Sean O'Casey And Expressionism

Abstract

IN HIS SURVEY OF SCHOLARSHIP ON German Expressionist Drama, Walter Sokel pointed out the need for studies which would define the relationship of German Expressionism to playwrights of other theaters. This need is particularly felt with O'Casey. Though he is the only major British dramatist to have used Expressionism to any extent throughout his work, and though it is often mentioned that he was influenced by the German movement, he has been generally treated as an "experimenter." It is the thesis of this study that the techniques of Expressionist Drama established by Strindberg and the German writers who followed him are found throughout O'Casey's plays, and more importantly, that his early attempts at Expressionism became a kind of proving ground for his last plays. One finds the techniques of Expressionism in every full-length play from The Plough and the Stars in 1926 to The Drums of Father Ned in 1958, and they figure significantly in the success of the late comedies.