Text

theses

The works of Martin McDonagh can most simply be characterized by an abundance of violence and foul language, combined with a shockingly twisted sense of humor. Gruesome deaths abound for parents, children, priests, and animals, as do creative means of torture and vulgar name-calling. However, there is a wealth of potential value hidden among the violence. Gore provides him with an interesting vehicle with which he is able to drive the reader or viewer through a series of startling events, all of which revolve around the concept of personal identity and an individual’s ability to write his or her own story. In the interest of pursuing authorship, characters may experiment with different “compositional techniques,”resulting in a consistent offering of sex and violence, blended with the small, restrictive stereotype Western Ireland provides.In his Leenane Trilogy, comprised of The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1996), A Skull in Connemara (1997), and The Lonesome West (1997), and incomplete Aran Islands Trilogy, consisting of The Cripple of Inishmaan (1997) and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2003) as well as in his stand-alone piece, The Pillowman (2003), Martin McDonagh concentrates on his characters’ need to redeem themselves from the plague of obscured identity, and the ways in which this redemption can be successfully achieved.

ETD_8166

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Laura  Biesiadecki

doi:10.7282/T33B632W

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.