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Submitted by seanie4018 on December 14, 2005
Category: English
Words: 3280 | Pages: 14
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“Good or Bad, It’s Better to Be Criticized than Be Ignored”
Brendan Behan has been described as a Dublin citizen who has worn many a hat. Some of these hats include that of a house painter, a drunkard, an acknowledged member of the I.R.A., and finally a playwright and novelist. A staunch nationalist and self-proclaimed “messenger” (Boyle 38) for the I.R.A., Behan experienced first hand the strife and complications of Ireland’s underground struggle against the rule of England, and many of his plays relate back to his experiences through military settings and themes. Behan’s two most popular works that Behan produced were “The Quare Fellow” and “The Hostage.” Both of these plays contain themes that repeat throughout Brendan’s other works, such as the negative effects of human cruelty, the struggle for one’s self-image, and the unpredictable and shapeless nature to society.
Brendan Behan, born into a lower class family in the tenements of Dublin, was raised with strong nationalistic beliefs. Brendan was officially accepted into the I.R.A. at the age of fourteen, and shortly thereafter began performing certain tasks. At the age of seventeen, Brendan was arrested in Liverpool for being involved in the I.R.A. In his possession police found explosives and a full “Sinn Fein’s conjuror’s outfit” (Borstal Boy). However, when Brendan Behan began writing his more popular plays, the strong-willed nationalist of his younger years came across to audiences as a playwright struggling to find any sort of cohesiveness or even plot in his plays. His most famous and acclaimed works were based on the time he spent in jail after his I.R.A. offenses. The traditional makeup of English theatre was shattered by plays like “The Quare Fellow” and ”The Hostage” or “An Gaill” as it was initially named when it was written in Gaelic. Brendan Behan creates a contemporary and isolated world in each of his plays. This...
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