1. The Plough and the Stars
Sean O’Casey

3. ACT 1

4. Act 1 supplies the audience with important background information about the various characters and their relationships with one another.
It also supplies the audience with important information on the social and political scene in Dublin in the months before the Easter Rising

5. The poverty and hardships of tenement life are obvious
The poverty and hardships of tenement life are obvious. Mollser is suffering from TB, a fatal disease that was very common among the poor slum-dwellers of the city.

6. There is a lot of argument about religion, politics, socialism and nationalism which reveals something about the various characters and the growing tensions in society.

7. The scene contains some humorous moments such as Fluther’s nervousness at having a slight cold when teased by Mrs. Gogan. There is humour also in The Covey’s constant teasing of Uncle Peter.

8. The serious conflict between Jack and his wife Nora is the climax of the scene.
It is clear that Jack is acting out of pride and not nationalism.

9. The presence of Bessie Burges reminds the audience that not everyone in Ireland is a Catholic Nationalist supporting the cause of Irish freedom. There are also people who believe in the union with Britain.

10. The audience is also reminded of the fact that the First World War is taking place in Europe with many Irishmen involved.

11. There is a contrast between the humorous first half of Act 1 and the second half.

12. Act 1 ends with Mollser’s wry observation reflecting the fact that the world is a chaotic place were nobody appears to be acting in a sensible manner.

13. ACT 2

14. Act II shows us how passionate rhetoric (speech) can draw ordinary people into supporting violent actions.

15. There are two types of violence evident in this Act
There are two types of violence evident in this Act. On the one hand there is the glorification of violent revolution as a means of securing Irish independence while on the other hand there is the ugly reality of grown men and women brawling and acting aggressively in a public house.

16. In this Act all the characters with the exception of Rosie display an aggressive side to their personalities. Perhaps this is a reflection of the harsh reality of their lives. Maybe they need to present a tough side of their nature to the world in order to survive.

17. There is a major difference between the posturing of Peter, The Covey and Fluther and the more dangerous attitudes of the armed and uniformed officers Brennan, Langon and Clitheroe who are being influenced by the rabble-rousing. Brennan, Langon and Clitheroe will soon reach a point where they will be willing to kill or be killed for the cause.

18. O’Casey is presenting the contrast between the romantic myth of the glorious fight for freedom and the vision of a free Ireland and the harsh realities of life in the slums which includes drunkenness, petty squabbling, prostitution and poverty.

19. ACT III

20. In Act III the petty violence, bickering and posturing that had been evident in the first two Acts finally erupts onto the stage in a major way with the extreme violence of the Easter Rising.

21. The rebel soldiers including Clitheroe, Brennan and Langon are depicted as being less than heroic. They come across as selfish, mean- spirited or cold-hearted people in the main. Clitheroe is concerned about his reputation, Brennan is willing to shoot his fellow Irishmen and Irishwomen as looters and Langon regrets the fact that everyone else is “escapin’ an’ me getting’ me belly ripped apart.”

22. The play is essentially a love story
The play is essentially a love story. The play also raises serious questions about the role of violence in securing political or social change. O’Casey is questioning its aims and highlighting its effect on ordinary people. These two themes come together in Act III.

23. Jack Clitheroe is forced to choose between loyalty to his comrades and his responsibilities as a husband to his pregnant wife who dearly loves him.

24. Comedy and tragedy is carefully balanced throughout the play and particularly in Act III.

25. Bessie emerges as being brave and caring, a true hero, despite her constant taunting of her neighbours.

26. Act IV

27. In Act IV Nora loses everything: her baby, her husband and her mind.

28. Bessie loses her life trying to help Nora

29. Captain Brennan, the one who brought the nest of Jack Clitheroe’s promotion in Act I, more than likely abandoned Jack in his dying moments.

30. Fluther, for all his faults, acts bravely when bravery is required
Fluther, for all his faults, acts bravely when bravery is required. He went off to organise Mollser’s funeral when it was dangerous to go outside

31. The British soldiers are portrayed as ordinary men doing their own duty and losing comrades. They are, like everybody else, just longing to return home.

32. In the end the feeling is that life goes on no matter what happens.

33. The audience is left wondering if the Rising was worthwhile when faced with such human suffering.

34. Key Themes: Relationships

35. A suggestion of a fractured relationship?
From the opening scene of the play, there is a suggestion that Nora’s relationship with her husband, Jack, contains conflicting elements.
Mrs Gogan’s reference to the ‘kissin’ an’ cuddlin’ and the ‘billin’ an’ cooin’ of the young couple is quickly followed by hints that the love between them may be waning.
Speaking no doubt from a bitter perspective, she grimly concludes that ‘afther a month or two, th’ wondher of a woman wears off’.

36. A complex relationship from the opening scene
Fluther, the tenement philosopher, notices that the couple ‘seem to get on well together’ but adds his own whimsical realism by suggesting that if a man’s love for a woman dies ‘it’s usually beginning’ to live in another’.
The fact that O’Casey opens the play with such a strong emphasis on this apparently contradictory, complex relationship between the Clitheroes is an indication of its importance in the play as a whole.

37. Jack’s resentment towards Nora
The Clitheroe’s relationship is later shown to be complicated by the conflict between their opposing value systems.
Despite Jack’s spirited defence of Nora when Bessie Burgess attacks her, Nora is clearly resentful of his desire to attend the meetings of the Citizen Army.
Jack’s own resentment at what he considers to be her controlling behaviour is vehemently expressed in his claim that Nora was ‘always’ at him to give up the Citizen Army and that he had given it up for her.

38. Nora’s desperation to protect her marriage and home from conflict
However, Nora is quite well aware the Jack only gave it up because he was not appointed Captain: ‘It wasn’t for my sake, Jack’.
Although this brief argument resolves amicably, with Jack singing a love song for his wife, the tension escalates when he learns about the letter concerning his military promotion which she withheld from him and destroyed.

39. Nora’s rage as she defends her actions is extremely telling: ‘Is your home goin’ to be only something’ to provide with merry-makin’ at night for you?’
When Jack angrily leaves, telling her not to wait up for him, her retort: ‘I don’t care if you never come back!’ is more an expression of her frustration than any real desire to be separated from her husband.

40. The glory of war over loyalty to family?
It is in this exchange that we see O’ Casey emphasising one of the major issues of the play which relate to the importance of the home and the marital relationship as opposed to war and destruction.
Jack is attracted by war, associating it with heroism and glory, whereas Nora seeks an escape from the poverty of the tenements in order to establish what she considers to be a respectable home for the family.

41. Nora’s refusal to sacrifice her husband to war
As the play progresses, the relationship of the Clitheroes becomes even more complex.
Nora refuses to let go of Jack or of her dreams for the future and, defying obvious danger, follow her husband to bring him home.
She cannot accept that any woman willingly sacrifices her husband: ‘…if they say it, they’re lyin’, against God, Nature, an’ against themselves!’

42. Key Theme: Marriage

43. It is through the characters of Nora and Jack Clitheroe that O’Casey explores the theme of marriage in depth in this play.
What we learn from The Plough and the Stars is that marriage can bring great joy and fulfilment but it is fragile and this happiness can be destroyed by strong outside pressures or by the behaviour and attitudes of a spouse.

44. Nora is obviously happy being a wife with her own place to live with her new husband but she is keenly aware that the outside world has a way of impinging on domestic bliss.
When the play opens Fluther is fixing the lock on the door of the flat. It is one of Nora’s futile (useless) efforts at keeping the troubles of the world at bay.

45. Political upheaval and war destroy Nora’s chance of happiness and fulfilment in her marriage.
It is Jack’s pride and vanity that drives him to become involved in the Rising with his comrades in the Citizen Army. His male pride is a major factor in the destruction of his marriage to Nora.

46. It is interesting to note that the majority of the characters in the play are single and that poverty, disease, death, politics, war and male pride all combine to destroy any chance of happiness for those who married- Jack, Nora, Mrs. Gogan and Bessie Burgess.

47. Marriage should be a great institution celebrating love, continuity, companionship and domestic happiness but the external world with its violence, political upheaval and poverty is set on destroying any chance marriage might have of surviving in The Plough and the Stars

48. The Clitheroe marriage was a happy one at first
The Clitheroe marriage was a happy one at first. Fluther remarks that “they seem to get on quite well together.”
The gossipy Mrs. Gogan suggests that the relationship between Jack and Nora has cooled somewhat recently and she is proved to be correct in her assessment.

49. Beneath her confident exterior at the start of the play Nora is actually nervous and anxious because she is afraid that her husband will get caught up in the increasing political tensions.

50. Nora destroyed a letter that was delivered to their flat telling Jack that he had been promoted to Commandant because she knows this will draw him back into the Citizens Army activities.

51. The young couple find themselves alone in the flat and they try to put their differences aside and begin to kiss. This is a key scene because it shows that the young married couple could have found happiness were it not for the political instability of the times.
However, there is also the issues of Jack’s pride and his desire to be important when he is also a threat to their happiness. This surfaces when he learns he has been promoted to Commandant.

52. When the fighting