The Inner Seas in Deirdre of the Sorrows by John Millington Synge (1909)

Abstract

From the ancient story preserved in the 12th century Book of Leinster to 20th century versions, Longes mac nUislenn (The Exile of the Sons of Usnach) has been told and retold. It is a story of travel from Ireland to Scotland and back to Ireland again after seven years of exile. Deirdre of the Sorrows (1909) is John Millington Synge’s highly lyrical version. It adds a philosophical aspect to the myth and deals with Irish identity, at a time when the Celtic Revival was strongly expressed by artists. In the awakening of the Modern era, the story was rewritten by Irish authors, Synge and William Butler Yeats, as well as by a Scottish writer, Fiona McLeod (William Sharp). Thus, not only is the area of the inner seas present within the story of Deirdre itself, but also it appears to be an important feature in the mapping of the authorial history of the tale, as a metacharacteristic, imbedded, deeply rooted, always present. This paper aims to show that it plays an essential part in a story which has become, through the ages, a quest for meaning and identity.