The Quare Fellow & The Hostage

by Brendan Behan

THE QUARE FELLOW, a tragi-comedy, is set in an Irish prison on the eve of an execution. Beneath the gallows humour and the farce, Behan has written a savage indictment against the bestiality of capital punishment.

THE HOSTAGE is set in a disreputable Dublin lodging house, where a young Cockney soldier is being held as hostage in reprisal for an I.R.A. man who is to be hanged. The play is a witty and profound comment on Anglo-Irish relations and the Irish themselves, full of rollicking comedy, satirical songs, and ballads.

Genres: Drama, Plays, Irish Literature, Theatre, Fiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Early association with the Irish republican army and experiences in prison influenced works, including The Quare Fellow , the play of 1954, and the autobiographical Borstal Boy in 1958 of Brendan Francis Behan, writer.

Brendan Francis Behan composed poetry, short stories, and novels in English. He also volunteered.

A mother in the inner city of Dublin bore Brendan Francis Behan into an educated class family. Christine English, his grandmother, owned a number of properties in the area and the house on Russell street near Mountjoy square. Peadar Kearney, his uncle and author of song and the national anthem, also lived in the area. Stephen Behan, his father, acted in the war of independence, painted houses, and read classic literature to the children at bedtime from such sources as Émile Zola, John Galsworthy, and Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant; Kathleen Behan, his mother, took them on literary tours of the city. From father, interest of Behan in literature came; his mother originated his political ideas. She politically acted in all her life and personally befriended Michael Collins. Brendan Behan lamented "The Laughing Boy" at the age of thirteen to Collins. His mother gave the affectionate nickname, the title, to Collins. Kathleen published "Mother of all the Behans," a collaboration with Brian Behan, another son, in 1984.

Peadar Kearney, uncle of Brendan Francis Behan, composed Amhrán na bhFiann , the national anthem. People best knew "The Patriot Game," the song of Dominic Behan, his also renowned brother; Brian Behan, another sibling, a prominent radical political activist, spoke in public, acted, and authored. Brendan and Brian shared not the same views, especially when the question of politics or nationalism arose. Brendan on his deathbed presumably in jest asked Cathal Goulding, then the chief of staff, to "have that bastard Brian shot—we've had all sorts in our family, but never a traitor!"

From a drinking session, Brendan Francis Behan at the age of eight years in 1931 returned home on one day with his granny and a crony, Ulick O'Connor recounts. A passerby remarked, "Oh, my! Isn't it terrible ma'am to see such a beautiful child deformed?" "How dare you", said his granny. "He's not deformed, he's just drunk!"

Brendan Francis Behan left school at 13 years of age to follow in footsteps of his father as a house painter.

Reviews

[Matteo Celeste]

3.5, in realtà... Interessanti queste due commedie, che richiedono tuttavia un apparato di note, per fortuna esistente in questa edizione, che chiarisca i riferimenti "irlandesi" che Behan fa. Ho trovato simpaticissime le parole del The Observer, riportate nella prima pagina a presentazione dell'opera di Behan: «Sebbene L'ostaggio sia più divertente di dieci commedie musicali moltiplicate per il quadrato di Somerset Maugham, l'effetto complessivo è di una grande serietà. Ma, come disse Chesterton, solo le cose serie valgono la pena di riderci sopra».

[Ryan Howell]

This might be one of those things where you need to be fully knowledgeable of the source material to make any sense of the play. Without a great working knowledge of Irish culture and history, I felt a little lost at times at what exactly was occurring. I'm sure a lot of the jokes and context went completely over my head.

I did enjoy "The Quare Fellow" a lot more than "The Hostage" though...

[Havva]

Five stars for "The Quare Fellow" and three for "The Hostage", and another five stars for the song "The Auld Triangle" from the quare fellow.