Shaw, Synge, Connolly, and Socialist Provocation

"With great skill, Nelson OCeallaigh Ritschel has constructed a gripping intellectual narrative out of the Irish national debate over socialism that led to the Easter Uprising of 1916."—John A. Bertolini, author of The Playwriting Self of Bernard Shaw

"Ritschel’s reputation as one of the most insightful writers on the interplay of early Irish theatre and the broader culture within which it operated is confirmed again by Shaw, Synge, Connolly, and Socialist Provocation."—Gary A. Richardson, author of American Drama

George Bernard Shaw has always been regarded as a political provocateur and socialist with ideas that reflected a complicated public philosophy. Scholarship abounds on Shaw’s politics, but Nelson Ritschel’s compelling study is the first to explore how Shaw’s presence in Irish radical debate manifested itself not only through his direct contributions but also through the way he and his efforts were engaged by others—most notably by the socially liberal dramatist J. M. Synge and the socialist agitator James Connolly.

Looking closely at such works as In the Shadow of the Glen, John Bull’s Other Island, Playboy of the Western World, and O’Flaherty, V.C., Ritschel opens an important door on the hidden dialogue between these men. The result is a gripping, even suspenseful, narrative of the intellectual march to the Easter Uprising of 1916.