Paddy & Mr Punch: Connections in Irish And English History

by R. Foster (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1993

  $5.79

  This collection of historical essays explores the unique connections between Ireland and England. Amongst the subjects dealt with are: The Irish Question ; varieties of Irishness; the importance of place; famous people, such as Randolph Churchill, Charles Stewart Parnell, Mrs O'Shea, Thackeray, Trollope and Yeats; the making of literary reputations; and - in the last essay, Marginal Men and Micks on the Make - a discussion of the uses of exile, both to and from Ireland. Against the cut and dried stereotypes of Anglo-Irish relations, an overall ambiguity is asserted here, whether the topic under discussion is the flawed structure of the Act of Union, the way words are used in Irish political rhetoric, or the divided allegiances of Parnell, Yeats and Bowen. Other works by Roy Foster include Charles Stewart Parnell: The Man and His Family , Lord Randolph Churchill: A Political Life , Modern Ireland 1600-1972 , The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland and The Sub-Prefect Should Have Held His Tongue: Selected Essays of Hubert Butler .

• Used

  Paperback
  1995

  $3.25

  Elizabeth Bowen, one of the writers considered in this book, described the relationship of Ireland and England as 'a mixture of showing-off and suspicion, nearly as bad as sex'. In these essays Roy Foster explores the patterns of resentment, exploitation, dependence and rejection which were created by centuries of proximity, colonization and emigration. Often seen through the individual experiences of people 'caught' between England and Ireland (a varied gallery including Randolph Churchill, Thackeray, Trollope, Yeats, Parnell and the notorious Mrs O'Shea), these intersections also cut across subjects like the representation of the Irish in Victorian journalism and fiction, the roots of constitutional nationalist agitation, and the making of literary reputations. The last essay, 'Marginal Men and Micks on the Make', is a wide-ranging discussion of the uses of exile, both to and from Ireland. Against the cut and dried stereotypes of Anglo-Irish relations, an overall ambiguity is asserted here, whether the topic examined is the flawed structure of the Act of Union, the way words are used in Irish political rhetoric, or the divided allegiances of Parnell, Yeats and Bowen. These closely linked essays stress assonances as well as dissonances, and provide a commentary on neglected aspects of literary history and national identity.