The Significance of Sarah, Jimmy and Doalty in Translations
The Significance of Sarah, Jimmy and Doalty
Doalty, Sarah and Jimmy Jack Cassie have three main roles in
Translations. Firstly, they represent those Irish people who will be left behind during the development of the country by the English.
Secondly, they all contribute to the concluding scene and its outcome.
And thirdly, they all in some way represent Ireland as a whole.
Unlike Maire and Owen, none of these three characters has any desire to leave Baile Beag. When Jimmy Jack sets out on a spring morning in
1798 with Hugh to join the rebellion he, like Hugh, soon feels homesick and returns eagerly to where he feels he belongs "And it was there in Phelan 's pub" reminisces Hugh "that we got homesick for
Athens, just like Ulysses. "The desiderium nostrorum - the need for our own".
Jimmy Jack, the peasant scholar, is a personification of a past, idealised Ireland - when Ireland kept alive the light of learning during Europe 's Dark Ages. His "filthy" clothes, and shabby exterior are compensated for by the inner richness of his cultivated mind.
Again he is like Ireland, materially poor but possessed of cultural wealth. Yolland appreciates both Jimmy Jack 's knowledge and the
"different order" of experience presented by Irish culture.
For Jimmy Jack, the classics and everyday life are interwoven. For the lonely, ageing man, the gods of Greece and Rome move as easily around
Baile Beag as they do around Ancient Rome and Athens. He even turns to the classics for practical tips on farming, telling Doalty that he should follow the advice given in Book Two of Virgil 's Georgics and give his upper field over to corn rather than potatoes.
Although Jimmy Jack is obviously quite capable of learning English, as he has managed to learn the more complicated languages of Latin and
Greek, he does not seem to want to learn English. His knowledge of
English and England itself is minimal - to him they are unimportant
Doalty, Sarah and Jimmy Jack Cassie have three main roles in
Translations. Firstly, they represent those Irish people who will be left behind during the development of the country by the English.
Secondly, they all contribute to the concluding scene and its outcome.
And thirdly, they all in some way represent Ireland as a whole.
Unlike Maire and Owen, none of these three characters has any desire to leave Baile Beag. When Jimmy Jack sets out on a spring morning in
1798 with Hugh to join the rebellion he, like Hugh, soon feels homesick and returns eagerly to where he feels he belongs "And it was there in Phelan 's pub" reminisces Hugh "that we got homesick for
Athens, just like Ulysses. "The desiderium nostrorum - the need for our own".
Jimmy Jack, the peasant scholar, is a personification of a past, idealised Ireland - when Ireland kept alive the light of learning during Europe 's Dark Ages. His "filthy" clothes, and shabby exterior are compensated for by the inner richness of his cultivated mind.
Again he is like Ireland, materially poor but possessed of cultural wealth. Yolland appreciates both Jimmy Jack 's knowledge and the
"different order" of experience presented by Irish culture.
For Jimmy Jack, the classics and everyday life are interwoven. For the lonely, ageing man, the gods of Greece and Rome move as easily around
Baile Beag as they do around Ancient Rome and Athens. He even turns to the classics for practical tips on farming, telling Doalty that he should follow the advice given in Book Two of Virgil 's Georgics and give his upper field over to corn rather than potatoes.
Although Jimmy Jack is obviously quite capable of learning English, as he has managed to learn the more complicated languages of Latin and
Greek, he does not seem to want to learn English. His knowledge of
English and England itself is minimal - to him they are unimportant
Bibliography: ============ www.greenhead.ac.uk/beacon/english/friel_ Greenhead College Study Notes: Brian Friel 's 'Translations ' - Characterisation in Act 1 - Parallels between Act One and Act Three (Comparisons and Contrasts) - Brief background history How to Cite this Page MLA Citation: "The Significance of Sarah, Jimmy and Doalty." 123HelpMe.com. 13 Oct 2012 <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=102806>.