The Tragedies & Tragic-Comedies

by Lady Gregory

Although Lady Gregory's first plays were comedies, she preferred writing tragedies which she found easier. As Ann Saddlemyer writes in her foreword to this "In the tragic form, with the character of comedy deliberately left out, one could celebrate strength where 'fate itself is the protagonist'. 'You may let your hero kick or struggle, but he is in the claws all the time.' " Lady Gregory wrote five traged­ies, The Gaol Gate, Dervorgilla, Grania, McDonough's Wife and Kincora. Kincora gave her the most trouble in writing, perhaps because, as she herself thought ‘I kept too close to history’', and she had to ask Yeats and Synge for their help. It exists in two versions, the first of which appears in the Appendix of this volume. This volume also contains the Tragic-Comedies, The White Cock­ade, The Canavans, The Image (which with The Gaol Gate was her favourite) and The Deliverer, the only bitter play Lady Gregory ever wrote.

362 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1971

About the author

Irish playwright Lady Isabella Augusta Persse Gregory wrote a number of short plays, including Spreading the News (1904) for the Abbey theater, which she founded and directed from 1904 to 1928.

This Irish dramatist and folklorist with William Butler Yeats and other persons co-founded the Irish literary theatre and wrote numerous short works for both companies. Lady Gregory produced a number of books retelling stories taken from Irish mythology.