Read complete books and articles on: Sean O'Casey

O'Casey, Sean - shôn, 1884–1964, Irish dramatist, one of the great figures of the Irish literary renaissance. A Protestant, he grew up in the slum district of Dublin and was active in various socialist movements and in the rebellions for Irish independence. His first plays, The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924), and The Plough and the Stars (1926), were performed by the Abbey Players with great success. These grim, satiric, and often violent tragicomedies are usually considered O'Casey's most brilliant works. They all treat aspects of the Irish movement for independence, and they are not always kind to the Irish people. The Plough and the Stars, with its unsympathic treatment of the participants in the Easter Rebellion, touched off a riot in the theater, and after this event O'Casey left Ireland for England, never to return. His later plays, more experimental and expressionistic, include The Silver Tassie (rejected by the Abbey Theatre in 1928, but successfully produced in London and New York in 1929), Within the Gates (1934), Purple Dust (1940), Red Roses for Me (1942), and The Bishop's Bonfire (1955). All of O'Casey's plays exhibit a mastery of language and an unsentimental sympathy for the poor. His six autobiographical volumes—I Knock at the Door (1939), Pictures in the Hallway (1942), Drums under the Windows (1945), Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well (1949), Rose and Crown (1952), and Sunset and Evening Star (1954)—were collectively published as Mirror in My House (2 vol., 1956). He also wrote a book of drama criticism, The Green Crow (1956). His collected plays appeared in four volumes in 1949–51.

See biographies by M. B. Marguiles (1970) and by his wife, Eileen O'Casey (1972); studies by R. Hogan (1960) and J. Simmons (1984).

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11 of the Best Books and Articles on: Sean O'Casey

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Green and the Red: Sean O'Casey: The Man and His Plays » Read Now
by Jules Koslow. 126 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...Koslow the green and the red Sean OCasey--the man and his plays Jules Koslow: the green and the red Sean OCasey . . . the man and his plays Jules Koslow the green and the...
2.

Selected Plays of Sean O'Casey ("The Shadow of a Gunman," "Juno and the Paycock," "The Plough and the Stars," "The Silver Tassie," "Within the Gates," "Purple Dust," "Red Roses for Me," "Bedtime Story," and "Time to Go") » Read Now
by Sean O'Casey. 802 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
3.

More Real Than Reality: The Fantastic in Irish Literature and the Arts ("The Uses of the Fantastic in the Later Plays of Sean O'Casey" begins on p. 151) » Read Now
by Donald E. Morse, Csilla Bertha. 272 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

From the ancient texts and medieval illuminated manuscripts to 20th century poetry, painting, drama, stories, and novels, Irish writers and artists have found the fantastic not only congenial but necessary to their art. This collection of fifteen essays focuses on the fantastic in Irish literature...
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From the ancient texts and medieval illuminated manuscripts to 20th century poetry, painting, drama, stories, and novels, Irish writers and artists have found the fantastic not only congenial but necessary to their art. This collection of fifteen essays focuses on the fantastic in Irish literature and the arts, showing how the use of the fantastic mode has allowed Irish writers and artists to express ideas, emotions, and insights not available through the direct imitation of everyday reality. The works of Yeats, Field, Shelley, Synge, Beckett, Swift, Coleridge, and others are examined in incisive chapters written from the point of view of the fantastic.
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4.

The Politics of Irish Drama: Plays in Context from Boucicault to Friel (Chap. 4 "Class and Space in O'Casey") » Read Now
by Nicholas Grene. 312 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

The Politics of Irish Drama analyzes some twenty-five of the best-known Irish plays from those of Dion Boucicault to Sebastian Barry, including works by Shaw, Yeats, Lady Gregory and Beckett. The book looks at political contexts for these plays and, in arguing for the outward-directed nature of...
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The Politics of Irish Drama analyzes some twenty-five of the best-known Irish plays from those of Dion Boucicault to Sebastian Barry, including works by Shaw, Yeats, Lady Gregory and Beckett. The book looks at political contexts for these plays and, in arguing for the outward-directed nature of dramatic representation of Ireland, shows Irish drama to be an international as much as national phenomenon.
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5.

British Drama since Shaw (Chap. 5 "Sean O'Casey") » Read Now
by Emil Roy. 146 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
6.

Ireland, the Great War and the Geography of Remembrance ("Dramatising War: Sean O'Casey's The Silver Tassie" begins on p. 115) » Read Now
by Nuala C. Johnson. 192 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The Irish experience of the Great War, and its commemoration, is the setting for Nuala Johnson's pioneering examination of "the landscape of the national imaginery". Her study represents a major contribution to cultural geography and to the historiography of remembrance. The book combines...
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The Irish experience of the Great War, and its commemoration, is the setting for Nuala Johnson's pioneering examination of "the landscape of the national imaginery". Her study represents a major contribution to cultural geography and to the historiography of remembrance. The book combines theoretical perspectives with original primary research revealing how memory literally occurred in post-1918 Ireland, and the various conflicts and struggles that were both cause and effect of the process.
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7.

Irish Playwrights, 1880-1995: A Research and Production Sourcebook ("Sean O'Casey (1880-1964)" begins on p. 253) » Read Now
by William W. Demastes, Bernice Schrank. 456 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

Irish playwrights such as Sean O'Casey, George Bernard Shaw, and John Millington Synge have made enormous contributions to world drama. This reference provides detailed entries for 32 Irish playwrights active from 1880 to 1995. Each entry includes a biographical sketch, a summary of productions, a...
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Irish playwrights such as Sean O'Casey, George Bernard Shaw, and John Millington Synge have made enormous contributions to world drama. This reference provides detailed entries for 32 Irish playwrights active from 1880 to 1995. Each entry includes a biographical sketch, a summary of productions, a critical assessment of the dramatist's work, and extensive bibliographical information. The volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography.
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8.

Modern Irish Writers: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook ("Sean O'Casey (1880-1964)" begins on p. 300) » Read Now
by Alexander G. Gonzalez. 458 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

This reference provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 70 modern Irish writers. Each entry includes a brief biography, a discussion of the author's major works and themes, an overview of the writer's critical reception, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. An opening...
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This reference provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 70 modern Irish writers. Each entry includes a brief biography, a discussion of the author's major works and themes, an overview of the writer's critical reception, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. An opening essay surveys the critical response to Irish literature after 1885, and an extensive bibliography concludes the volume.
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9.

The Flying Wasp » Read Now
by Sean O'Casey. 200 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
10.

The Green Crow » Read Now
by Sean O'Casey. 306 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
11.

Windfalls: Stories, Poems, and Plays » Read Now
by Sean O'Casey. 202 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library