‘It was then I knew life’: Political Critique and Moral Debate in Teresa Deevy's Temporal Powers (1932)

Abstract

This article argues that Teresa Deevy's early plays for the Abbey Theatre deliberately intervened in the cultural politics of the Irish Free State. While the focus here is on Temporal Powers (1932), Deevy's first two Abbey productions, The Reapers (1930) and A Disciple (1931), are also considered. Taken together, this article demonstrates how these plays present a striking critique of the new state under the Cumann na nGaedhael administration. Set in 1927, during the Land Annuities crisis, Temporal Powers meditates on the relationship of poor tenant labourers to the land and society they inhabit. In it, Deevy explores themes such as eviction, homelessness, emigration, justice, religion, grief, and poverty. This article introduces this little-known play, contextualises it, and discusses her treatment of key themes through an examination of characters, Shavian influences, dramatic structure and form.