Brian Friel's Implausible Missionary Priest in Dancing at Lughnasa.

What is it about?

Brian Friel's enormously popular play Dancing at Lughnasa has been widely discussed as a memory play. Critics frequently analyze the way Michael's narration shapes the story he tells of five unmarried sisters living together in 1930's Donegal. Fewer critics, however, focus on Michael's representation of Father Jack, the missionary priest who returns after twenty-five years in Uganda. A articulate anthropological observer who is more changed by the Ugandans than they are by him, Father Jack defies the image of the missionary imperialist. Indeed, his portrayal conflicts with historical records.

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