On the Evolution of Class Struggle Thought in Sean O’Casey’s Plays

Abstract

Sean O'Casey (1880-1964) is one of the proletarian playwrights in 20th-century Irish literature. Through a careful examination of O’Casey’s plays with close reading, a discernible trajectory in the evolution of class struggle thought can be found. In his early work, The Harvest Festival (1918 or 1919), the protagonist Jack began to develop the thought of class struggle. In The Plough and the Stars (1926), the third play of his “Dublin Trilogy”, O’Casey reflected on the class struggle within the context of Irish nationalism with the portrayal of a marginal character, Covey. By the 1940s, he returned to the theme of class struggle in The Star Turns Red (1940) and Red Roses for Me (1942), demonstrating a deepening exploration. The evolutionary process of class struggle thought exhibited in the plays is essentially a mirror of the playwright’s ideological evolution. The formation of O’Casey’s class struggle thought stems not only from his personal life experiences but also from the international context. Examining O’Casey’s class struggle thought reveals that he is not merely an anti-war playwright as traditionally interpreted, but rather a playwright who attaches great importance to the class struggle as a means to fight for freedom and liberation, thereby providing a more comprehensive interpretation of his political stance.