Irish Antigone and Burying the Dead

Book section

This chapter examines Antigone's popularity in Ireland beginning with the first adaptation by Frank McGuinness in the mid-1980s, and including subsequent adaptations by Tom Paulin, Aidan Carl Matthews, Brendan Kennelly, Pat Murphy (a film version), Seamus Heaney, Conall Morrison, and Owen McCafferty. In a country where ritual lamentation and public burial are live and central traditions, Antigone has served as an embodiment of feminine resistance to colonial oppression and patriarchy. The chapter argues that Antigone is a modern play - and a modern figure - linked with Ireland and its archetypal mythical figures such as Deirdre.

Authors: Macintosh, F

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Host title: Antigone on the Contemporary World Stage
• Publication date: 2011-06-16
• DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586196.003.0004
• ISBN: 9780199586196
• Keywords: Frank McGuinness; Sophocles; Irish theatre; Post-colonial; Greek tragedy; Reception; Classics; Comparative literature; Antigone