Translations depicts the cultural take over of Ireland by the British E

Translations depicts the cultural take over of Ireland by the British Empire, yet it cannot be said to be simply pro-Irish.’ Consider this comment. English Literature Coursework- ‘Translations depicts the cultural take over of Ireland by the British Empire, yet it cannot be said to be simply pro-Irish.’ Consider this comment on the play. The Cultural take over of Ireland by the British Empire is a central issue in Translations. Friel examines this issue by describing the effects that certain changes have on individual characters; Irish and English. One may think a play with this issue could not help being biased towards the Irish. However, Friel ‘did not wish to write a play about Irish peasants being suppressed by English sappers.’ In order to ascertain whether he achieves this, we should look to his often complex characters and how they develop throughout the play. and so we must look at individual characters, as Friel does, to see whether this play is pro-Irish or not. Let us take Hugh O’Donnell as the first example. Hugh is portrayed as an intellectual character. He has a wide knowledge of languages and uses a sophisticated choice of words. For instance, when he describes the Irish language he explains that certain other cultures ‘expend on their vocabularies and syntax acquisitive energies and ostentations.’ This is definitely a positive characteristic and can be contrasted to Lancey and Yolland’s ignorance. This can be seen when Lancey misunderstands the Latin statement ‘nonne Latine loquitur’ and tells Jimmy ‘I do not speak Gaelic sir’, making it obvious that he does not speak Latin either. However, when Hugh ‘pours himself another drink’ and his alcohol addiction is apparent the stereotyp... ...land, once again, to represent the attempt of joining two cultures together by his relationship with Maire. However, this joining is doomed to fail just like the couple’s relationship is as, even though Maire and Yolland celebrate what they love about each other’s cultures, thus ignoring their differences, there is still a failure to communicate. This can be seen when Yolland and Maire are having a ‘conversation’ with each other, even though neither speaks the others language, and Yolland explains ‘I’m not going to leave here’, while Maire pleads ‘Take me away with you George’. This represents the inability for all the characters to communicate which results in the supposed death of Yolland. This English soldier is therefore seen as a victim and his questionable murderer appears to be the Irish Manus; although Friel leaves us to decide this for ourselves.