Brian Friel, The Gentle Island

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Tweet Report an Error

The Gentle Island was Brian Friel’s eighth stage play, and premiered on 30 November 1971 at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Although initially the play’s subject appears to be familial and parochial – the lives of the sole survivors of a tiny, island community off the west coast of the Irish Republic, and the impact on them of the arrival of two visitors from the mainland – its concerns are much wider. It explores many of the crucial issues affecting contemporaneous Irish culture, not least questions of identity, sexuality and gender, language and authority.

The play was composed during a period of profound political, cultural and economic crisis on the island of Ireland. Its opening scene depicts the imminent …

2954 words

Citation: Parker, Michael. "The Gentle Island". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 September 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10220, accessed 29 March 2024.]

10220 The Gentle Island 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.