Who was it mentioned the argument that Lady Gregory wrote much of Kathleen ni Houlihan?
See this exchange from the Irish Studies list.
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 10:47 EST
From: MCDIARMID@ucis.vill.edu
To: irish-studies@swarthmore.edu
Subject: [ir-st] augusta ni houlihan
just a reminder, inspired by the recent postings about women playwrights and the woman-as-nation trope, that at least 65% (and perhaps more; not all the holograph ms. is available) of "yeats's" play kathleen ni houlihan was written by lady gregory. for the definitive scholarship on that issue, see James Pethica's article "`Our Kathleen': Yeats's
Collaboration with Lady Gregory in the Writing of Cathleen ni Houlihan," Yeats Annual 6, ed. Warwick Gould (London: Macmillan,1988), 3-31.
The part of Kathleen was played by Lady Gregory (in 1919) as well as by Maud Gonne (in the original 1902 performance). AG preferred the "K" spelling.
Lucy McDiarmid
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 14:25:35 -0200
From: susan cannon harris
To: irish-studies@swarthmore.edu
Subject: Re: [ir-st] augusta ni houlihan
Yes, the Pethica article is interesting...from what I remember, Lady Gregory wrote the dialogue for Bridget, Peter, Michael and Delia and Yeats was responsible primarily for the Old Woman's dialogue; I think Lady G. may also have been behind a lot of the decisions about plot structure but I may not be remembering that properly. The division of labor is, of course, interesting--Lady Gregory can speak for the actual peasant women, but when it comes to using Woman as Symbol, Yeats retains control.
Susan C. Harris
scharris@mail.utexas.edu
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 12:12 EST
From: MCDIARMID@ucis.vill.edu
To: irish-studies@swarthmore.edu
Subject: [ir-st] augusta again
actually, the part of the manuscript that is NOT available is the part with most of kathleen's lines, so unless the manuscript turns up it can never be known who wrote what in the last third of the play. it is known, however, that most of the material in kathleen's songs comes directly from versions of ballads gregory had collected -- e.g. [as it is in the play] "yellow-haired Donough"-- and many of the phrases in kathleen's lines echo phrases in stories gregory collected. but the unavailability of the manuscript makes it impossible to say definitively how the collaboration worked.aled.
it's my impression that nationalist women in the period of high cultural nationalism were more concerned about being barred from membership in [male] nationalist organizations than about the gender of the nation. the best source on that issue is Belinda Loftus,
MIRRORS: WILLIAM III & MOTHER IRELAND. . . .
it's useful to remember that, for good or ill, a woman had a hand in the creation of the most influential kathleen. the more activist political women preferred Saint Brigid...
Lucy
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Created: Wednesday, March 20, 1996, 5:59:07 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 20, 1996, 5:59:07 PM