The Gentle Island

by Brian Friel

Genres: Irish Literature

Paperback

Published January 1, 1973

About the author

Brian Friel is a playwright and, more recently, director of his own works from Ireland who now resides in County Donegal.

Friel was born in Omagh County Tyrone, the son of Patrick "Paddy" Friel, a primary school teacher and later a borough councillor in Derry, and Mary McLoone, postmistress of Glenties, County Donegal (Ulf Dantanus provides the most detail regarding Friel's parents and grandparents, see Books below). He received his education at St. Columb's College in Derry and the seminary at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth (1945-48) from which he received his B.A., then he received his teacher's training at St. Mary's Training College in Belfast, 1949-50. He married Anne Morrison in 1954, with whom he has four daughters and one son; they remain married. From 1950 until 1960, he worked as a Maths teacher in the Derry primary and intermediate school system, until taking leave in 1960 to live off his savings and pursue a career as writer. In 1966, the Friels moved from 13 Malborough Street, Derry to Muff, County Donegal, eventually settling outside Greencastle, County Donegal.

He was appointed to the Irish Senate in 1987 and served through 1989. In 1989, BBC Radio launched a "Brian Friel Season", a series devoted a six-play season to his work, the first living playwright to be so distinguished. In 1999 (April-August), Friel's 70th birthday was celebrated in Dublin with the Friel Festival during which ten of his plays were staged or presented as dramatic readings throughout Dublin; in conjunction with the festival were a conference, National Library exhibition, film screenings, outreach programs, pre-show talks, and the launching of a special issue of The Irish University Review devoted to the playwright; in 1999, he also received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Times.

On 22 January 2006 Friel was presented with a gold Torc by President Mary McAleese in recognition of the fact that the members of Aosdána have elected him a Saoi. Only five members of Aosdána can hold this honour at any one time and Friel joined fellow Saoithe Louis leBrocquy, Benedict Kiely (d. 2007), Seamus Heaney and Anthony Cronin. On acceptance of the gold Torc, Friel quipped, "I knew that being made a Saoi, really getting this award, is extreme unction; it is a final anointment--Aosdana's last rites."

In November 2008, Queen's University of Belfast announced its intention to build a new theatre complex and research center to be named The Brian Friel Theatre and Centre for Theatre Research.

Reviews

[Nick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading Brain Friel’s work recently. I hadn’t heard of The Gentle Island and it doesn’t seem to be one of his famous plays, but there was a copy in the city public library. Most of Friel’s plays that I’ve read have their foundations in early 20th Century realism (Chekhov is the usual comparison), but he generally introduces some sort of formal experimentation that breaks down or questions the realism. The Gentle Island is more of a straight realist play. It is set on the island of Inishleen (the Gentle Island) off the west coast of Ireland. The play opens with the population leaving: we hear that there has been a communal decision to abandon the island, the people heading for England or Scotland to make a better living. The exception is the Sweeney family: Manus and his two sons, Philly and Joe, and Philly’s wife Sarah. The play opens with the other islanders heading for the boat to leave, passing the Sweeneys' house. Joe and Sarah take their leave of them while Manus remains in the house. It is an image of a community wrenched apart, the Sweeneys being abandoned – amongst those that pass are Sarah’s parents and Joe’s sweetheart, maybe to never be seen again. Manus is adamant that remaining is the right thing: Philly will fish, Joe will farm. But tensions are discernible: Joe is obviously uncertain about the future alone on the island; when Philly returns from fishing he seems more contented about the other islanders having left, but Sarah is obviously unsatisfied and doesn’t want to remain. These tensions, however, are put aside with the arrival of two holiday makers from Dublin: the middle aged Peter and his younger companion Shane. They provide a distraction for the Sweeneys. Peter enthuses over the island, moved by its beauty, envious of the Sweeneys’ sense of belonging – Shane tends to play the fool and entertain the others. From the text we cannot be certain about the basis of the relationship between Peter and Shane, whether they are a couple or friends. Then, in the pivotal scene, Shane is mending the Sweeneys’ old record player (he is an engineer) and Sarah is talking to him and she suddenly tells him that she will come to him in the night to lie with him – Shane makes light of it, rejecting her. But Shane gets the record player going and when the brothers arrive he goes into a frantic singing and dancing routine with the music: he tries to dance with the men who shake him off, then tries to dance with Sarah who slaps him and then Philly punches him to the ground – this is reminiscent of the dance scene in Friel’s later play Dancing in Lughnasa, a release of suppressed emotion in a hysterical outburst of movement and action. If we return to this scene after following the rest of the narrative it becomes obvious what is happening, but at this point in the play it feels very uncertain – I’m not sure if that creates intrigue or confusion, but it is a powerfully strange scene. Thereafter The Gentle Island changes atmosphere and it becomes an Art Theatre melodrama, reminiscent of Eugene O’Neill or Tennessee Williams – and like nothing else I have come across in Friel’s work: it has the dourness of O’Neill mixed with the sexual hysteria of Williams. I found The Gentle Island a fascinating work, but I wouldn’t say it holds together, finally a strange mishmash of tones and themes. If you don’t know Friel’s work it will not be a good place to start, but if you do it is a fascinating, although unsatisfactory, experience.

[Zan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manus Sweeney, his two sons Philly and Joe, and Philly's wife Sarah stay behind on Inishkeen (the Gentle Island or Island of Lamentation) while the rest of the community leaves for Glasgow, Manchester, or London. Two travelers, Peter and Shane, come from Dublin to tour the island but stay and get to know the Sweeney family. Things turn rapidly from friendly to deadly when Shane rejects Sarah's advances possibly in favor of Philly's.

I didn't know what to expect when diving into this play; I just knew there was a gramophone somewhere so felt I needed to investigate. I didn't dislike the story, though I'm not crazy about it. It reminds me very much of the Blasket biographies and history. The Blaskets were evacuated in the 1950s and yet in some of the biographies it is an idyllic stronghold of Irish peasant life and tradition. Manus Sweeney in this play seems to romanticize the island and refuses to leave, despite the community's decision to evacuate. The final scene of the play suggests that the decision to stay is a futile and sterile one.

The scene with the gramophone is incredibly funny, violent, and disturbing at the same time. Shane manages to fix the gramophone (he's an engineer) and while he's fixing it, Sarah makes her advance. Shane rejects it, then all the main characters enter the scene and Philly begins to beat Shane whilst the later sings "Oh Susanna" along with the gramophone's record. Baffling scene. One I would dearly wish to see performed. I'm sure I will find this scene useful in my study.