testifies to this. Krause suc5 th~s
play as a "timely reply to those people who sent~mcntal~zcd thc
tragedy of war and took a cavalier attitude toward human suf'kring"
i 1960, 106). It is up to the lrish to learn the lesson througl~ tlic crcnts
In these plays.
The Plough conveys clearly the idea that war 15 plain murder
and not an act to be applauded. The fact that it IS mean~npless loss of
innocent and valuable life has to he learnt through Bessie's agon: at
the moment of death. Viewing the war strictly from the point ol'\ lei\
of the slum dwellers, O'Casey condemns all wars and show the~r
horrible impact on the people who have the least to do w~th figllt~ng.
O'Casey is of the conviction that the idealistic lrish men who take to

violence for freedom should also realize that it is not narrow,
partisan nationalism and distorted sense of freedom and democracy.
but universal brotherhood of man that is the only panacea.
Peaceful and harmonious co-existence of communities only
can build up a nation and in turn the world where everyone can live
in peace as citizens of the world. By flaunting her overbearing.
feuding, fighting and arrogantly partisan political temperament
through out the play, Bessie had no time to show the otherside of her
character. The immense courage and compassion displayed even to
the enemy in the face of sufferings is the most striking feature in
Bessie's glorious personality. However, this aspect is under exposed.
At the end of the play, the Rising itself proves disastrous to the
common masses and workers. What they need is food and raiment.
which they seek desperately under the cover of the Rising. Hut thcir
own men fire at them, treating them as rats of the slums. It amply
illustrates the notion that the "essential nature of the people is
diametrically opposed to the essential nature of the movement"
(Mitchell 1980, 91). Unmindful of the needs and aspirations of' the
masses, the Rising is thrust on them, which in turn destroys them.
O'Casey seems to convey the message that the cry of humanity
for food, shelter and cure from maladies needs an answer. 1he
remedy is not war and rebellion. Wars and strife have shed innocent

lood on the streets, the slums, at Flaunders and the Mesopotamia.
That the world must be a happy place to work, to play and to love in
IS O'Casey's perception. In a latter work. Drums Under the Windows,
he proclaims this in unequivocal terms. O'Riordon gives the extract
of the work in these words: "shutting the gales of vengeance on
mankind", humanity must view, "the causes in a clarity of vision and
wisdom" (1984, 59). The Dublin plays also convey the message that
every conflict need to be resolved peacefully.
Harold Clurman recalls O'Casey denouncing war
unambiguously. After close reading of his autobiography, Clurman
quotes this: "generals love guns as kids love candies. The price we
pay for a heap of Korean dead is a heap of our own dead; put out an
eye, and lose one ourselves; a loss for a loss; I'm dead, yo're dead.
he's dead. we're all dead. The Military Mind is indeed a menace"
(1974a, 172). At the end of every play in the trilogy. a sense of loss
due to death is experienced by all those who happen to l~ve
The fighters and fanatics make l~fe impossible for others in the
Plough. They participate in the annih~lation of one section of societ!
and in that process some of them have lost their own life. A better
understanding of human nature may yet save them from repeating old
mistakes. Ironically none in his fanatic fervour has proper

understanding of human nature and lives life in its real sense. While
Clitheore and Langon are killed in the war, Mollser dies of poverty
and sickness. Bessie is a victim in the crossfire, while Nora goes
insane and her stillborn baby dies prematurely. The remaining men in
the tenement are all taken prisoners, thus leaving the final scene to
Mrs.Gogan, the charwoman. in the company of the dead Bessie and
the half-dead Nora.
The tenements, the streets, thc shops and houses are mostl?
reduced to ashes. For poor Gogan, with nothing to build up on and
live, the days to come guarantee only distress and privation, This is
the legacy she has acquired by the end of Easter Rising: a miscrahle
bequest, common to all the working people in the Dublin tenements.
In every play O'Cascy lets survive. ut leas! one character who is
aware of himself. They have also something to sharc with fellou
human beings about the life they had lived in a socicty governed h!
political, cultural. religious and clvil norms. It is Mrs.(iopan in the
Plough who is destined to live at the end of ttlc play. ller con\'iction
IS that the warmongers are "aflcr murdering th'pour ~nolScn\~\c
women" (PS 174). It is beyond doubt that the poor and ~nofins~\c
ones are victims of strife and war.

While this awareness comes to Mrs.Gogan only at the end of
the play, Nora visualizes such a scenario at the outset. She is fully
aware that the braggarts and dreamers in her tenement follow the
destructive course. She encounters the warmongers and fanatics even
in the battlefield and warns them of the ensuing calamity. There is
nothing heroic about the activities of the insurgents in the play. They
are carried away by rhetorical speech. In exposing their stupidity.
poverty and cowardice, O'Casey shows his love as well as pity for
his countrymen. Atkinson avers that through this play O'Casey
unravels his love for humanity as well as his hatred for "warfare and
bloodshed" (1981. 71). Through the plight of pacifist characters like
Nora, O'Casey wants the fanatics to realix and give a chance for
peace.
Those who glorify war do not feel at home in thcir own homes.
They are strangers to the present as they are unconscious of
rhemselves The~r action has to be seen. "as the outgrowth of' whar
had gone before" (Moore 1936, xv). Nora. by 11ving at home strives
to make life at home and neighbourhood.
a cherishahle and
memorable experience. She understands what hampers such a life and
voices her opinion eloquently, which others cannot, as they ha\e
been carried away by illusions. Defending Nora at the height of the
controversy about the play, O'Casey wrote in The Irish Times thus.

"Nora voices not only the feeling of Ireland's womanhood, but also
the women of human race. The safety of her brood is the true
morality of every woman" (1926b, 6). In O'Casey's view anyone who
is concerned with the safety of his near and dear ones must have this
sense of anguish.
These people in the plays have known nothing but war for over
a century. They have not seen peace in their lifetime. Hence
characters like Nora and Juno are prepared to risk their life for peace.
Mitchell aptly points to what is prerequisite in Ireland and states as
follows: "what they need is the exhilaration of true peace, an end to
senseless war, so that what should be joined together in harmony may
be joined" (1980. 80). Given a chance. their finer potentials may
blossom. Hence in the plays the pacifists like Nora. Juno, Shields and
Davoren passionately plead for peace.
In the Shadow, the plea for peace is mostly confined to the
intimate conversations between Davoren and Shields. 130th are t~mid
and fearful individuals. Hence their ruminallon over the
consequences of war is also a private affair. O'Casey himself has
lived through such violence in Parnell Square where he stayed u ~th a
friend called Michael O'Maolain. Together they have undergone the
terror of the raid by the fearsome Black and Tans and Auxiliar?

forces. Those have been terrible nights, with crowbars breaking the
doors and windows, loud roar of gunfire, lorries and tanks on the
streets and ruthless cops and soldiers searching the beds, dragging
and beating people with rifle butts and shooting off men and women
like mad dogs.
This personal experience had instilled a sense of panic and
endless spasms of fear in O'Casey during those days. Such gruesome
experiences in their daily life put the ordinary Irish in a fix.
O'Maolain also justifies O'Casey's outrage at the violence. Both are
equally concerned ahout the danger to the innocent ones when ail
"explosion ... (goes) off without warning in the centre of a big town
like Dublin with hundreds going about here and there" (1981. 108).
As depicted In Shadow, O'Casey too has been wltness to men flee~ng
the scene, deserting the wives and children and aillng parents in the
thick ol'night tu escape the torture of the raiding forces. I he gunnlen
have ai\rn)s fled the scene much earlrcr. scnsrng danger. Irt~n~call>
~t IS the gunmen who are sheltered In thc ru~ned wrecks ol the
tenements that invite the raids. Yet, unmindful of the consequence to
the tenement population they take to their heels for making ambush
elsewhere.

It is the very ignorant tenement mass who vie with one another
to run any errand to please the gunmen on the run, either out of
respect or fear and thus unwittingly become party to the mayhem at
nights. O'Maolain adds that O'Casey too had been idolized in those
days at Parnel Square, mistaken as a gunman. Ultimately, it is the
hapless slum dwellers who are prone to bear the bombs and bullets
and lose their lives. The receptive and enthusiastic audiences to the
dramas of O'Casey have been those, "war - weary from the years of
insurrection". They are now "perhaps, psychologically ready to
review themselves on the stage" (Lawry 1981. xii). Though there is
the longing for peace, the circumstances force them towards such
destructive movements.
Shields bewails the loss of reason and propriety on the part of
the Irish They remain indifferent to the plight of others and also
insensitive to their own sufferings. Hence he aptly equates them with
animals and the pr~mitive cave dwellers. Kate Sopcr's view that "it
\\.auld be more natural to say that there is the beast in us which
prompts man to fix it on something evidently alien and external"
(1995. 83) to escape the reality, holds good in this context. 'l'he
ignorant characters in the Shadow find it convenient to pass the
blame on to others and seek rescue through outside agencies. While
the institutions erect barriers between individuals, these peoplc too

contribute in all their ignorance to the break down of peace and
happiness.
The tenement characters live on equal footing with animals
with their "battalion of ignorance. t!ranny
and supcrstition"(Davics
1997, 5). While the men are dreamers and braggarts who swear.
gamble, drink and fight, the women applaud them. Only by releasing
themselves from the bondage of these evils could they dream of
realizing the other goals. Only retrospection could givc them an
awareness of what they need.
O'Casey and Odets. while calling for
greater awareness urges Man to fight against the self-generated evils.
Ry recollecting in tranquility.
Man can comprehend and adjust
himself to the environment. Wherever peace IS hampered.
pandemonium rules the roost. In the contexl of a raid O'Casey states
thus: "I think they're making life dangerous instead ol maklng lile
safe" (qtd. in Ross 1958, 1). In O'Casey's

hampering peace and harmony.
Through these plays O'Casey
impresses upon us the fact that their "heroic sacrifice"
and
"patriotism seem hollow" (Styan 1981, 105). By resigning
themselves to a colourless life of compromise. Shields and Davoren
also long for peace. Davoren is outraged whenever his creative flow
is interrupted. Though destined to live in poverty and deprivation, it
is heartening to see that both acknowledge the value and importance
of a peaceful environment. Till the end they resist violence of all
kinds and focus on the need for peace.
The other characters give vocal expression to the primitive
instincts - to tight and expand their territory. Davoren deplores their
inadequate understanding of the real needs. According to hinl the
situation is so hopeless as "education itself was wasted on most
people". It teaches them to "talk only, but leaving them with all the
primitive instincts" (S.G.27). O'Casey, even at the early days of his
career stressed the fact that eradication of ignorance and acquirement
of culture were the primary needs of working men like h~m. tluman
follies could only be realized in a tranquil mood. Hut his characters
in the Shadow, most of them armed with only Ignorance, hampcr
peace and tranquillity and abet violence. The core of such people's
life is unguided by thoughts and feeling. Hence they help in the

perpetration of violence, disturb peace and stand out as illusionary
tragic figures.
Though homeless, Davoren preferred to live with Shields
thinking that his present abode is more peaceful than his previous
hahitations. But it is hope misplaced. The innate desire for rest and
peaceful meditation for creative expression is hampered and this
heightens his agony. It is the desire lo engage his spirit in action and
give went to the natural instinct for poetry and heauty that is at stake.
Dejection and frustration over lack of peace and privacy mark his
pathetic query: "Are we ever going to know what peace and security
are?" (SG 29). This unanswered query stands central lo the theme of
the play.
James Simmons ia 01' the oplnlon thilt "I);lvr~rcn. ;I \ensiti\,c
peel I$ It\ing in a nois) world: the kni~ck~np at the (lo~rr dl\turhs Iiim.
the voicc shoutlng l'rom the landing IS properly raucous and 1)onal's
rcsponsc is nppropr~ately t~red and irrltatcd N'c ic!i\e at once that 11
1s n plo! about intcrruptions"(lYX3. 35). Il~c fitrcihlc intriis~ons c\cn
without knocking. by the Landlord, lommy Owens. Mrs.llcnderson
and Mr.Gallogher and finally hy the raiding Auxiliaries and the
Black and Tans, perpetuate chaos in Davoren's life
It is further
confounded by the internal din late at night caused by the f'cuding

Grigson and his endlessly complaining wife. It seems that all hell is
let loose in the tenement room.
David Krause in Sean O'Casey: The Man and His Work aptly
calls the first three plays as "all pacifist plays".
His averment is
based on the fact that O'Casey delineates the tragic experience on
"the non-combatants in a city under military siege" (1960, 66). By
relegating to the background the heroes engaged in the terrifying
conflicts. O'Casey proclaims loudly that the pacifists are the truly
heroic figures.
It is they who bear the brunt of the strife and the
resultant calamity. Their perseverance is born out of inner strength,
which the fighting heroes could never display.
O'Casey's earnest call to the moulders of public op~nion in the
mired country to save the people by ushering in peace and real
security, has vastly been ignored. 'The calculated repudiat~on of' such
pacifist messages through out the turbulent century ol Ireland's
chaotic history only helped perpetuate misery and discard among the
poor. The sense of anguish and dismay that pac~fists like Uavoren
felt and expressed continues to be the theme of eloquent patriotic
expressions. The well-wishers of lreland and promoters of peace and
universal harmony continue to harp on it. To John O'Kiordon, the
burden of the truth as realized through the interviews and

ecollections about O'Casey is as stated below: "he wanted to create
JOY and be surrounded by joy. He uscd his plays as a platform for his
belief and never gave up until the end of his days" (1974. 4). To
create an environn~ent of happiness and harmonious co-existence. he
pleads for peace through the Dublin plays also
While the moulders of public opinion dupe the masses with
illusions of glory, O'Casey makes the audience ponder over the
events of immediate concern by putting the very illusionists and
exceedingly boastful on stage. He achieved the desired effect by a
"mix of contrasting moods within a scene" and could "shock the
audience into an actual perception" (Styan 1960. 189). By
deliberately connecting apparently unlike hut mutuall!
complimentary ideas, he purposively goads thcrii to hcarcl~ :~lrcr thc
truth. As conventional techniques were felt inddcqualc 111 strihc 111c
r~ght chord. O'Casey used the novelty of juxtapo\it~ol~. ;III~ IIIII\
broke from conbcntional continuit). In thc thrcc [)uhlii~ pl;~\h. I,!
ingenious juxtapi,sition, he interrupts the ;~udiencc In the cc~u~

evil parading as good and never cease to ponder over it. This proves
that he is committed to the cause of peaceful realization of their
potentials.
Peace and violence are irreconcilable feelings. By contrasting
characters prone to illusion and violence. with those resigned to
peaceful execution of tasks, O'Casey urges for internal change in the
violence-prone illusionists.
O'Casey's message is simple. The
substance has been derived from Maxim Gorky. He admired the
writer and communicates the following message of Gorky to his own
embittered audience. It reads as follows: "Let us face life as it is. All
that is good and human in our hearts needs renewing" (qtd. in Fox
1926, 805-6). The trouble-torn Ireland needs just this.
O'Casey alternates a tragic mood with a comic one within the
limited canvas of a scene. By doing so, he reinforces the idea that
tragedy and comedy are part of life and terrifying conflicts and
violence are not the answers to the perceived sense of ~njury and
deprivation. It is to drive home this point on the comic boasters and
romantic illusionists that O'Cascy uscs the technique of contrast. IIe
is convinced that as long as the va~nglorious parasites indulge In
luxurious indifference and remain unfeelingly inhuman, nurturing

omantic illusions. they cannot provide relief to Juno or restore the
mental balance of Nora or provide peace and security to their world.
Ideological nationalism heard through the voice of the Speaker
In the Plough is as abstract as the import of the message. By
proposing salvation in bloodshed and sacrifice against the backdrop
of the poverty and deprivation of the listeners, the Speaker only
deceives the ignorant public, Thus by juxtaposing these extremisms.
O'Casey goads the audience into thoughtful retrospection.
An! "order in society has to flow from tllc rational nature 01'
man and from Iht. rational ch~lractcr of soc~ety"(Moorc 1936. xlv).
I he society dcpictcd in the Iluhl~n dramas derive insplratlon from thc
feudinp rcl~gionis~s and nationallst opinion makers.
Ily deriv~nf
postulates Itom these ~nst~tut~ons, the characters i~~adcquatcly
respond to the chaos around them and seek sr)lut~ons Iron1 thc
~mpossrble. In Shoduw, Shields says aptly thus: I
look at 1111s way:
You're not going.. to beat thc Iiritish 1:mplre. h! shool~ng an
occa\~onal 'lommq ill the corner ol an occa~~onal street" (2X). Ile 15
equally indignant of England. It has no r~ght to be in Ireland Ycl.
what he calls for IS real~zation to da\rn on holh the sldcs.
Hebbel in his preface to .hturr. h.logdulene, statcs thus "I)ram;~
IS \\holly a product of its age, hut to bc sure only in the scnic that

such an age is itself the product of all proceeding ages"(1998, 72).
The succession of upheavals that confronted the Irish had helped
create the peculiar ethos of the age of O'Casey. Ignorance breeding
violence has to be seen as an inheritance from the past. It is
interesting to observe that the ignorant ones are prone to violence
and are goaded to bloodshed and destruction. A large army of these
ignorant characters like Maugeire the pedlar, Johnny the crippled.
unemployable youth, Clitheore the bricklayer and Brennan the
chicken butcher are directly involved in violent killings.
The misconstrued notion that O'Casey urges the warring
factions to close ranks to wage a unified onslaught on their common
aggressor is belied by textual evidence, right from the Shadow to the
Plorrgh. In the Dublin plays he exhorts his audience to "do justice to
l~fe itself in all its fullness, colour and value" (Murray 1988, x~ii).
Internal strife, war and rebellion are bound to hamper lilc. Hence
O'Casey's ire is turned against warmongers in lhesc plays. It is
worthy to note that O'Casey's next play, The Sllver Tassre voices his
hatred of warfare. Through the agony of 11s crippled hero he shows
the colossal nightmare of war. In the words of John Gassner the play
1s "one of the most trenchant pacifist protests of the generation" (qtd.
in Cowasjee 1963, 207).

Davoren's conviction that "no man ... willingly dies for
anythingm(SG 13). is emphasized by Nora when she declares that no
woman willingly gives up her man to death. While fear for death is
visible on the ones who are wedded to the ideals, it is disgusting to
see that these very cowards are doped to embrace death by rnobilisers
and opinion makers. O'Casey has always held that life is important
for realizing one's potentials. When death comes it should be
insusceptible. No one should give himself up willingly with pomp
and paraphernalia, armed with shields, bombs and guns. O'Casey has
expressed his desire as follows: "... the worker may shout for an
increase in his wage, or protest against a reduction, be he at work, or
waiting wearily in the unemployment exchange, his greatest need and
most urgent claim is a share in the culture of the society of men"
(1923. 9) This creed he has cherished at heart even after fnrty years
in England, lindouhtedly it is a call for realizing the workcr's sharc
in life by peaceful means and not hy violent measures. 'I he Dubl~n
plays hear tezliniony to this pacifist persuasion.
Rigsby comments that in American dramatists like Saroyan.
Barry. Rice. Anderson, Green and Odcts there is a "\oft
metaphysics", and adds further that "all presumed that ever) man In
the \r,orld is a guilty man, though as writers they presumed to thc
contrary"(1982, 20). This view IS based on the life of the characters

in their plays who loudly protest and want to change the condition of
life but fail to practice. Odets's characters while confronting critical
situations in life call for protest and action on the spur of the moment
but do not act. Facing the brunt of injustice in an unequal society.
they urge the perpetrators of unequal economic laws to uphold the
reign of reason and understanding. Dismay and frustration over the
inhuman conditions that prevailed during the Depression hound them
but they are dead set against violence of all kinds.
It is worth noting that all the aggrieved people in Odets's
Depression plays even while voicing forth grievances do not fail to
see the fascist war as the greatest enemy of the 'have nots'.
'['heir
peaceful protest against unequal wages or unemployment is a clarion
call against violence, strife and war in any form. This makes them
strikingly different from O'Casey's characters. ?'hey partake in the
culture and at the same time protest against ~njustice, thus profess~ng
a better understanding of the situation.
Their sense of anger often
finds expression as complaints. These suffering tndtviduals are not
duped into violent actions and neither oi them join such movements
or organize forces outside the family
Fascism, material aggrendizemcnt and war are perceived by
Odets's men as the greatest tyrannies against the working men

Mrs.Gibson sees in Odets's plays an explicit call for the universal
brotherhood of man or a "brotherhood against tyranny"(1982, 332).
Odets's men are pacifists by nature, endowed with power to perceive
the problems confronting their society. The cabmen representing the
underside of New York city - its slums, are dismayed at poverty and
reduced wages. Yet their united call for agitation is confined to the
issue of wage increase and better working conditions.
They as well as the audience are very much awarc that a call
for strike by the taxicab men's union for better wages is in no way to
guarantee an egalitarian society. Yet their immediate concern is to
get more wages at least lo maintain themselves. 'They arc all "storm-
birds of the working - class" (WL 31). Lower wages and reduced
employment opportun~ties lead them to a slow death. tiahriel Miller
sees them as "l'uller, more indiv~dualized and recogn~zably human",
u~th "their distinctive personal~ties" (1989. 161).
'lh~s matured
outlook they show to the problems afflicting their life.
Unl~he O'C;i\e!'\
honsting. Ignoranl, ~llu\lonar! and ~nhumun
characters, the Odet's characters hate genuine ccmcern and tllc~r
corilm~tment is to non-violence Ihe sense clf injur) Ihc) percelvc I\
shared by every genuine worker In the union as well as the members
of their family and society and hence their mode of agitallon is

morally justified. When all other means of getting their exploiters to
see reason and understanding fail, they call for a strike.
Once the
goal of attaining wages proportionate to the work is realized and the
cause for agitation no longer exists, they could concentrate on
building up life and family. To work is their motto and denial of the
opportunity to work causes concern to all. It is a healthy concern
aimed at realization of a robust living culture. It is a notion equally
shared and voiced forth by O'Casey and Odets too.
Worklessness
breeds corruption and laziness and finally tempts people to stray into
idealistic, illusionary causes that might lead to violence.
David Baguley argues that "invasive materialism", the cause
for worklessness, is potent enough to promote "scenes of mania,
excesses" and "destruction" (1990, 222). Ihis malady is seen
afflicting characters to some exten1 in Wairrng and to a great extent
in the other two plays. Depression ofspir~ts exper~enced by Sld. Joe.
Miller and Dr.Benjamin could be seen in the light of the frustration
due to worklessness.
Feud within families and endless bickering
among the members are seen as consequences of lower wages. f'ven
the swift change of environment due to Depression does not blur
their vision so as to take recourse to violence to set right the wrong.
It is a great relief to see that the Great War in which their society

partakes is perceived as a silent but potential danger by almost all
characters.
The rapid extinction of millions in the first World War upset
[he demographer's statistics of birth and death. The rapid
downsizing of human population was the only reality for the poor
working men in the play Waiting. Sid, faced with the perplexing
dilemma, sees the terror of war blocking every avenue for normal life
in his family. Though an underpaid cabman, he invested every penny
he could spare to educate the family's promising young brother Sam,
a jack of many trades. His fond hope was that he would contribute to
the fortunes of his family. Belying the hope, this talented haskcthall
player foes to war, carried away by the glory and war hysteria. Sid's
awareness of the sufferings due to war as related in the play strikc5
the rieht chord
It is apt to relate here the experiences of the foot ~oldiers in the
American Civil War as narrated hy Watkins in hi\ mcmoirs.
1:accd
with thc prospect of even lesser wege\ than the cabmen, thew
footmen have done the shooting, killing, fortifying, ditching. drill~np
and s\reeping the strects and yet could draw only "eleven dollar5 per
month and ration". These hapless ones were also forced to "dran Ihc
ram-road and tore the cartrldge"(l989, 364)
The lesson to he drann

y workers is that they are under-waged slaves even when working to
kill faceless brethren whom they had never seen and nursed no
enmity against.
The reality of war is only bloodshed and cold-blooded murder
of an unknown but potential friend, who is waging a similar struggle
for life from his'own home front. The cold and sober truth is that the
"world is an armed camp todayw(WL 15). Fayette the manufacturer
of poison gas for mass extinction, credited with the above view, sees
~t as the most opportune time to mint money. Sid is convinced that
for the workers, whether in the poison gas firm or on the alien lands
fighting as soldiers, war will never be beneficial.
Seeking a comparison of O'Casey with Odets. Morris
Freedman concludes, thus: "it is not the revolul~on which engages
our attention ultimately in O'Casey or Odets, it is thc nature of
family llfe itself' (1969, xvi). But the nature ol lhmily life is
determined by the revolution and the wars of their tunes. It IS only lo
uphold the sanctity of family life that both the playwrights fervently
call for peace. As the world at large is predominantly populated with
workers and peasants, the revolutionary yearnings and convictions
have lo be seen in the context of life. Joe in Warrtng, strains ever)
nerve to impress upon his demanding wife that conditions are not

conducive for militant action and result of such actions have always
ended against the interest of workers.
Here Joe pleads for
understanding on the part of the cab-owners.
Talking about the labour movements in general, it is worth
noting that violent movements have always ended against the
workers and created widespread antagonism to the working man's
cause. Significant leaders of American labour. like Samuel (;ompers
were convinced that the "best means to a recognition of the rights of
labour, and that far more lasting benefits could be secured (is) from
collective bargaining than from syndicalist violence"(qtd. in Horton
1974. 197). The moderate workmcn like Joe. Sid. Miller. and
Dr.Benjamin advocating rcstratnt and call~ng for collective bargain.
have to hc \ic\ved in this context. U'hilc Odets gives the platform
for workers to voice their grievances. he also reinforces the pacifist
mchsagc thri~uph them Sid and M1IIcr ;!re dccpl!
worr~cd over thc
\rar and equate "the hr~sse's e~pli~ttat~i~~l
(11' thc workers with thc
governmcnt's manipulation of the war SIIU;III~I~" (Miller 1989. 172)
It is up to the \rorhcrs to rcalipc th15
These men by keeping themselves aloof from lsnat~cal
nationalism have a uniquely negative view on war and violence.
inspire of personal hardships. Ihey lament that the youth have been

forced and trained to aim the gun in the wrong direction.
Sid
dispassionately states that by making the youth fight the Japanese.
Turks and Germans, the warmongers are, "bastards --- making the
world a lousy place to liveW(WL 21). He adds further that there is a
desire for life, love, children and the hot sun on the face of every
youth and killers have to realize that it is the same longing for life.
which their poor victims too share. This realization makes Odets
speak his mind out through Waiting.
By focussing on the problem of the workers. Odets was using
the technique of illusion effectively to perplex the audience. It is
also to create the impact that for the workers, unity and realization
are important. While maki~~g them and the audience realm these.
Odets never lets them stray far lest they fell victims to any other
propaganda
Joseph Wood Krutch aptly sums up Odets's concern.
lie states that Odets makes the effect of illusion that "the meetlng is
actually taking place at the very moment of reprcsentation". w~th
flashback scenes from the family l~le of the drivers. At the same
time, he sees to it that, "the scene really remains in the hall itself;
and the piece ends when the strike is voted" (19356, 752).
The
workers are given a platform to present their grievances and not for
disturbing the peace and tranquility of society at large.

202
By presenting this piece along with Till the Day I die, a play
dealing with the impact of fascism, Odets makes an impassioned plea
for workers of the world to unite and light by peaceful means to
improve their conditions and negate the tyranny of fascism and
money-minded materialism. Unlike the other propaganda plays of the
period, Odets does not call for the overthrow of Governments or
Empires. I-lis is a clarion call for greater unity for realizing the
brotherhood of man. Writing a review on the hroad-way production
of the play in Theafre Arrs (1935). Iidith J.ll.lsaaca shares a similar
\ic\\ and states thus: "the play has no clear outl~nc or point of vie\\
except a general one of sympathy with thc po(rr and thc oppressed
lid of're11t.f hy action" (1935, 327) 'I.hir g

efuses to work with the chief chemist day and night for the large-
scale manufacture of poison gas for the specific purpose of using in
the Second World War.
Miller is not tempted by the slogan that Uncle Sam could not
be caught napping while its enemies are making elaborate
preparations for the Great War. Such exhortations do not blind them
to the plain truth that war is mass murder and destruction. For the
policy makers, merchants and manufacturers, it is the only
opportunity to "make big business of any sort" (WL 15).
Mtller
going sentimental ovcr the loss of his own brother and cousln in the
last war and seething with wrath and indignation says as follows:
"they say 12 million men were killed in that last one and 20 nliliton
more wounded or missingW(WL 15). 11 shows that lie too i\
conlmitted to the cause of peace
'I'he pathetic plight of his nging mother once vis~t~ng tllc so
called cemctery of' his brother a dccadc agr~ in a loretgn land as
related by Miller could move even stony hearts. Ijy pil~ng tnstanccs
of the agonizing horrors of war. M~llcr turns the scene into an ant!-
war narration rather than a mundane lorum for debaltng ovcr a strike
for more wages. This episode amply dcmonstrates that "Miller ... is a
pacifist" (Miller 1989. 173). By sounding the uar theme apaln and

again in the play Odets encourages the audience to work for a true
paradise on earth.
With great courage of conviction that the genuine needs and
aspirations of man should be realized. Odets warns humanity that
dangerous war mongers must be prevented from turning the world
into a waste land, hy human will. In commenting on the political
vision in the play Miller states as follows: "the fervently pacifist
theme of this story prefigures Sid's anti-wnr spcech in episock 3.
placing the local issues of the play in a wider contest" (1989, 172). It
is this quality that lifts the play's theme rrom the cabmen's strike
issue to the universal problem of war
There is protest against man's inhurnitnity to mun in Ihc plit)
I he irorkers' anger is vented against the pc~litic~an\ and the use (11.
technological progrcss to pcrpetuaic crtlnc itnd III/U\~ICC dpitin\l
fellow human beings. They see the nightnlarc
modern wilrs ;IS an
after math of technological progress. 1 he money minded matcriilltrt\
are also castigated in the play. In dcnytng baluc\ that are cssenlial f'nr
survival, the materialists subst~tute \rar for social and moral reform\
Odets's conviction seems to he that anyonc concerned with the
welfare of humanity shall denounce war and moral dcgradatinn (11'
society.

205
In Awake it is Jacob who is portrayed as a pacifist. At the
outset itself he is worried over corruption, futility, and perversities
that are pervading the society. It is owing to the economic collapse.
In such a context wars and rumours of wars pain him. Through Jacob,
Odets sends alarm signals about expanding violence throughout the
world. Jacob laments the lack of dignity in human life. He rests the
hlame on society's evils and in turn on the governments. He
perceives that the state instead of concentrating on the ills afflicting
the society, gears up for the Great War. inadvertently paving the way
Ibr the annihilation of the same society. Jacob's fear over war is not
equally shared by the rullng estahllshment hecnuse
war is the hig
hus~ness to make quick money.
When the question of the great war is discussed between Jacob
and Morty, Jacob views it purely as a world slaughter that may usher
In "prosperity to the pocket of the capitalists", and "bring onl)
greater hunger and misery to the maarcs of workers and farmers3'(AS
76) For these cruel facts of war. Morty has no answer. and Odets
turns these crucial issues to the aud~cnce hy stage directions, so as to
mahe them think and react suitably. Jacoh sees in the suffcrings CIS
war in h ~s country, those of the world at large. Similar 8s the concern
of Odets. Out of his compassion for humanity he calls for the
restoration of universal peace and harmony. Odets poses the problem

to the audience like Ibsen who asked. "you in the audience think
about it, may be you have the answcr"(qtd. in Miller 1989. 686).
Odets views this as the most vital issue that needs solution for the
good of humanity. By dramatizing the Berger family of Bronx. and
posing through them the most challenging issues to the world
audiences, Odets strives to change the society's thinking.
Moe, the first World War veteran, is now an embittered
individual as his legs had been blown off in a bomb explosion.
While hunting in the war front for heroism, he has learnt the bitter
lesson that war amputates and exterminates the hapless people. His
bitterness and frustration is more pronounced in his relationship with
other characters. Relating now in sanguine nlood hc admits that the
hollow claim of' half a dozen generals stretching comfortably at posh
Paris hotels and direct~ng the soldiers, looks all sham.
1:qually
hollow is the~r tall claim that the big wars are wagcd to bareguard
world democracy. Odets held that it IS mandatory that one must have
the "Ernersonian uncorrupted hehaviour ... without d~shonesty", and
"lie" that could enable one to "grasp and deal w~th exactly what (is)
in front ... in terms of ... best human instincts"(qtd. in Cantor 1978.
207). These are compelling needs in his society where lies, shams,
false claims and illusions bewilder humanity.

Power is the most corruptive force working on man. Politics is
seen both by O'Casey and Odets as evil to be shunned by workers.
While speaking about Odets's plays in the context of the American
Depression, Bigsby in an article entitled "Awake ... Paradise" says
that in the face of "Sixteen million unemployed, the politicians are
presented as powerless and self-contained"(l99 1, 161 ).
Pike in
Paradise declares that nations are playing politics over dead bodies.
The piling dead bodies in the underground drainage and furnaces are
bare facts of starvation.
Pike is saddened by the daily sight of
decomposed bodies and at the same time does not fail to relate it to
the heap of bodies strewn on the Mcditcrranean in the Great War.
War is forced on the unwilling people. Ilencc there is an impassioned
plea in the Depression plays to shun the politics of violence.
Leo Gordon. and (;us and I'lke, the hoarders in the (iordon
household, know that the war cloud\ gathering ovcr Iluropc had hecn
engineered by political differences
'lragedy strikes I'lke'a fam~ly
and continues to hound h~m While the economlc collapse reduces
him to penury, the World War took his only son
Ilaving heen left
with nothing to cling onto or to der~\'e comfon from, he vehcmentl)
denounces the system that perpetrates poverty and death. lie hates
the system and states thus. "those blue-quitted Yonkee Iloodle
bastards. making other wars while we sleep". He urges people 111

wake up: "And if we remain silent while they make this war, we are
the guilty ones.
For we are the people and the people is the
Government and tear them down from high places if they dast do
what they did in 1914 to 18" (PL 191).
Still staggering under the burden, he calls for a courageous and
saner outlook. Though personal loss continues to sicken him, his cry
for passive resistance strikes the right chord. He sees politics of war
as violence and violence could not be answered by violence. In a
critical appraisal of Odets's plays Mandelsohn concludes that the
"dominant attitude to be found in all of Odets's works is" the attitude
enshrined in the works of Victor Hugo. It reads thus: "Love people.
do good, help the lost and fallen, make the word happy. if you can"
(1969. 130). One could realize this ideal only in peace and harmony.
Mendelsohn also pays glowing trihutcs to Odets's humanism.
He sees his art impress upon the Individual the Sact that individual
achievement depends on "people liberating Srom the bonds of a
repressive social orderW(l9hV. 115) Odets also strc,ngly condemns
personal corruption. O'Casey's art shows that pol~tlcal l~hcrati~rn
cannot free the poor from material deprivat~on, poverty and all allied
evils. Liberation from such bondage only can help people practice
the rule of living In a deteriorating world that advocater an

.'exhilarating epiphany of the ritual of blood shed" (Krause 1960,
74).
The bitter outcome of the endless suffering in these tragicomic
plays is that the sufferers become truly heroic by displaying an
undaunted will. Their suffering and endurance is to teach others to
live life fully. Any politicking that endangers peace and human lives
has to be resisted by human will and the courage of conviction. No
force on earth could destroy the human will that is displayed in
passive resistance. The indomitable force of passive resistance born
out of truth and courage of conviction earlier displayed by Ciandhi
had made him the true Mahatma. O'Casey and Odets professed to
have derived inspiration from Emerson, l'horeau and Whitman, the
moulders of Gandhi's mind. Hence they upheld the view that
peaceful resistance by itself is a (brcc which even bombs and poison
cannot withstand.
As committed writers. O'Casey and Odcts hope for a
conducive climate for real~zat~on ol human potentials and fullillment
of individual human des~res, lfuman h~story has shomn us that
dangerous turns of events have been prccipitatcd by ~nllated human
egos. Feuding, bickering and fighting are imposed upon unw~ll~ng
population for selfish motives of a few, The conflicts betuccn Inan

and man, nations and nations create bitterness and alienation. In most
parts of the world force is used for suppression. Yet, only some
people submit while determined ones rebel at heart. The suppressed
will is harmful to society at large. A society that offers equal
opportunity for realization of potentials and freedom only can
prosper.
As playwrights with enormous compassion for the suffering
humanity. O'Casey and Odets remind us through these plays that this
world is not a parade ground but a battlefield. 1.0 encounter such a
world one must endure hardship. The true test of an individual lies in
his \\illingness to bear burdens, lo do the work that needs to be done
and also enable others to work and deal with problems. Live and let
live is the crux of the philosophy In these plays. 'There are forces and
pressures certainly, in all situations. Hut one must overcome
pressures and temptations so that the collective good of humanity
could be realized. When Davoren, Shiclds, June and Nora in
O'Casey's plays or Sid. M~ller, Jacob. Moe and Pike in Odets's plays
earnestly plead for peace it 1s not for themselves but for the entire
suffering, anguished humanity. It would be fitting to relate through
the subsequent pages how far some of the characters accept their
situation in a fallen world. Such an analysis would enhance the
understanding of the pacifist credo

NON-TELEOLOGICAL ACCEPTANCE
The pacifists recognize that the problems they confront in life
are due to several conflicting and contradictory conditions whose
perversity cannot be remedicd by force. These are to remain as such,
as their age is characterised by physical degeneracy, mental stupor,
spiritual death, relentless greed and boundless ambition. 'The very
(oundation of their societ? is undermined by false and artificiiil lifc.
.]ruth, honour, dignity. confidcncc and compassion are absent and
common people are regarded as beasts of burden and the tools or
stepping stones to the adrancement of others. Ifcnce the only way to
salration as they undcritiind it IS to accept lilc
Acceptance is lcarning to l'unction within thc limitations of
human conditions and submiss~on to social conventions. It is to
acknowledge that society IS tainted and all relations arc ~mpaircd. 11
means also a knowledge of I~fc and acceptance of all sorts of men
and conditions and all aspects of human experience. It 8s also to
admit the fact that the "World also has this atmosphere ol dot~m.
forcing tragic choices upon men and drivtng them to di$aster, when

they have made some error or some gesture of
rebellion ..."(Margeson 1967, ix). Endurance and not rebellion is the
choice of the characters who accept life in the select plays of
O'Casey and Odets. The best option for those who wish to live life
iully is to accept the reality of their soc~al environment. This
tendency had been widely prevalent in the early decades of the
twentieth century. In Brrtrsh Dromo Allardyce Nicoll asserts that
during these decades it was not human will but circumstances that
determined and d~ctated the course of society and hence dramatists
realised the futility of denouncing the individual for his Ibllies.
It was this reality that prompted dramatists of' the age likc
Galsworthy to maintaln a humanitar~an outlook. Hence they reallzed
that it was futile to blamr individuals but "strove to the best 01' ...
ability to adopt an objective att~tude" (N~coll 1973, 256). '1 hc
dramatists of the age like (jalaworthy. (iranrille-Barker, Shaw.
Synye and Barrie chose commonplace men and women with dil'kring
attitudes and outlook of lilt as dramalrs pcrsonue and locussed on
their problems with understandlnp and sympathy. 1)iscusslnp
O'Casey's plays in Br~rlsh and lrnh Palrr~cai L)romu. Kabey arers
that the playwright while "tracing the effects of and responses lo
larger political events in naturalist~c domestic microcosm ... 15 not . .
attempting to examine the rights and wrongs of baslc pol~llcal

disputes or injustices but is concerned to present an intensified image
of the anomalies of attempted political resistance that sacrifices
human values which it ostensihly tvishes to preserve ..." (1986. 30).
While lauding O'Casey's dispassionate view of life, the critic also
feels that O'Casey is against resistance and rebellion that curtail life.
According to Wilson Knight. O'Casey's humanity "touches the
unseen" (1969, 178). Rohert G. Lawry states that O'Casey's Dublin
plays communicate the following message: "man ... must read and
learn and understand the beauties ofthe past and the potenfialities of
future'' (1981, xvii-xviii). John (iassner wh~le rev~ewing Odcts's last
play The Flon~er!ng Pench, comments that from his second play.
Awake and Slng!, "it was Odctr'r method. . not to move towards
strong conclusions that rcqu~red tah~ng a stand for or npainst
something, while Odets was apparently In no I'rnmc of mind to take a
stand on anything except the adv~sah~l~ty of not taking one" (1960.
154). It is beyond doubt that O'Casey and Odcts havc understood thc
value of non-teleological th~nhinp \rh~ch rocommends acceptance 01'
life as it is, though the term h!
11\clf way a laler co~nage by Ldward
FRicketts and John Stccnheck
T(I throw more light on the
h!pothesis under study. the discuss~on on 'is' thinking att~tudc 15
undenaken with spec~al and specific reference to characters in the
select plays.

As explained in The Log From the Sea of Cortex, 'is' thinking
or "Non-Teleological
thinking concerns itself primarily not with
what should be, or could be, or might be, but rather with what
actually 'is' (1995. 112). In stretching the term further. the view one
gets is that the Non-teleological thinker does not bother about asking
questions on conditions of life. He knows that there are no definite
answers since events are outgrowths of the past. Therefore, he strives
to get pictures of life and examples that can clartl'y issues and widen
the horizon of understanding.
Having reallzed the truth, the non-teleolopical thinker goes on
to accept human beings and situalions as they are. This enables Ihe
non-casual thinker to ma~ntain ohjectivity rn a chaotic world. I-le also
accepts sadness and happiness a\ part of life. This acceptance leaches
him to he gentle and tentative. One who maintains such an attitude
\\orls touards aidlng and curlng. Ilc IS not inclrncd to he deslruct~ve.
He has a casual outlook on happenings and hr liti. may appear to
mo\e In a direction-less llux In the conventional sense 5uch
characters may not he herorc
On the other cxtremc stand thc teleological thinkers. I he) are
seen as always cursing, blaming and raising questions. scckrng
answers By grasplng half-truths. they feel content as il'the) have got

the answer to the problems of life and seek to set it right by violent
actions. Steinbeck warns of the dangers of teleological answers and
state as follows: "the greatest fallacy in, or rather the greatest
objection to teleological thinking is in connection with the belief''
(1995, 118). Against this background it is pertinent to consider the
struggling and alienated characters in the plays of O'Casey and Odets
as those accepting life as it is as d~fferent lion1 the ones who get
teleological answers and go astray.
The thread that binds O'Casey's characters is that all are born
amidst the rudest of city surroundings, sharlng a peasant's home, a
toiler's fare and a manual worker's occupation. l'hey live a life of
obscurity, identifying themselves with the world's unknown toilers
uith little educat~on. The background and occupation nl' Odcts's
characters differ a little frnm th~s Horn in the cc~ngestcd ~ndustrial
capital of' working claas Sani~lies or middle class settlnp. the) \hare
var~ed norh bachgrounds l'rotn cabrnvn to st(~re-hc~)\ hut arc united In
partaking ol'poverty, penury and struggle Among them a ti.\\
neithcr
magnifL small things nor bel~ttle great ones hut engage themselves In
useful work 'They learn from the~r work and from expcriencc\ 01' I~lc.
evtend a willing hand and understand~ng heart towards human~ty In
general. They commit themselves to life and proclaim that endurance

is forever. These qualities in such characters emerge either towards
the end of the play or right in mediasres.
It is worth noting that 'is' thinking characters are capable ol'
"seeing beyond traditional and personal prejudices" (Steinbeck 1995.
112). Therefore they avoid taking sides in the conflicting and highly
polarised societies. Juno Boyle in O'Casey's Juno and Leo Gordon in
Odets's Paradise maintain objectivity, whether it is in fnmily
circumstances or in issues beyond it. Enriched by experience.
characters like Donal Davorcn in Shadow and Ralph Berger in Awake
show maturity and objectivity. Other characters like Seamus Shields
in Shadow. Bessie Burgess and Fluther Good in Plou~h. Myron in
Awake and Gus in Parad~se too show these tralts occasionally.
Davoren in the .Vhadon, is depicted as rnlgrant port und a
homeless refugee. avo~d~ng conflict\ that confront h~m In h~s ever!
day life. Wh~le living in an envlronmen! of turmo~l due to relig~ous
and nat~onalistic contentions, he kceps h~msell alool
1115 f'ello\\
tenement dwellers \le sit11 one another in d15playinp Io!alty
to the
fanat~cal movements that ha\e \elled the country. A!
the out\ct
Datoren considers rel~gion and politics as the extremes ~ndulgcd 111
b! \\orshippers of half-truths to derive solace in times of rear. Ilc 15
exposing the hollowness of his friend Shields's claim that he rcjoicc~

over rituals of the Church and the truth. He says that Shields "kno$rs
as little about the truth as anybody else and ... cares as little about
the Church as the least of those that profess about her raith ..." (SG
5). It is beyond doubt that like Shields, many of his countrymen with
half-baked ideas about the Church and truth join the ranks or the
separatist, politico-religious feuds and perpetuate chaos.
Shields, a superstitious nationalist, always accepts one side of
the issue as truth throughout the turbulent events in the play. In
politics he takes the Republicans side whereas in religion he chooses
to side with Catholics. In Davoren's view such characters having
sided with a section, suffer from mental block and hencc cannot sce
the truth. Truth can dawn on thcrn onl) through drlrgent and honest
observation. Whether it is the Landlord ser\!ng nollcea lor unpaid
dues or M~nn~e f'owell, tlic tenernen! girl shdrrng lighter rtiornents
w~th Ua\orcn; Shields wialiea to drive thcm a\ra! as laal as Iic could
On the other hand 1)avorcn pdriently coaxe5 him to take the I.andlord
in. to sort out thc rssuc amlcahl) Ilc illso rcqucala Stiiclds 10
consrder'thc positive traits rn M~nnie I'owell rather than undcrslare
her.
Davoren is objec~ibc even in dealing \kith his fr~cnd arid
benefactor. He also dispar\lonately views the opposing side\ 111' the

eligio-political issues. There is no hint in the play to hold Davoren
as a Protestant loyalist or a Catholic opponent. While the Catholic
religionists enroll themselves either in the Republican movement for
liberation of Ireland or profess loyalty to the Republican cause, the
Protestant loyalists either remain irresolute or simply voice their
view. It is Davoren who sees the existing parties as perpetrators of
disruption in Ireland. Even when the uncultivated tenement dwellers
hero-worship him, he declines to intercede on them behalf. Only
\\hen Minnie is carried au,ay to the extreme of sacrificing her life.
Davoren recogni7es the dangers of the gunman image imprinted on
him. Hut in the fanattcal frcnly, events just happen and had he
arbitrated 11 could have cost h ~m h~s life.
Davoren is fully aware thal partisan politics has engrossed
Minnie and it is futile to admonish her. He 1s equally convinced that
Adolphous Grigson, the only I'rotcstant loyalist in the tenement, is
be! ond redemption His professed allegiance to !he scriptures in the
thick of the Black and Tan'? ra~d and inflicting cruelties on hls wife
under intoxication even In the cleventh hour prnves beyond doubt
that he stands on the s~de ofthe loyalist forces. Amidst thc din and
confusion by the Gr~gsons and the ralding forces, Ilavoren is
resigned 10 accepting these as the crudc reality of a tenement life
\\hen conflicts of greater magnitude befall the countr). Ilc ir aware

that terrible times are ahead as the feuding persists. Yet he neither
blames nor pushes him down, but thinks that events have grown out
of his control and prepares to accept any eventuality. His love for life
is more than other's fascination for death.
Davoren's inability to take sides itself is attributed to the
conflicting movement. Jack Mitchell observes as follows: "the
movement as it is fails to provide a man like Doveren with the
political and cultural context wh~ch would enable him to take a stand
against the pressures towards demoralisation which pervade his
environment" (1980. 37). As Davoren has moved from one part of the
city to the other as a homeless wanderer, he has experienced the
dernoralis~ng ef'fect ofthe Republican movement. Hence he maintains
a saner attitude towards life and resolves to withstand the pressures
As he has learnt through experiences in life, he is rcady to accept any
situation that 1s tbrced upon him by the elivlronment At Ihc same
time he does not negate the job\ or I~fc It is only "the religionists".
accord~ny to Steinhech, who are "alra~d not only ol' pa~n and sorro\r
but even ol' joy .... That they seem dead lo us" (1995, 98). 'I'hough
Davoren IS afraid of pain, he u~thstands agony to live life full!
Hence. when happiness comes through Minn~e's love for a l'e~
moments, he is susceptible to her attractiveness. He devote5 anlplc

time for creativity and colour, arranges "wake robins" in the vase and
paintings on the wall even in such dilapidated surroundings.
Davoren's awareness of the dangers of the gunman image that
he carries makes him different. The tenement fosters this image. The
ignorant Tommy Owens, Mrs.Henderson and Mr.Gallogher glorify it
with petitions and prayer for interceding on their behalf. In the stage
direction to the petition scene. Davoren's dismay over mean flattery
is hinted upon. The action of this scene is controlled by Republican
fanatics like Mrs.Henderson.
Mr.Gallogher. Tommy Owens and
Minnie Powell. The atmosphere is surcharged with inel'fectusl.
bombastic speeches. At the outset Davoren wishes to escape them.
telling "1 am very busy just now. Mrs tienderson, and really ...." (SO
17). He yearns to enjoy quiet moments with Minnie hul they force
him to listen to their viewpoint only.
'I h~s scene enables Davoren to have a d~rect vicw ol pol~l~cs at
work on the masses. Ile understand\ that 11 IS li~lly proless ~risdom
when ~gnorance rules the roost. Onl) the report 01
Maug~re's death
d~stracts them and leave5 hlm alone wlth Minnle Ijavoren
understands "how deeply lngralncd and elus~ve the problem" ( IC)XO.
39) of polltics is. In the next act he reflects over this at night tic IS
neither asleep nor awake and gets an insight into l~fe In 1)uhlln and

observes that "The Irish people are very fond of turning a serious
thing into a joke; that was a serious affair" (SG 25). This is prompted
by Maugire's mischievous utterance that he intends catching
butterflies at Knockseden before going to plant mines. Davoren
minimizes argument about the issue and takes recourse to creative
writing to give vent to his fury.
In the maddening crisis, the only way to maintain his sanity is
to divert his energy to creativity and imagination. With this
conviction, he chooses to live with the reality of the surroundings.
He does not intend offering solutions to the Issues at stake. Ronald
Rollins while equating Davoren with Christy Mohan in Synge's The
Playboy of the Western World in his article ent~tlcd "O'Casey and
Synge: ...( 1966)" observes as follows:
"130th young nlen also
manifest attitudes as they try to acclimat~se wlrll n rnin~mun~ Irlcclon
to the~r environment; they are somewhat sh) and aluol. ~lnnlerhcd in
their private reflections" (1985, 64) Ilavoren doe\ not wall1 lo add to
the already turbulent and volatile atmosphere, but ohscrkca.
understands. and accept5 the conditions. Ilavoren shares thc
IS'
thinker's passion for living deeply. sccinp clearly and vie$! ing l~fc In
its entiret)

Davoren's self-awareness is complete only towards the end of
the play, though he is fully aware of the politico-religious nature of
the crisis from the beginning. His belated realisation that he too is
indirectly responsible for Minnie's death saddens him. The events in
the play is not of his making. Maguirc, the Republican gunman plants
the bag full of bombs under the table. When Minnie takes it to her
room in haste, it is a spontaneous act of solidarity with a fellow
Republican gunman. Davorsn is quite perplexed by the sudden turn
of events and comprehends reality only after Minnie gives herself to
death as an act of loyalty and courage for the cause.
Davoren is not a loyalist Republican to give himself to a cause
he never cherishes. He detests it right from the heginnine. For him
life is more sacred than empty idealism.
Speaking about the
philosophy of the play to Don Ross the playwright declares as
follows: "the general philosophy of the play is the bewilderment and
horror at one section of Ihe cammunil! trying to murder and kill the
other. against war. against strife.. That 11Ie, ought to be a safe thing!
to live. It oughtn't to be dangerous to live life. ... I think that all
efforts should be concerned w~th making life safe, not making il
dangerous ...." (1958. 1). Davoren merely reproduces O'c'ascy's
conviction.

223
There is a sign of growth and eagerness to learn by experience
in Davoren at every stage. His learning process is almost complete
when the raid takes place. He is horrified by the strange and terrible
experience. It is really a testing timc to him. When Minnie's death is
reported Shields is unmoved. But Davoren is humane enough to be
perturbed. It leads him to bemoan his own inadequacies. William
A.Armstrong in his essay entitled. "History ...", comments thus: "
this tragic experience which leads him to know his own nature better:
he recognizes that he is poltroon and poet and it is a measure of his
development ... a revelation of the moral inadequacy of his creed"
(1985, 61). This development shouss the nature ol'llavoren.
It is in the nature of the 'is' thinker to he aware of himself and
\\.iden the hor~zon of h~s understanding. 'lhc awareness of his
limitations itself IS
a break-through. Critics invariably denounce
Dawren as pretentlous. ttrnid. and cold. an escapist stands aloof
\\hen his fello\\~nen are ruthlessl> victimised tle is also castigated
for not putting to good use hi5 matured underqtanding to act for the
\\elfare of his fr~ends and countrymen. Kicketts and Steinbeck In,
'.Easter Sunday" musings on 'i\'
thinking have warned of such
mistaken notions about life accepting characters. In Sea of Corrrz wc
are told that he who. "employc th~s type of thinking .. u~ll hc
referred to as detached. hard hearted or eben cruel. Oulte lhc

opposite seems to be true. Non-teleological methods more than any
other seem capable of greater tenderness, of an all embracingness
which is rare otherwise" (Steinbeck 1995, 121). This itself defends
Davoren from all harsh judgements, for right from the beginning he
displays his passion for understanding and acceptance, and soothing
by tenderness and kindness. By not involving himself in any of the
life destroying programmes, he stands for life affirming qualities. 11
is worth relating in th~s context that O'Casey h~msclf was "more
concerned with human bc~ngs than with national politics" (Krause
1960, 86).
Juno Boyle In the play Juno never pretends to he perfect, but
comes to understand her own limitations in an imperfect world.
Problems of life have taught her that the evils and i~nperfections 01'
the world would not disappear nor good preva~l at w~ll. Ilcnce she
real~ses that the real value in l~le Ilea In rcslgnlng c~nescll' to the
inevitable cond~t~ons and thcreby accepting thl\ rcal~ty of lik. 'lo
accept thts realit) and to facc the lacts. Juno ahows tremendous
courage unlike other O'Casc) characters Hcnce she is equated with
the resil~ent mother figures (11 13recht's plays.
liven in the most trying c1rcum5tances in I~fe, she docs IIOI Sail
to show her human~ty. What is hearten~ng In Juno 1s that shc does not

stand aloof when her own family is in trouble. She moves swiftly to
assume responsibility against the cowardly, heartless indifference of
her husband and irresponsibility of her children. While bearing the
burden of the family, she strives in her own motherly ways for its
progress. But every force is arrayed against her to thwart her genuine
attempts and moves. Yet she is not disheartened, hut emerges like the
phoenix to start from scratch after every failure.
O'Casey as a social dramatist was committed lo the cause of
social change. He fondly believed in work as a panacea. Man must
work and through committed work, build up life around him.
Devotion to work and responsibility were the primary needs of his
Ireland. The difference between 1)avoren and Juno is that while
Davoren is content with accepting lili as such. Juno moves forward
and makes personal choices even whlle accepting reality as she
percei\es it
tven in her fallen state. her comrnltment lo work for
the welfare of her daughter is worth nollng
Kichard l:.Hart. the Ste~nheck crltlc commcnts that
"Natural
forces may push man Inlo a glben \Iluatlon, but man caught In that
situation, may still make a cholce" (1986. 43) It shows that whlle
Stelnbeck fully accepted Kickett's philosophy of non-teleol~~gical
acceptance, he extends it further, allowing the accepting ones to

make their personal choice based on deeper understanding of the
truth. O'Casey's hatred is confined to individuals who shun work and
remain irresponsible to the sufferings of their own family members.
It is relevant to discuss how Juno while accepting life as it is, makes
a choice at the end of the play.
The crisis that has engulfed Juno's country affects her family
too and unlike in Shadow. takes for victims her own children. Yet she
is capable of viewing the issues dispassionately. Right from the
beginning she disassociates herself from politics and religion, though
she is a practitioner of the ethics of'the Church. She docs not give
room for Church polltics to mar her vision. She detests militant
nationalism even in her own son. When he proudly declares that he
would do his bit for Ireland, Juno advises him pragmatically that a
working man needs h ~s hands and legs to work with and live by. But
he has got them damaged due to his ~nvolvement in thc troubles.
Ironically shc 1s yet to know that her own \on is a
die-hard'
Republican who betrayed h~s c~rmrades to the 'Irce staters'. Numbly.
she takes in his words of protest and ahus~ve accusations and runs
ever? errand to appease h~s wounded, fearful spirit. Thus wh~lc
aiding and curing h~m in sickness she does not fkil to point nut h~s
infirmities and the hollowness of his idealism.

In accepting the weak and wicked ones, "Juno's outstanding
characteristic", according to Barbara Hayley is. "her awareness". The
critic highlighting the 'is' thinker's traits in Juno further says that
"she is not lost in principles like her son and daughter nor in
fantasies like Captain Boyle and Joxer, but is conscious of what is
going on in real llfe around her" (1981. 51). Understanding the
reality, awareness of one's self and accepting the reality are the
hallmarks of a non-teleologist. From the point of view of the critic,
Juno's life exemplifies such traits. Juno, while detesting Mary's act
of defiance against her employers, exposes her hypocrisy in walking
out of' her joh in sol~dar~ty with Jennie C'lal'lcy tor whom shc never
had a good word. She wants her to real1i.e that "when thc employers
sacrifice wan victim, the Irade llnions go wan hetter he sacrilicing a
hundred" (JP 49) Rut Mary rejecla her pracl~cal supgesllons and
remains out of' job for hcr p\eud~,-princ~plc\ Ycl ahc does not
hesitate to be at the beck and call 01
holh her ch~ldren.
Her husband is a paraslte cvadlnp work and rcspons~hility. Ycl
Juno prepares and keeps read) the hrcakla\t 50
that he can le~surcly
eat ~t over a few jars of stout with h~s buddy. Joxer 1)aly. F,ven when
her husband drives her to the wall. Juno strives hard to lix him In a
job. But the ever evadlng Falataffian clown he is. Capta~n l3o)'le
-hates to be assed to sttr
(JP 50). According to M~tchcl. Junu.

while expressing concern at other's distress, shows "her deepening
compassion''
too. The way she "accepts the fragility of human
condition" helps her recognize the limits of mortality and "that
acceptance elicits her deep compassion for human suffering and her
renewed commitment to living" (1980. 128).
Thus Juno. while
accepting poverty and sadness as part of life. also shares the
sufferings of others.
Steinbeck in Sea ofCorrez says. "):or it is through struggle and
sorrow that people are ahle to participate ..." (1995. 98). Juno aptly
fits into this mould. While prolecting her I'earful, dependent son, she
is equally concerned and sympathetic towards her neiphhour's
sufferings. When the funeral procession ol Kohie 'I ancred is in
progress, revelry and merry mak~ng goes on in her tenement tlousc.
I'hough she provides physical comlort 10 Ihc gricl \[richen
Mrs.'Iancred, she rnahes no sccrct 01
the fact that ahc dclc\l. c~vll
war and the offer~ns ~1'a salc tia~cn 111 thc d~c-hard nal~~~nnl~sls In
her own tenement.
David Krause I" an art~cle entitled. "'lo~ards the Ind". quotes
O'Casey "I love everyone and e\,erylhing that 15 al~ve. I \$a\ onl)
indifferent to the dead" (1966. 142). Juno is another practitioner 01'
this tenet, Therefore she rem~nds Nugent that it is better to bur) Ihc

dead and work for the living ones. While sharing others' sorrow,
Juno does not lose sight of the struggle at hand and hence
dispassionately views life and death. She considers both as realities
of life.
Juno's love for life, its colour and variety, is espoused in the
sing-song episode of the second act where Juno casts her burden
aside for a while to sing and dance with her family and friends.
While other characters are soaring high in flights of fancy. Juno
remains earthbound throughout this episode. She chides Captain
Boyle for playing on the gramophone and commands Mary lo open
the door to show light to the funeral party, thus effectively sealing
the merriment for a while. When Johnny is possessed with guilt and
wails in horror. she sits between h~m and the V~rpin's statue to offer
solace like the Mothcr of God
She also uses this opportun~ty to equate militant politics with
hell and harps on men's inadequate knowledge ~~I'rcl~gion and faith
Andrew FMelone in h~s article on "O'Cuscy's Realism".
pay
tributes to Juno's reality and says that the play is "uplifted and
ennobled by the character of Juno ... the great universal ml~thcr ar
great as the greatest mother in drama, even though her influence is
limited to two rooms in a Uuhl~n slum" (1969, 71). Juno sccs and

voices the facts of the reality of every situation and unmasks
characters even while she prepares to begin her struggle with
renewed vigour.
Like an 'is' thinker, Juno shows her passion for living and at
the same time sees things deeply, clearly and view life as a whole.
She is not content with understanding-acceptance alone but prepares
herself to act usefully and purposefully on the basis of the breakthrough.
At every stage in the play she ~ntercedes to set right
misconceptions and defend the weak and the fallen. Iier life bears
testimony to the fact that "one drop of the milk of human kindness is
worth more than the deepest droughts of the real wine of idealism"
(Dorcy 1966, 6 1 ).
Juno undergoes the greatest trial at the fall 01
tier own
daughter. Being burdened with a filther-lea\. .;t~llhorn ch~ld. the
hapless girl 1s ostracised by all other:. In the family. 1:ven
the
hopelessly handicapped son who sl~ll requlres h ~s mother':. a\\istance
to fulfil his needs casligatc hi\ slsler On the same s~de is the
incorrigible husband, fail~ng as ever to own any responsibility hut
threatening to strangulate his own daughter. Caught in this deeper
dilemma, luno chooses to be uith her daughter and takes part in hcr
agony. Juno does not fail ro hurry the helpless g~rl to a doctor. Once

diagnosed of her malady, she is determined to carry on the struggle
for her. The death of her son in reprisal at this juncture and the
shocking truth of his Republican connections add a new twist to the
already complex situation. Her life now in tatters, she rises above
selfish bereavement, and speaks out eloquently for peace - "the
universal maternal plea of mercy and an end to the fighting". She
echoes bravely the plea that "has since become the classic plea in the
history of modern drama for unrequited forgiveness. mercy and
human compassion" (O'Riordon 1984. 55). Before her assertion. her
well-meditated choice is made.
Instead of pining in sadness and passing the blame onto God.
she chooses to side with Mary saying thus: "We'll go. Come Mary,
an' we'll never come back here agen. 1-et your father furrage for
himself now. I've done all 1 could an' I[
was all no use; he'll be
hopeless till the end of h ~s days. I've gut a little room in the sisthers
where we'll stop [ill your [rouble is over, 811' then we'll work
together for the sakc of the baby" (JI' 99). Iler commitment to share
the burden of her daughter 15 born out ol the conviction that the role
of the parents in Mary's fall is considerable. Ijence Juno realizes that
it is heartless to blame Mary alone lor her lapse. This self-laceration
shows her as belonging to. "the more embracing community of

suffering"
(Kaufman 1985, 129) mothers who recognize human
frailty as universal.
O'Casey, while describing characters and situations
objectively does not colour them with sentimentality like the
naturalists. By presenting Juno as remorselessly true to fact, he
enables her to think non-teleologic all^. tier ability to understand and
accept life as it is and her infin~te compassion and humanity even to
the sinners and in human ones, show her as an all-emhrac~ng mother.
In his article entitled. "Inner Structure and Artlstic Unity", Jack
Mitchel stresses the point that. "Juno derives the strength to take thc
decisive step from her experience and what she has learnt from it.
This she is able to do because all along she had to face up lo reality
and her experience has therefore been real to her" (1985, 109). i3y
accepting the real experiences and llvlng In tune w ~lh them. Juno also
realises [hat appearances are nc~t real. kven wh~le enjoying Ileeling
moments ol' joy over the strcngth ol' the ~nherilnnce, slic learns lo
hce the truth.
Wh~le dealing with her oirn chlldrcn, or other young peoplc rbr
the aged. she never once lose\ s~ght of the tact that they differ widely
in disposition. training. habits of thought and way ot'l~fe, ller lllc ha5
a fullness with strength and depth of meaning that IS ~ncxhaustihlc

273
Encouraging children. youth and the aged are a
pleasure in
themselves. By seeing every experience as a new learning process.
she has the infinite source of the non-teleological thinkers. Juno finds
a special development of her own self and happiness in service to
others. The agonized prayer of Juno, according to W.J.Lawrence, "is
the natural climax, a climax of rich nobility. leaving the echo in our
hearts of the wish for peace on earth and goodwill towards men"
(1924, 216).
Juno takes an active part in life affirming activities. At thc
same time she bears resemblance to O'Casey's
"lonely ruminative
figures" (Column 1969, 255) like Donal Dnvoran and Semus Shields.
She wages her life battle all alone with no helping hand. But unlike
Shields in Shadow and Captain Boyle. she 1s not n social drop out
and does not fail to take part in otherb' m~serics. Years of care
burdened life has ennobled her. kven while going through the routine
day by day, fully realizing that there is no end or escape In sight, shc
never fails to love others. Hence hcr stolc reply when Mrs.Madigan
rushes in to report about Johnny's death: " ..Mrs.Madigan. I've gone
through so much lately that 1 feel able for anything" (JP 99). Wti~lc
receiving the message with forbearance, she is quick to comfi~rl the
sinking Mary, rern~nding her that she has to bear hcr own trouhlcs
Thus she reserves suffering of every k~nd to herself, determ~ned to

ear them all alone and states thus: "I'll face th' ordeal myself' (JP
100).
When the entire Ireland is in a terribly chaotic state, it is Juno
who rises above the dark Dublin tenement culture to bear the torch
aloft for hope and relentless optimism. O'Casey's
optimism is
ingrained in the Chinese proverb he quoted in the concluding volume
of his autobiography. Sunset and Evenly Star. It reads thus: "you
cannot prevent the birds of sadness froni flying over your head, but
you can prevenr them froni huilding nests in your hair" (1981. 447).
It also substantiates Juno's life While accepting sadness and sorrow
as a routine. she also strives her hcst 10 keep the lifeboat sailing
afloat. Like the Indians in America who stood back and paved the
way for the migrants to explore and occupy and yet retained their
individuality. Juno too has allowed her exploit~ng Captain to drive
her to the wall, like the American Inditlns, she too is the
"individualist not because (she) was in revolt hut because (she) had
accepted (her) place in the physical universe and with 11 (her) place
in the limited society" (Spiller 1987, 3) Only when every avenue IS
blocked, she retreats from her tenement. fully aware that it is futile 11)
fight.

O'Casey's advice to Judy Goldberg a teenage American girl.
during the last year of life, to have "compassion for other's sorrow.
courage in your own" (qtd.in O'Riordon 1974.
9). aptly describes
Juno's character. Don Koss comments that O'Casey
set forth
"Fortitude and patience-and understanding" (1958. I) as hallmarks of
women's courage. Juno Boyle discovers and displays these traits
even in the most trying circumstances. Motivated by ~ur\~ivnl drives
Juno learns like the 'is' thinker that the "pattern of struggles is so
deeply imprinted in the genes of all life conceived in this
benevolently hostile planet ..." (Steinheck 1995. 187) Hencc at every
stage she encounters new struggles and learns to copc \\ill] lifc by
accepting it
In her b~ographical stud!
Mrs.(jihson comments that Odets
even dur~ng the formative day5 of his career \\,as conv~nccd that till
the day man d~es there shall not be any "peace Ibr an h~~nest worker
in the \\,hole world". I he mature outlook In Awoke o~td Sing' is
evident in the young Ralph Berger In the pla) \\ho "ad,iure(s) him\elf
to work and reslgn himself to struggle" (1982. 332). In thc opening
act, Ralph the honest wori~ng man IS presented as a vlctlm of soc~al
exclus~on due to the consequcnces or economic change, tl~s tcen-ape
years are marked by severe d~sadvantages and repcared fa~lurc%.
There is a close affin~ty between his social character~sl~cs and

economic condition. The pity of the seclusion and isolation that he
experiences is potent enough to make him wayward and jeopardize
his trajectory. The inequalities, limitations, and moral chaos of his
adult world open his eyes to its complexities. He is surviving in
bleak and severely circumscribed social environments. Ralph's
protestation is over the lack of affordable income from work, a room
and family of his own and the basic needs to live by. It is nothing
strange in a youth of his agility and vigour to crave for "a new life"
with "his girl" and "a clean shirt" (AS 48) and a home of his own.
But by not succumbing to the pressures to lead the rad~cal movement
to attain these, Ralph voices his grievance to thu f'aniily.
In the first act. his is a teleoloeical query Ibr answcr to thc
what-ness of life. As he gets no answer, he is ranl~ng about the way
he is treated. Slowly Ralph mellows down and realizes ll~e impact of'
the environment over which neither he nor his linlily has any
control. Thus while "atternptlng at n1

There is tremendous progress from the fiery. protesting.
potentially defiant Ralph. In the opening scene he angrily retorts
thus: "where's advancement down the place, work like crazy ... you'd
drop dead first" (AS 41). He is anger and defiance personified,
spiteful of the institutions and powers that allow these conditions and
almost vows to fight and die to set them right. In moments of
rashness, he gets unwise answers and conclusions and prepares
himself for action. His questions and seemlng solutions are seen as
products of his youthful inexperience and v~tallty.
While blaming and cursing his mother for her aggression and
denial of rights, he is pessimistic of his society too
At those
moments he even reprimands his mother. He coldly tells her that he
too earns and pays for the maintenance of the lbmily and therefore
has the right to talk to his girl It is a threat Ihr vind~ctive action
which is aptly applauded by his youthful. irresponslhle bister,
Henn~e. Ralph's fiery questions dlsarm even thc belligerent Bessie
and she is forced to crave for understanding. ller position as the head
of the family speaks fbr her offensive nature. 'There is progress due
to change of perception in Ralph. In course of time Ralph displays
patience to observe life. emerges stronger and richer to find that l~fe
is not what he perceived it to be. Miller while equating the linal
speech of Ralph w~th that of Vershinin in The Three S~.rrci-5 states

that "The human persistence in believing in human progress despite
hardship and disappointment is what Odets and Chekhov project in
these characters" (1989, 50). The positive trait in Ralph is that he is
eager to learn by experience and progress by hard work.
Awake and Sing was the first play Odets wrote, and was staged
three years later. The Depression had taught hitter experiences to
Odets and mellowed down the rebellious angry young Odets hy
nineteen thirty-five, when the play was produced. The mature
outlook Odets had imbibed by then is revealed through Kalph. The
play too has seen refinement and change in its course. Odets himself
had admitted that he changed Ralph from a resenting pessimist to a
hopeful youth who is accepting and lcarn~ng to live within the
limitations of h~s environnicnlally ~nlpo\cd conditions. Ile has
declared thus: "~I>ell I wr(ltc ll~c tll~rd act (11 Anuke and S~ng! I hull1
up the boy to a kind ol'ai'lirmat~vc \r>lce In the end, more ai'lirniutivc
than he had been in ~hc original" While cvpla~n~ng thc rcuson for
that Odetr admits he h~n~sell'had changed. "the change had occurred
in me loo, a growing sen\c ol poucr and dircct~on" 11989. 84). 'Illis
proclaims Odets's capaclt) 111 vieu life ob~ectlvely and accept it non-
teleologically. I.his ph~lc~soph~c poa~lion nurturcd by Odets IS seen in
his representation of Kalph in Ah&.

BY the middle of the play Ralph is confused about his
~riorities. Jacob the idealist is responsible for exposing the
hollowness of his possessive and selfish pre-occupation. The lonely
old man of sixty-seven, while accepting his position next to the dog
in the household is quick to pronounce answers and solutions to
Ralph's problems. He is blaming the capitalist system for its failure
to meet Ralph's basic needs. Also, in Jacob's judgement. "a woman
insults a man's soul like no other thing in the whole world! (AS 48).
Hence he urges him to let love, women and marrlage wait but get on
with his fight to make a new life. Ralph is still doubtful of Jacob's
view of life. Instead of heeding him and rising against the whole
society, he still tries to learn and grow.
He is very much aware 01'
his own inadcquate knowledge of
life. Hence he prefers to seek sell-awareness rather than \wallow
theoretical prescriptions profkred hy olhers This irscll IS an
indication of Ralph's passion for deeper understanding. Moe. the
embittered racketeer IS qulch to learn that Kalph is inexperienced and
thus cannot come to term\ with himself Ile also urges him to "grow
up in life" from a "nice kid" (AS 70) and be sure or himself and nnl
be frightened of love and life. Mite i\ aware that when one IS living
in a jungle, one must adapt himcclf to its laws.

Ralph gradually learns the truth through these contradictor)
perceptions that the accumulated burdens of adjustments and defeat
are man's true lot. Jacob and Moe stand on the opposite extremes of
life: the one who wasted his life by carrylng too much impracticable
idealism over his head and the other an Epicurean bent on tasting life
to the brim inspite of h~s physical handicap
1.hroughout thc second
act of the play they egg him on to imitate them. Jacob wants Ralph to
do what he himself has failed to do in h~s Irfetime: to light against
the unjust practices of society and set right the whole world. 'lhe
other relentlessly persuades him to he n~orc sellish and desert his
family to livc for carnal pleasures citllcr by rackctccrrng or
employing unscrupulous means. In thc rad~ci~ll! rupturcd Anrcr~cirn
thirties. Ralph painfull) enters the "tcrrilirr! 01 the tormented
psyche" (Jenckes 1991. 117)
The temptation Ibr acqu~r~ng Jacob's insurance money IS the
immediate halt before Ralph In Act I hrec. Aya~n, Moc takes Ralph's
side and disclosea the fact that Jacob cornm~tted \u~crde so that Kalph
can inherit the mone) and rtarl the fight a\ hc wished. Moc thus
~nstigates hrm to covet the moncy 10 explore new pleasures. 1115
mother and his uncle Mort) passionately plead that the munc!
belongs to the famil,. Caught in this d~lemma, 11 is lime lor Ralph lo
balance the opposites Ralph rtrlves lrke an 'is' thinker who wr~ghs

himself "against the world and the world against itself' (Steinbeck
1995. 151). His predicament is peculiar as he is torn between the
opposing values represented by Bessie. Moe and Jacob respectively.
At the end of the fiercely argumentative episode the truth
dawns on him. He understands that his mother is merely a tool in the
rapidly changing society and her aggression is solely to keep the
family together. He realizes the futtl~ty of hlaming and cursing his
mother. Similarly. he IS
also convinced he should not view her
through the eyes of Moe and Jacoh. Judging the issues at hand
through others' opinion would give him only partial and teleological
answers. He realizes her peculiar predicnmenl only when he places
himself in his mother's role. By exchanging his position and
regarding life from his mother's perspective Ralph 1s convinced that
his mother 1s performing only a role alrcndy ordained Ibr her.
Anyone who accepts the role 01-
a mother has to hear thc yoke like
Bessie and the hurden IS hound to crush them.
Hence Ralph dcems 11 virtuous like an IS' thlnker to be "less
illusionary and even less hlaming".
and conslder viewing life
differently than the mere conrentional methods of consideration"
(Steinbeck 1995, 1 11) lie resolves to shed all misconceptions and
illusions. Once this understanding is achieved. Ralph ib quick to see

himself as he really is, endorses his mother and with emphatic clarity
tells her thus: "I'm not blaming you, mom" (AS 95). He embraces a
saner attitude to life and resolves to sink or swim with the family by
partaking in its struggle along with the mother. At the same time, he
is determined not to fight life over dollar-bills. His declaration
further that no girl means anything to him until he himself is capable
of taking care of a family is noteu,orthy. It is not a sign of negation
of life's varieties and colours, but a desire to den1 with it maturely
and responsibly.
Ralph is growlng From ignorance to knowledge as the
follo\ring speech tcstilics: "once upon a tinle. I thought I'd drown to
death in bolts ol'silk and velour, But I grew up lhcsc last kw weeks"
(AS 96). This shows him as being shorn ol tillacious not~ons ahout
motherhood, rebellion. lovc, rnurriayc and rnaterial~sn~. Ralph's
proclamation is thus u lik aflirm~ng one.
Once grasping thc nleanlnp 111 lllc 111 ;I soc~cty 01'
contrad~ctions, Ralph proceed5 to dcdicutc li~rnscll tc~ uork lor
others. lie realizes that II 15 t~n~e lor ticnnlc to "make a break" (AS
99) \\ith the tormented ps!che. tle inlers that she has lost much In
life and wastes no tlmc In acccptlng her need to hrcakout oi the
~nlpr~soned life. Ile is br~mrnlng with life, cmcrges stronger and

2.13
strives to see the world fully with his eyes wide-open. The family
battle he encounters is an eye opener to its wider ramifications and
the ways of the world. During the run of the play Odets admitted as
follows: "1 saw myself clearly, realized who and what I was. Isn't
that a beginning? Isn't it? (qtd.in Jenckes 1991. 122). In his own
way, Ralph too strives to beg~n living wlth realmation. Commenting
about Ralph accepting life with Mendelsohn. Odets said that he
believed in the possibilities expressed in the last scene of Awake and
Sing! and added as follows: "I do believe that young people can go
through an experience and have their eyes open. and dcterm~nc from
it to live in a different way. ." (199 I. 61) In Kalpl~. it is a hcginninp
to a different life to he lived d~lfercntly acccptinp all ilh
idiosyncrasies and incongrultiea
In Time IS
R~pe, Odets sets Ihrth h~s deal 01' Ilfc. fle cons~dcrs
the romant~c attitude as always "out ol harmony w~th Ilk'' and the
one accepting such an auitude IS secn alwa)\ cry~ng and lamcnt~ng.
On the other hand Odets unequ~vocally aflirm.. the opposite att~tude
and sums up thus: "thc clacsic vleu i\ lo accept life, the romantic
view is to reject it as it 13 an attempt to make 11 over as he wants II
be" ( 1988. 84). This IS the crux of non-lclcological thlnking as Odcls
understood it and later refined philosophically b)
Kickctts and
Ste~nbrck. Odets by lnstilllng thrs vleu, in Ralph In Auake and In I.clr

in Paradise seems to be one of the early practitioners of this
~hilosophy of life. Odets's statement is aimed at defending the non-
teleological thinker's commitment to life and its acceptance, though
critics are skeptical of Ralph and Leo's resolution as the curtain falls
in the respective plays.
Ralph's commitment to life as pronounced in the end of the
play is not positively viewed. Reviewers and cr~tics are of the
conviction that Ralph has not built a base for a lil'c in the family
environment. They also iterate that his resolution lhils to dcfinc a
sense of purpose
While Miller views h~s "convers~on" with
suspicion, for Mendelsohn the "transfortnution"
of Ralph "seems
forced and unreal" (1969. 33).
Aaird Shuman sees Ralph urging
Hennie "towards a course. . totally irre\ponsihle iind unrealistic"
(1962. 71). Cantor is positive of Ralph's change and wondcrs at
critics invariably denounc~npl Ralph's lifc ncceplinp philosophy.
According to him, the "breaking out" occur\ lor Odet'~ "whcn they
become politicall)
aware and when. In a moment ol' flashing
illumination like St Paul on the road to I)ama.;cus they cast thc~r lot
with the rest of mankind. " (1978. 37)
Among Odets's charac~ers.
the breakout hegins in Ralph and continues till Noah of' his last play.
The Flowerrng Peach.

Ralph's is an awakening of his own self and the awareness of
his environment.
Therefore he resolves to work within the system
accepting its own infirmities and deficiencies. It is worth noting that
the non-teleological thinkers can take on life from a day to day basis
and live in adjustment. Casey in Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of
Wrath "has a sense of living in a direction less flux hut ...g radually
comes through his experiences to see a meaning and purpose in it"
(Cook 1986, 354). Ralph also finds out that the real meaning and
purpose is to begin living in the family environment with full
awareness of the social environment.
For one who is prepared to work hard for survival and not for
acquiring luxuries, the pleasures of working itsell' are a luxury. By
committing himself to working for and with~n the family. Ralph
unambiguously convels his sense 01'
purpose 11e knows t'ully wcll
that in deciding to l~vc in harn~ony w~th the fam~ly environmc~~t, he
will find life always a struggle hut hc IS resolved lo meet it as an
exeryday episode in the drama crl
I~lc. I.earn~ng In Sunct~on w~thin
human limitation\ in a ta~nted wclety itself is a hard task that
requires great awareness of truth. Ilut. people like Ralph who kno~
the truth can take on d~fficulties and struggles easily. Like Juno, the
non-teleological thinker in O'Casey, Kalph too is resigned to f'acing

each day with its share of struggles in order to live and not be cut off
from life.
The 'is' thinker's traits are evident in the very perceptions and
actions of Leo Gordon, the protagonist in Paradise Lost. From the
cornmencement of action till the end of the play, he is acceptance
personified. Seeing the Chekhovian vision in the plays of Odets,
Gabriel Miller in Clifjord Oders, slates as follows: "l.ike
many
Chekhov characters, they persist in the belief that the future will be
better than the present, that if they must suffer, surely future
generation will enjoy a better life" (19R9, 35) I.eo Gordon has had a
better past, a mired present, and n hlesk future. Ilut he acccpts all
with nobility and courage and does not complicate his life by
defiance and revolt.
R~ght from the hegtnntng, I co acccpts ~ndtv~duel\ with tlictr
infirmtt~es and crookedness Wh~le relepat~np the financial
management 01' his hua~tlesa fir111 11, h~a hu\tnc\s partner Srm Katz.
he ne\er bothers to vertl) and keep track of h l credtbtl~ty. In hts
\ len there are no stns and no virtue hut ~ usl what people do; a vtc\r
chertshed by Jlrn Case). Stetnbcck's non-tcleol~~gtcal thinktng
character in The Grapes of Wrath Plrer defines such a character as
follows. '.a figure whosc potentla1 Tor growth is evident but who fails

to develop because of the circumslances of his life" (1982, 6).
Though capable of thoughtful insights of life. Leo could not develop
on the veritable insights but allows events and situations to take their
own course.
Leo possesses infinite compassion. fie does not restrict it to his
family alone but extends it even to his worst betrayer. When his
trusted friend and partner embezzled the money and ruined his
business and family, he dissuades his wife Clara from punishing and
cursing him but declares thus: "There is no Ikilure. We'll learn to
make it right, but we must see the whole thing" (PL 215). In his
assessment man is weak and not wicked. The commissions and
omissions are due to error in perception. When perceiv~np the wh~~lc
gamut of human actions, onc is not trnipted [(I
arrive at rash
conclusions and pass judgements on perce~vcd human Iollics Sam's
betrayal and Leo's reaction is an instance 111 prove that I.co never
deviate3 from viewing situations and ind~vidunlr ohlectively. As his
vision is not blurred by narrow, selfish and partisan con'i~derations.
like a non-teleological thinkcr, he is capahlc of "seeing beyond
traditional or personal projections" (Steinheck 1985. 112)
The salety of' not only his hrood but Ihe welfare ol' cbcr?
boarder in the Gordon famil) IS Lco's concern. When Gus M~chacls.

a fellow boarder is late one night, Leo is restless and confides to his
wife his worry: "Gus never before stayed away overnight w~thout a
word" (PL 193). The restless agony ceases only after sighting Gus
early in the morning. Leo is equally concerned when his younger son
Julie is found in dishevelled atlire and peculiar manners. He is
perturbed to see a slight tremor running through the body of his son.
which is a clear sign of schizophrenia. Leo takes himself to task for
his son's mental deterioration and his hind query. "tlave I
done
something to you Julie?" (193). is to assuage Julie's anxiety and
muffled feelings. He is well aware that the craw for money that has
taken over the entire society has hetruyed Julie as well and thcre is
no redemption as long as the l'orces conditioning of thc socict!
remain so. While firmly hrllevlng that money 15 n corruptive fhrcc
that taints, L.eo enlhrace.; thc tainted )~~uth and ever) rni~l~llr~d in
"forgiveness and acccptancc" (Mcndcl\~ltln I YhY, I ? I ).
Leo and his wife Clara arc well asarc of I.ihhy's amoral
dallylng and provide enough hlnts to Dcn Gordon. their son. But once
Ben marries Libby. not rcal~r~np the import 111 the hints. Lco 1s quick
to accept and accommodate thc couple in his household. On the da!
of marriage when I.ihb!
IS seen In compromlslnp posturcs \\~lh
Kenpie the racketeer and I3en's friend. I.eo does not prrcip~talc
matters by informing Ren hut merely reminds I.ihh) thuf. "I Io\c rn!

sons better than life ..." (PL 175). While sounding the warning. Leo
forgives her unseemly conduct as just a weakness of the flesh in a
moment of excitement. At the same time he is pained when Libby
denigrates the sacred marital ties. It is ironic that Ben has to give up
his own life due to Libby's betrayal and his death is the logical end.
So as the slory progresses, like an 'is' thinker, he "secm(s) to be
more tender and understanding" (Steinbeck 1995. 11 1 ). than
destructive of relations and societal ties.
He is a proponent of the brotherly feelings cherished by Odets
himself. Even while living in the c~tadcl of power and success. Leo is
strong enough "to resist the seductive lure of ~uccess" (Cantor 1978.
76). When his own workers demand a wagc increase. I.eo is
perturbed to learn of their plight. He has taken Irr granted that the
needs ol' the uorkcr'a have already hcei~ met
Ilc 15 never for
expanding his empire by explo~ting the workers. Ilc ia f11r *haring the
uealth. Hc gives relief to thcm by hiking thc~r uagca even when
business is bad and the lirm is incurr~ng losses. Ilc accepts this
position without murmur. out 01' compasuion for humanity, though
detractors may term ~t worldly unwibe and suicidal.
When Gus smells something foul In Kewpie's rclation with
Libb) and requests Leo to make him desist from frequenting thc

house. Leo retorts thus: "my dear, don't you trust anyone?" (PL 164).
Leo is of the view that human beings need to be accepted as such.
Here Leo shows his understanding of life like a true non-teleological
thinker who holds that "all that lives is holy" (Astro 1995, xix).
Equally concerned is Leo about I'ike, another boarder in his family.
His oddlties and eccentricities are seen as the outgrowth of the hitter
struggle he had gone through. When Pike breaks the radio. being
infuriated by the volce fiom the Instrument urging the countrymen to
prepare for bloodshed through another bar to defend the American
flag, Leo does not condemn him hut urges h ~m not to get excited. I.co
requests him to understand this as "an American habit" (1'1. 191).
when the disconsolate lrlan piles rcports of cruelty and suff'cr~ngs he
underwent due to the loss of his 5on In the prcvious war.
Accord~ng 11, Leo. it is the Amcr~can habit to Icgillnli/c thu
unjust economic system and to rcn~aln unconcerned about tllc pl~gl~t
of millions of hapless, jobles~ and homeless ones and perpetuate war
to protect its business and \u\?aln p1111cy cvcr)\rhcrc In l.eo'\
\leu those \rho understand and accept thls condillon can manege to
survive $\hereas gettlng ernot~onally exc~tcd over thi\ American hah~l
\rill onl) prove injurious 10 one's body and mind. While cail~np I'or
subtitling the plal as, "the education of I.eo Gordon". Mcndel.;uhn
states that Leo's .'learning process is painful" (1969. 36) 11)

accommodating Pike who had gone through equally painful
experiences,
Leo adds another dimension to his life-accepting
characteristic.
Retaining and sustaining life is important ror a human being in
Leo's consideration. When the infuriated Pike vows to end lighting
this perceived injury. Leo disarms him qu~etly with the submission.
"without life you cannot help change the world" (1'1. 192). In Leo's
mature consideration, even ifone wants to fifht. 11 has to be hy living
inside the system and not through rnilitsnl action that ends one's life.
In the course of this exchange it 1s Gus M~chaels who helps cool the
temper of Pike, relating his own experlcnce of inventing "a better
clothespin". But once he found that hls own ~nnavat~on has no loglc
as it required higher cost, he thought il prudent to drop the Idea and
accept a different mode ofexistencc. In endle\s struggle.
Calamity befalls the (iordon famlly and tak~ng advantage of
that the tempters troop ~n to UIII 11\er 1 . ~ ~ IIc 1
poI~IcIy turns dorm
Tim May's offer to set lire ti1 h!\ facl(~ry In order to cla~m the
insurance money. When hls endurance IS lestcd. he resists 11 \\lth
great moral courage S~rnllarly In the partlsan polltlcs ol'thc day. I co
is tempted with fortune and power hy the party mobiliser l'h11 1 ole!
to side with the Democrats. Leo, even at the eleventh hour retains

alance of mind and dispassionately assesses the situation and says
that in his "honest opinion one side is as bad as the other" (PL. 167).
Thus with a greater understanding of politics, he can avoid taking
sides. In his assessment politicians of the present day are merely
"grafters" and any government run by them would invariably be
corrupt and nepotic. Like a non-teleologist, Leo is mature enough to
understand that "when a hypothesis is deeply accepted. it becomes a
growth, which only a kind of surgery can amputate" (PI. 149). The
only hypothesis worth cherishing is love to human~ty and for that.
love has to sprlng from home
Leo is tender and kind III dealing w~th Ilia wards as well as
with the dispossessed, alienated and homeless ones Clara (iordon.
his wife takes the liberty to say to his face that long ago she hncw
that she married a fool. I co acccpts 11 pi~s~tivcly as he knows that hc
is not worldly wise. covc~uous. env~ous or paroch~ull! piirll>i!n Ile IS
a soft determin~st who knows that "tiapp~nesq I\
no! to he hund
among the material thlnps of Ille" (1'1. 183). but In doing usclul \\ark
and in cornmlttlng oncsrll to Ihc caux of uorA and lilc
Ilc is
\\orried to find that IJcarl and her lober kelix arc postponing their
marriage protesting lack of money and material comlorts I hough
Leo is aware that his own daughter is wedded to false idcal~sm. he
accepts her way of life as he had earlier accepted Hen and Libby

In Miller's words, Leo recognizes "that the present is barren;
there is no future" (1989, 52). Yet, he is not hean broken but accepts
the condition, being aware that in his world's bleak economic order
this is the reality.
He is convinced that his children go astray by
aniving at teleological answers, which are only half-truths. But he
does not interfere in their personal idealism and accepts them as
such.
Leo's awareness of life becomes complete only after his
encounter with the two typical homeless men Paul and Williams in
the last Act. Leo's intention is to give up the tainted money thrown in
by Kewpie as an act of remorse. Their arrival. "invade(s) the
suffocating atmosphere of the Gordon family trap and impinge(s) on
Leo's muddled, seeking consciousness". They "succeed in awakening
(him) from his sleep" (Cantor 1978. 39). llitherto I.co had heen
under the illos~on that he is safe and hetter than thc vitpahljnds and
hence could continue with hls acts of philanthropy. 'The fact that he
himself IS horncless, powerlrss and in utter ruin 15 brought home to
him forcefull> h) the two wanderers, thus sflcct~vcly rohhtnp him of
The shock of recognition that he is worse than the t\ro being
e\icted from his home and driven to the street is terrible: hut $till
Leo does not stop belng charilable. In fact, he had lor1 thc I'aradisc

and safe haven he once had and is now left on the road. But what is
unique about the bankrupt Leo and his inefTectual friend Gus is their
"refusal to surrender and despair" (Miller 1989. 57) even in helpless
situations.
Leo's speech after the family is thrown to the street shows that
Leo is least affected by the sudden turn of events. tie sees a larger
pattern in the decline. The decline started in the first act itself when
Sam hinted about the failure of husincss, and tt continued in ~hc
second act when Sam himself is revealed as the embezzler. Hen is
killed. Julie is in trouble and Pearl's partner Icavcs her. So. when his
home is repossessed at last, his Surn~ture removed to the sidewalk by
police and he moves from home to thc street. 1x0 accepts il as
inevitable. To bin, it is the lc~pical outcomc ofthe dcclinc, which the
econom) of the countr! li;~~ tr~gpercd Ilr riphtly
perceives that the
inhahlt a fallen \ri~rld. uh~cl~ tlie!
irrc too
incompetent to change and thetr hopes and cxpcctatlon\ lure only
illusor) dreams
The acccptancc of'l~le u~th a11 I!\ odd111c\ and pcculinrit~cs in
a disintegrating order is the onl!
ua! to l~\c Ih15 phtlc~sc~~h! 01
acceptance is summed up in his last specch in reply to the tramp\.
where he sa)s thus

"everything he said It true ... that was the past ... the past was a
dream...We searched. and now the search is ended. I:or the
truth has found us.. .. we're not ashamed. Everywhere now men
are rising from their sleeps. Men, men are understanding the
bitter black total of their lives ... we must have only one regret
that life is too short! The whole world is for men to
possess .... men will sing at their work. men will still
love ..."( PL 230).
As a non-teleological thinker he wishes to hury the past so as not to
question the "why" of things. Ile resolves to work and live by
accepting his present posltlon as a worklng man who ekes out a
living by the sweat of h~s hrow without murmur and protest. In
Awake and Paradrse. Odets shills the emphasis from. "rehell~nn lo
search" (Mendelsohn 1969. 117) Odcts stli,~,s that Ralph alld 1 eo
rise above narrow con\~dcratron\ ancl hcgrn to l~ve In clcan and
simple way, hj c\cr) onc u~tl~. "l~t~dncharld 111tu111vc
brothcr frellnp" (('lurlnan 1958. 57)
In (he ..March 24 I.aalcr Sunday" rnuhlngh rrvcr Ihc advantagcb
of non-teleolog~cal th~nk~ng. K~cketts hlmsell v~suali~.cs annn)drlcr
about the is' [hlnhlny lndlvldual. lie s~mnds the warnlng that the)
may be misconstrued ac. "cold, even hrutal" (Ste~nhcck 1995. I I I )
defense, the sc~ent~\t ra)s that ~nstcad. the 'is' thlnkcr IS cooll)

studying the situation to be more kind with understanding. Refining
the philosophy of Ricketts. Steinbeck goes a step further and states
that with understanding and acceptance the 'is' thinker becomes
more tender and kind and paves the way for a change. The Steinbeck
critic Richard E.Hart had earlier stated the same point of view - that
this is the 'is' thinker's ablllty to male a choice. In the light of the
discussion about the 'is' thinking characters in O'Casey and Odets.
Juno Boyle and Leo Gordon are always fhund to bc at the service of
others even in personal tribulations. 'They never arc party to the
destructive forces never add paln hut only a~d and cure the miscrahlc,
the weak, the sinful and the lhllen In turn they thcmsclves pay the
heaviest price for others' c\,ils and li~llics and yet embrace sufferlnp
and personal loss as a mls\lon
Donal I)a\oren
~(ICI. uhllc \t;~ncltnp alool frnm d~vis~vc
pditics. is baffled at it? ruthie.;\ ccnpcancc A% lic IS I'ully aware that
he cannot set r~ght the alread? d~\~ntepruted \?.slrm, he mcckly
endures and acccpts. Junu and Kdlph arc rni~llnp 11 personal cholce
June qultl; her hopeles\ hu\hand onl) to ald and huild llfc for lhc
fallen ,,.hereas
~ ~ l ch

Shadow reveal flashes of 'is' thinking at certain situations. As a
much detailed analysis is essential for such a line of inquiry this
discussion is limited to the main characters.
The nature of acceptance as practiccd by the 'is' thinking
characters and as presented in the forgone argument shows (hem as
humanitarians. The qualities of con~passion nnd conccrn for the
future of mankind, knowledge of their strength, weaknesses.
capacities and potentialities show then] as humanists. 'They are fully
aware that their free choice is conditioned hy such factors ns their
environment, inheritance, education and health. Yet, they prcparc
themselves to face thc practicr~l rcalitlc.; of life Ily gcncrously curing
for fellow human beings, they respcct and rccopnlle the dignity cil
human life.
Wh~le not tdent~fyinp thcrnscl\,c\ \r~th pol~tics. pnlicy
and programmes, the! arc also more dcepl, rooted In cthlcul villuc.;
Their creed and practice IS that "lhc hc\l way to fit oncwll fitr ihc
nest world \\as to lii onc\cll for th~i \r

Chapter Seven
CONCLUSION
The plays under consideration unravel before us the anarchic
modern world. The ordinary man's experience in such a world is
chaotic and he has to take the burden of becoming human. There are
mechanical, institutional and intellectual forces that keep him
disintegrated. What is happening today is not unrelated to what
happened in the nineteen twenties and thirties. In the contemporary
\\,orid, death drops from the sky as a chunk of fireball. The terrifying
images of death and destruction due to war and terrorism stun to
amnesia the bewildered man. We are facing a new foe whose ways
and means are beyond normal human comprehension. Retaliation
\\ith military might have not remedied the situation.
In the material world there is a passion for getting money.
Competitions are so sharp and methods employed to get rich are so
unscrupulous. There is a tendency to increase wealth in haste and not
hard labour. The world governed by unfair and unjust laws pro\es
advantageous for exploitation and oppression. The working men who

need work are denied and get frustrated. Though the world is
supposed to be for all, in reality only the mighty money banks
control the wealth and the state. Tragedy not only falls on the family
but on the entire neighbourhood. In the families, members are
gasping for their desperate needs. They are denied humanity and
forced to live in poverty.
A desperate situation of poverty leads to a series of calamities.
Endless bickering, fighting, dreaming, drinking and wasting have
become the common lot of the poverty-stricken multitude. These
conditions degenerate the work force. They strive hard to break out
of the family, but are lured into the social trap. Institutions,
ideologies and religion limit these individuals. Freedom is
suppressed and one's very identity is denied. The forces arrayed
against them are so powerful that even a life time of aggressive
onslaught cannot frustrate these forces. O'Casey and Odets, while
dramatising the microcosm of the chaotic world, also show a way out
through these plays.
They are playwrights committed to social change. They are
also humanitarians unlike other dramatists of social commitment.
Having experienced the very life they drarnatised, they are fully
aware of the strength and weaknesses of the characters they depict.

While realistically depicting the miserably devastating life in their
rotten neighbourhood in the living language of the same people, they
are not blind to their follies, vanities, prejudices,
ignorance.
illusions, drunkenness and self-centredness. Hence they do not
attribute these conditions only to the external forces but show those
people in critical perspective. While condemning inequality and
injustice unequivocally, they also raise the most valid question: on
what term man must live? In their answer lies their vision or attitude
to life, which the forgoing arguments prove as philosophical
naturalism or non-teleological thinking.
This attitude to life is strikingly relevant to the contemporary
world. In this context it is apt to note Cantor's observation about
Odets's attitude to life. Even when destined to live in a world of
intense rivalry, economic deprivation and global cataclysm, man may
still live without selling himself out. Even "if death, running away,
and social commitment do not work, there is another way out of the
family trap and that is to accept society on its own terms temporarily.
to strike out for independence and power that will put you on top
rather than keep you bottom-dog" (1991, 139). In the contemporary
scenario neither the family nor society outside is safe for human
habitation. Inside the family microcosm life is stifled, love betrayed
and relations broken. The world is bloody outside, where there are

terrifying showdowns to usurp power, possessions and glory. In this
context O'Casey's
and Odets's vision is aimed at living and
glorifying life. One who learns from life and history will land up in
reality and embrace such an attitude. Such a vision entreats man to
establish a link with humanity at large and provides him with an
avenue for self-fulfillment.
Odets once declared to Herman Harvey that he valued
"uncorrupted behaviour, command over one's self, honor without
dishonesty, (and) without lie". He also added that one must have the
"ability to deal with exactly what is in front ... in terms of ... best
human instincts" (Harvey 1978, 260). In the same interview he
admitted that he had ingrained in a few characters the "feeling for
human sympathy ... and co-operation, always within a context of
personal
integrity" (Harvey 1978, 270). Odets's declaration is
substantiated by the attitude to life envisaged by the non-
teleologically thinking characters.
Ralph Berger in Awake and Leo Gordon in Paradise, even in
the face of great trials and tribulations do not lose personal integrity.
sell themselves out or have moral compromises. At the same time
their commitment to serve mankind is renewed along with their
attitude of understanding-acceptance. Even when in dire need of

money for buying shoe-laces or having a room, Ralph does not betray
the father and mother at their old age. Though Jacob earmarked the
insurance benefit to him, Ralph decides to give it to his materially
corrupt mother. This he does not bestow out of desperation but with
matured understanding and out of free will. His subsequent
declaration to live with them in the very family environment shows
that his dedication for service to mankind is not betrayed by his nonteleological
attitude.
Equally laudable is Leo's decision to take up cudgels against
the tempters like the insurance agent and the political mobiliser.
While the insurance man promises riches by making out a fire in his
factory, the party mobiliser promises money and power. These events
happen when Leo is confronted with the greatest crisis in his life -
the death of his elder son, the schizophrenic disorder of his younger
son, the desertion of his daughter's lover and above all the eviction
of the entire family from the house after its repossession. Yet, Leo's
personal and moral integrity remains steadfast. He also declares to
start living with the millions of proletarians and homeless ones on
the streets, thereby renewing his commitment to work and be with the
weak and fallen.

Thus, the criticism that the non-teleologically thinking attitude
is cold indifference and one embracing such an attitude to life does
so to live in isolation from humanity, is misplayed as far as these
characters are concerned. It is admirable to see Juno Boyle in
O'Casey's Juno choosing out of free will to be at the side of her
miserable and hopelessly fallen daughter, deserting the morally and
materially corrupt, irresponsible husband Jack Boyle. Juno has been
in service for him even when he remained a parasite, wasting the
money and food meant for the family, all earned by Juno's hard toil.
His drunken exploits have been borne with courage and nobility by
Juno. Yet in the face of the misery of their daughter Mary, Boyle had
ordered her to leave the house. Thus Juno decides that it is time to
build up life in a different environment than wasting her life in a
destructive surrounding. This is born out of her renewed commitment
for service and to have a link with humanity in a desperate need.
O'Casey and Odets ask men and women fated to live in such
environments to do by knowing. While undergoing sufferings,
isolation and conflicts, one must know himself and his world better.
Self-reflection, self-understanding and self-knowing are the hall
marks of the non-teleologically thinking attitude as seen in these
plays. Such people are coaxed to learn from experiences and from
their own mistakes. They should not erect barriers between them and

the real facts of life. In these plays the 'is' thinking characters have
strong ethical qualities and therefore chose the best option for living.
Though ill-equipped and placed low, they have compassion and
kindness and act to ameliorate the pain. At times they display this
freedom through "moral grandeur and, at other times, through wanton
hubris against the forces that frustrate (their) ambition" (Hart 1986,
49).
This attitude to life is full of hope and those who adopt this are
optimistic. The life accepting characters in these plays survive and
go on even when their dreams are shattered. They resolve the moral
dilemma, emerge courageous and stronger. They may be sad, but
heroic. As self-reflecting human beings they know that their choice is
tough and that all will not go well. Bitter experiences have "brought
out the contrast between what might be and the way things have
been" (Mitchell 1980, 70). This enables them to live in society so
that what may be joined in harmony may still be joined.
Upholding O'Casey's vision of life as seen through the Dublin
plays, Mitchell says that the playwright commend his characters to
develop the "faculty for critical insight into himself' (1980, 39j.
O'Casey's plays also reveal that man must move away from selfcentredness
to assume a sense of responsibility towards family and

society. They must be sensitive to human suffering and accountable.
One should overcome personal weaknesses and help construct society
in confidence, conciliation and ingratiation. The non-teleologically
thinking characters in his plays inculcate all these traits. Hence they
are not pessimistic and cut of from familial and societal ties. They
lay in waiting, so that time may come, men may change and their
dreams shall fructify.
The greatness in these artists does not lie in any political or
intellectual position they might have taken in their personal life, but
in the kindness and intuitive brotherly feeling they ingrain in these
characters to usher in a better world. Change in these characters
come when they recognise themselves, realize the brotherhood of
mankind and vow to dedicate themselves to service for mankind.
What O'Casey spoke of Shaw may aptly illustrate his own attitude as
enshrined in his works. It is not an exaggeration to stale that both
sprang on the stage to "cojole the people into decency and
commonsense towards life ..." (Ayling 1967, 194). O'Casey wanted
men to change in tune with the time and conditions around them. He
held out that man must take pleasure in work and a working man can
also dream. But he cautioned that dream should not overtake a lazy
man. A sense of work must instill responsibility. As seen in his plays
and non-dramatic works, O'Casey eschewed indifference, ignorance

and cowardice. He firmly believed that if man is wedded to work,
and work given responsibility, and a sense of community and
brother-feeling, most of the ills of society would disappear. His nonteleologically
thinking characters are torchbearers of O'Caseys's
vision.
In Steinbeck's own admission, the inspiration for the nonteleologically
thinking attitude to life itself came from his
observation of life during the Great Depression. Along with Ricketts,
Steinbeck formalised this philosophical attitude to life after further
observation of life in the great tide pool. During the Depression,
around thirty percent of the work force of the United States could not
be employed despite the best of human efforts. These hapless ones
were forced to live on charity or as Government's wards. Though
there was a call from Industrialists like Ford and State establishment
urging everyone to work, the truth of the matter was there have been
more off-springs than the world can support. Even aggressiveness
and strikes had little effect and only a few could rise to fortune and
power. Yet a wider sections fate was to depend on charity to eke out
their livelihood. Even if minor changes in the ratio occur, no social
fault could be imputed to their condition. "They are where they are
because natural conditions are what they are" (Steinbeck 1995, 1 lo),
was a widely accepted notion on their situation.

Deriving substance from this fact, Steinbeck further states that
there must be e few to represent the low extreme in any order and
time. Therefore, even if one section get things done by
aggressiveness even in bleakest conditions, it means another section
pave way for them. This kind of an understanding of the condition
and acceptance of this reality is what Steinbeck calls as nonteleological
acceptance. In such a condition, if every one turns to get
things done by aggression and strife, man will be pitted against man
and start eating fellow man.
The conditions of Ireland during the 1920's were in no way
different than that existed in America during the thirties. To state the
fact, if there is no way to better the condition in a given situation,
better understanding of the condition shall pave the way for survival.
By understanding and acceptance of the conditions, man niay still
hope for a change. Such an understanding may unfold the answer to
the question why the condition exists so. This itself gives the answer
for the most complex questions like what or how.
The condition of the working class in the war-torn Ireland and
Depression ravaged America has to be understood in this perspective.
In the play Waiting, the characters calling for militant action
themselves know that conditions are not conducive to get things

done. Joe, Sid, Miller and Dr.Benjamin, while participating in the
mobilization for strike are also aware of the complete truth. The
starved workers, the suicidal businessmen, the homeless and the
workless crowding the streets and employment exchanges are fresh in
their memory. In such a context their militant strike could not lift
them up materially. Joe and Sid admit this to their beloved ones at
home. Yet they join the call for strike, as their family members are
yet to understand these conditions.
We see a mellowed Ralph in Odets's next play. Though
fiercely argumentative and defiant, he is quick to learn from his own
experiences and through events outside. Leo Gordon is a silent victim
of the Depression calamity. Right in the opening scene he dcclnres
that he is living in a dislocated world where materialism corrupts and
blunt the finer spirit of men. He is a witness to the younger
generation falling victim by not understanding the conditions around
and adjust themselves accordingly. Unfortunately most of such
victims are his defiant children who are aggressively pursuing a
selfish agenda. Despite Leo's early warnings, none could listen to
saner counsel nor learn from experiences. Hence Leo has to watch
them disintegrating within his l'amily.
O'Casey's characters are aptly trapped in the mire of politics.
Seven hundred years of colonial subjugation, lack of governance,

lawlessness, murder and mayheim have inspired certain peculiar
traits in every walk of Irish life. The complexities of these conditions
are beyond the grasp of most of the ignorant characters in these plays
who are involved in strife and aggression. Moreover, their personal
inadequacies like laziness, carelessness, envy, bickering,
drunkenness and selfishness further complicate the situation. Such
characters are not ideally suited for productive action. Hence these
people even when involved in the strife, work towards nothing. They
tend to search for the purpose of life before they had any
comprehension of what life is. These are mock-heroic characters,
satisfied to see as much as they want. They suffer from different
personal disharmonies and none with a grain of commonsense. Such
characters ask questions about the conditions and arrive at
teleological answers only. Delusory and wish-fi~llilmcnl rcmcdics orc
prescribed by teleological methods.
Teleological methods according to Steinbeck have different
answers to a question like why some people are tall and others are
short. One such answer would be the under functioning of the
growth-regulating glands. But this answer may result in a series of
questions for which definitive answers cannot be provided by
teleological methods.

On the other hand, in the non-teleological method there are no
definite answers to such a question. The non-teleologist provides
pictures which may describe or clarify the issues as he knows that
series of issues are involved in the undergrowth or overgrowth of
some. These pictures themselves are complex as these are real.
Similarly, to the death of a person, the physical teleologists and
medical teleologists provide with contradictory answers which are
bound to mislead. In the non-teleological method every condition has
to be looked from the wider perspective than the conventional causeeffect
consideration. A wise observer may even dwell deep into the
primary and determining causes and can derive a theory. But it is
sooner to fall in to controversies.
Thus even a wise thinker may not be able to prescribe an exact
answer to a given problem. If this is the case with human problems,
there is lesser meeting point for natural phenomena. Therefore
Steinbeck argues that teleological answers are bound to mislead
people. There is the danger of people believing such emotional
answers, block their mind from further investigation of the issue and
act according to such prescriptions. In the non-teleological method
one has to face the problem realistically, and struggle to have a.
"possible rebirth which might place the whole problem in a new and
more significant light" (Steinbeck 1995, 118).

Such characters who arrive at teleological answers in these
plays float as if in a dream. They are insensible and cause suffering
to the more sensible and responsible people around them. In this
background, through these plays, O'Casey pleads with the suffering
masses to understand themselves, change by experience and strive to
live a saner and productive life. His Dublin plays therefore call on
the people to objectively view the conditions, realize the truth and
keep themselves away from fanatical and destructive movements. To
reach that stage one has to devote time for learning and critically
look into one's self. According to O'Riordon "O'Casey invokcs
traditions of the Prophets and the Bard in his equanimous view of a
less warring and fairer society in which man can prosper" (1984, 59).
The teleologically thinking characters in these plays, with
partial understanding resort to customary measures to solve issues. In
O'Casey's plays they resort to violence. They shoot at will and even
kill their own brethren whom they pledge to liberate from alien rule.
During the civil war, as dramatized in Juno, the Irish themselves are
divided as supporters of the 'Free State' and the 'Dissenters' and
engaged themselves in ruthless killing. Shields in Shadow, takes
every opportunity to castigate the Irish, though he himself is
completely self-centred, malicious and cowardly. We have such

characters in the other plays too. Captain Boyle in Juno, and the
Covey in Plough, equally snipe at others for their own inadequucics.
Such people are the very embodiment of the weaknesses and
follies, which they impute to their country and the people. While they
have bungled by their parochial approach to nationalism and freedom
struggle, in the domestic front they perpetrate hatred, bickering and
dissension. In real life they are wasters and parasites who profit at
others' labour. It is ironic that inspite of their potency for prophetic
insights and witty repartee, they are cowards who act in contradiction
of their thoughts and words. In a condition of war and calamity they
are the real enemies of the common people.
The non-teleologists in these plays accommodate within their
fold the weak and the fallen. They neither castigate others as sinners
and wicked ones nor praise the so-called good ones. For them, "there
is first love and understanding (and) of instant acceptance"
(Steinbeck 1995, 122). By being quick to embrace the desolate one's
they work out to do what can be done to alleviate their misery. While
the teleologists are victims as well as the makers of the strife-turn.
conflict ridden and alienated environment, they also exert a negative
influence on it. Therefore their efforts too fail, as they resort to the
wrong kind of effort. Such involvements help make the situation

worse. Even when rich in experience, their innate disability to learn
from experience and from their own mistakes land them up in
unending problems.
Violence and inequality have become the essential texture of
the contemporary world. In such a context, these playwrights want
the workers to devote time and material for personal and spiritual
enrichment. Waging war for material enrichment will not raise them
up. O'Casey urges trade unions to recognize the drama in the life of
people. They are duty bound to encourage the workers and their
children to have direct contact with the living and meaningful
experiences of life and art. Education should also inculcate such
traits in everyone. People should learn that tragedy should be borne
with fortitude and courage. Similarly one should not be over
enthusiastic of comedy too, as both are part of life and has to be
encountered as everyday drama of life. He also maintains that one
should have a liberalized attitude to life and art.
O'Casey's Ireland is a house divided against itself. He wants
the Irish to be saner and sober. Jack Boyle's pronouncement at the
end of the play is strikingly relevant even to the present day Ireland.
He declares to his comic partner that everyone have to steady
themselves and a sober Ireland can only be a free Ireland. The Irish

have lost sobreity and slides into chaos. Juno has earlier urged on her
countrymen to shun hatred and to have eternal love and a feeling
heart. Boyle's friend Joxer in an inebriated condition sings that
everyone has to put their troubles in their kit bag and smile always.
But for Juno, the other two hold the opposite traits. It is in Juno all
these qualities merge as she is capable of thinking non-teleologically.
The vision of life in these plays is ingrained in the following
dictum. Man must change from ignorance, to knowledge and
understanding, from servitude to liberation and freedom, from
worship of wealth to contentment and spiritual growth and from
promoters of violence to propagators of peace and harmony. Change
in society is possible only by internal change. The world is changing
fast and life is not as it had been before. What we call destiny is
simple things and events weaving into life and finally shaping our
ends. These events and incidents that we ignore are part of the
destiny that may uplift or knock us down. A society inculcaring these
virtues only can help usher in the growth of the nations and in turn
harmonious co-existence.
While Odets wants man to learn a lesson from unutterable
sadness, O'Casey is of the view that man must also learn from
familiar experiences and grow. Both are of the conviction that only a

growing man can contribute to the growth of the neighbourhood. One
inculcating such an attitude is a party to the progress of mankind.
One should not be a narrow nationalist or pseudo-religionist, talking
abstractions about God and country. The non-teleological vision of
life while accommodating all these traits also accept the fact that the
ills governing the world are to remain as long as man perpetrates
atrocious deeds.
The life-accepting people in these plays realize that there is
something fundamentally wrong with the system in their respective
countries. Grounds for the sudden economic collapse have been set in
motion over a period of time. It began when men started worshipping
wealth and coveted riches, flouting all ethical norms. The quick
money craze has eaten away the fine fabric of man. Impassioned
observers have not wondered when the Great Crash came and in
Odets's plays they have taken its devastating impact in their stride.
The disparity between the inner vision and the external reality speaks
for why most of the characters respond at a very primal level. Such
characters have no control over the environment, lack knowledge and
understanding of the conditions and thus end tragically. In O'Casey's
plays none of the teleologists are true to their inner-self nor to the
external world. For them, their home as well as the out side world is

a dangerous spot. They themselves engage in ruthless and cynical
battles and align with the forces in conflict with their interests.
The characters who accept non-teleologically take events and
developments as the culmination of what had happened earlier.
Though social activists, they realize that social commitment no
longer works in their environment. Hence they consider martyrdom
as mere, pointless death. In a world of unrelieved decadence and
destruction, they deem it wiser to affirm life by maintaining a saner
attitude. In those who accept everything and willing to live in
harmony, the responsibility is double as they are individuals as well
as responsible members of society. In their considered view,
revolutions and violent upheavals are not solutions. They call for
celebration of life and accept humanity on its own terms. Their soul
grows to accept all.
In the contemporary world while there is a wide gap between
the rich and poor, in the name of religion and nationalism the poor
are weaned away and baptised in a terror culture. While material
deprivation deny the basics, ignorance and superstition speak for
one's mental deprivation. By the mingling of good with evil, man's
mind is confused and his mental and spiritual power benumbed. Thus
he is cast in an unfavourable condition in the world. The non-

teleological vision of life promises that though man is marred by
evils, there is still hope. Truth, honour integrity and purity shall
make him a positive force. He has to draw lessons and renew the
goodness in him. The greatest lesson to be drawn is in selfless
service. Such a vision if inculcated by everyone shall usher in peace
and harmony in this world and the world elsewhere. This is the
drama O'Casey and Odets make out of life.

Norkg QJiipb anb QJonsuli~b

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