29 pages • 58 minutes read
Dancing At Lughnasa
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Paganism vs Catholicism
Dancing at Lughnasa explores the tension between two opposing forces: the world of duty and morality (aligned with Catholicism), and the escapist world of fantasy (aligned with paganism). As a staunch Catholic and the head of the family, Kate opposes distractions from their day-to-day responsibilities, and she resents the Marconi’s “aul pagan songs” (35) that lead to romantic thoughts, dancing, and self-abandonment. She opposes the traditional pagan Irish celebration of Lughnasa, referring to the back-hills inhabitants as savages. Describing the Festival of Lughnasa as a “fever” that has infected the town, Kate positions herself and her faith as the antidote for pagan desires. However, much like the quinine that “won’t cure” Jack’s malaria but rather “help to contain it” (11), it is clear that Kate—and the Catholicism she represents—cannot control the rising “fever” of her family.
Furthermore, Jack’s descriptions of Ugandan rituals illustrate that this “fever” extends far beyond Ballybeg, Ireland, and that many of their traditions are very similar. Jack relates the celebration of a Ugandan harvest festival that revolves around drinking and dancing, much like the Festival of Lughnasa. He describes Ugandan households like their own wherein multiple women raise “lovechildren” (40) like Michael. He also (unconsciously) suggests that the binary of paganism versus Catholicism is much foggier than Kate believes it to be, and that pagan ideas bleed into Irish Catholicism. For example, Jack contemplates their deceased mother’s belief in “ancestral spirits,” to which Kate anxiously replies, “Mother was a saintly woman who knew she was going straight to heaven” (39).
Change and Precarity
Kate’s anxiety over pagan escapism and abandonment of responsibility stems from her family’s precarious financial position. As a parish school teacher, Kate is the only family member with a job and a stable source of income. She recognizes that her position depends on her family’s clean reputation with the Catholic church. Furthermore, she understands the importance of saving everything they can—including the money earned from Agnes and Rose’s glove-knitting venture—and warns against the danger of frivolous spending. This danger is closely aligned with the fanciful, romantic desires that Kate associates with paganism, positioned as a cycle: if they embrace the romance of “those aul pagan songs” (35), they will forget their place in Ballybeg’s socioeconomic hierarchy; if they forget their place, they’ll begin to spend on extravagances the family can’t afford, such as cosmetics, chocolate biscuits, and the radio itself; if they become distracted by extravagances and forget their responsibilities, they will lose their respectability in the eyes of the church and community; if they lose their respectability, Kate will lose her job and they will descend even lower on Ballybeg’s socioeconomic hierarchy. Thus, Kate’s constant dread of the family’s precarity builds to its apex when she watches Christina and Gerry dancing: “You work hard at your job. You try to keep the home together. You perform your duties as best you can…And then suddenly, suddenly you realize that hair cracks are appearing everywhere; that control is slipping away…It’s all about to collapse…” (35).
True to Kate’s reflection, the family is dramatically altered by changes occurring on the macro level in Ireland. The late-arriving Industrial Revolution brings factories to the area, which displace the cottage glove business of Rose and Agnes. Because Agnes and Rose refuse to work in the factory, they begin a steady process of socioeconomic disintegration, moving from low-paying temporary jobs to substance-dependency and homelessness.
The Experience of Memory
Dancing at Lughnasa is a memory play defined by Michael’s gauzy recollection of a period in his life that already felt surreal. He opens the play with reflections on the nature of memory, explaining that the strange images of his mother and sisters “screaming” and Jack “shuffling from room to room” evoked a tension between “what seemed to be and what was” (2), and that in a sense, these moments felt like “memories” even while they were happening around him. In Michael’s imagination, the Marconi radio feels “linked” (2) to Jack, and both serve as vehicles through which memory is explored. The sputtering quality of the Marconi’s music mimics the staticky nature of Jack’s recollection as he tries to separate Uganda from Ireland, Swahili from English, and past from present.
Unlock all 29 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
