On "Half-man" Image And Its Cultural Value In A Crucial Week

Tom Murphy(1935 —)is a non-negligible playwright in the study of contemporary Irish plays.Although it is in the 1980 s when Murphy plays began to be wildly recognized in Ireland,he began his play writing career at the end of the 1950 s.In terms of time,the early plays of Murphy,focusing on the living and mental conditions of Irish low-class people,are deeply rooted in the Irish social and cultural background in the 1950 s and 1960 s,which was an uneasy time with abrupt social change,and this change caused a sort of psychological panic and identity crisis for Irish low-class people.Murphy not only recorded the tragedies in this historical time,but also tried to find ways to transcend these tragedies.His play A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer’s Assistant,written in 1962,is an evidence for his endeavor to be a lighthouse for the Irish low-class people in a time of tragedies as a socially responsible playwright.At present,only limited studies on Murphy plays can be found at home and abroad,for Tom Murphy has not been well received and reasonably valued for a long time.Many foreign scholars tended to focus on his unique writing techniques and universal emotions in A Crucial Week,and some scholars discussed this play from postcolonialism.However,they pay more attention to the depression of Irish people and the negative influence of this time,while it is ignored that Murphy’s endeavor to break the negative influence and to construct individual and national confidence.Moreover,there is no systematic paper exploring Murphy’s A Crucial Week in Chinese academic circle.This thesis focuses on the “half-man” image in Murphy’s A Crucial Week from cultural identity perspective proposed by Stuart Hall.It focuses on the identity problem of Irish low-class people,studies their identity crisis in the 1950 s and 1960 s,explores their rising awareness of individual identity and national identity,and discusses their endeavor to construct individual and national confidence.Finally,what is evidently shown is that Murphy’s A Crucial Week is an enlightenment for reconstructing the identity of Irish low-class people and for building their national confidence.This kind of enlightenment has a big cultural value for this nation.Finally,the value in Murphy plays should be attached with importance.This thesis is divided into four chapters.The first chapter firstly introduces the life of Tom Murphy and his creation of A Crucial Week,and then the related studies on this play are reviewed.Besides,this part explains the purposes,significance and methods of this research.The second chapter discusses the appearance and the connotation of the “half-man” image in A Crucial Week.This study shows that “half-man” is a shared living condition for two groups of Irish low-class people in the 1950 s and 1960 s.In the process of Irish modernization,the unbalance of economic development and differences between nations pushed Irish low-class people onto the “the other” state,which made them fall into a situation of ineffective communication,and then the communication gap was the main reason for the violence among these people.This chapter aims to explain that “half-man” is a sort of experience of being “the other” for Irish low-class people collectively in the 1950 s and 1960 s,and to study their communication gap and violent atmosphere.The third chapter observes “half-man” in the Irish social and historical background.Firstly,the historical and realistic reasons for the appearance of “half-man” are explored,then the reason why “half-man” was proposed in Murphy’s A Crucial Week and the diachrony of this image in Murphy plays are studied.Finally,the influence of being “half-man” is discussed.As a matter of fact,“half-man” can only be observed in Murphy’s A Crucial Week,but “half-man” is not a particular product of the 1950 s and 1960 s.Through Murphy’s later plays,what can be found is that “half-man” is a longtime crisis for Irish low-class people.Thus,this part aims to make it clear that “halfman” is a product of Irish history.Meanwhile,the living condition of “half-man” for Irish low-class people has a long history after the time of the 1950 s and 1960 s.The fourth chapter discusses Murphy’s attitude and possible strategies toward “half-man” in A Crucial Week.Under the shock of traditional and modern cultures,Irish low-class people try to break the identity shackle as “the other”,and go forward to a cultural fusion and hybrid.This chapter aims to explain Murphy’s sharp insight into the identity crisis of Irish low-class people,as well as explain his awareness of constructing individual and national confidence in the process of cultural fusion and hybrid.The last part of this thesis is the conclusion.This part firstly makes a summary to the whole analysis,declaring that “half-man” represents the cultural identity crisis suffered by Irish low-class people collectively.There is an endeavor in A Crucial Week to break the negativity and tragedy caused by this crisis.This play shows that Irish lowclass people and the whole nation should seek for a multicultural and hybrid identity.Although this endeavor in A Crucial Week is still at an immature stage and there is no such specific identity reconstructed in Ireland in the 1950 s and 1960 s,this sort of awareness shown in this play proves that Murphy has a sharp insight into Irish history and reality,and he has a deep concern for the future of Irish people and the nation.Finally,it is not enough to study A Crucial Week just from the perspective of cultural identity.Other aspects like the experimental writing techniques and universal emotions in this play still need more attention and research.