Episode 4: Revision Notes
These revision notes for ‘Philadelphia, Here I Come’ are for students and teachers of the play, especially for those sitting the CCEA English Literature Unit 2 examination of Drama and Poetry. Feel free to use these notes to guide your examination preparation, and do check out the other articles in this series: Episode 1 on the PLOT, Episode 2 on CONTEXT and Episode 3 on ANALYSING GAR.
AO1 – your own style, accuracy of writing, sophistication, focus on the question and use of the text
- make a clear points to answer the question in a new way at the start of each paragraph. Ensure you support ideas with quotation, then analyse those quotations. Bring in the AO2 and AO4 comments as you go. (i.e. use PEE/PETAR)
- try to ensure you write with clarity – keep proof reading to ensure your paragraphs make sense.
- Add sophisticated phrases to show your confidence in interpreting e.g. It is apparent that …/Indeed, …/In addition, …/
- Always talk about the audience (not the reader) and the play (not the book).
- Refer both to the characters within the play, and the playwright Friel, who has made all of these choices.
- Analysis means offering your interpretation of what the words, phrases, characters, choices etc MEAN and what subtle messages you think Friel is trying to imply. Offering these individual interpretations shows off your skill. Use phrases like: This suggests that …/In my opinion, Gar is presented to the audience as …/
AO2 – analysis of form, structure and language
- Form and dramatic devices:
The play is dramatic in its nature. The characters are the central focus of the play, and the audience’s reaction to them should be considered. So how are dramatic features used to enhance the audience’s experience?
- the two Gars is a big one – getting to hear Gar’s unfiltered thoughts adds huge dramatic impact – dramatic irony (the audience knows more than the other characters about Gar’s thoughts and feelings).
- the use of stage directions gives the director and actors a sense of the mood and atmosphere to be created in each scene. The audience don’t see or hear these stage directions, but they are implied through the acting.
- the use of a very intense time and space – we don’t leave the kitchen and bedroom of the O’Donnell house except in memories – the action is very tightly packed into one night, giving a sense of increased dramatic tension
- the use of staging and set – the sparse set suggests two things: life in the O’Donnell household lacks luxury, play time, enjoyment, softness which would all be offered by more personal effects and soft furnishings. It also indicates the playwright’s choice to focus on character development rather than set.
- the use of music contrasts with the silence of S.B. Gar likes to play records in his room, subtly referring to the contrast between the younger generation in Ireland who were influenced by popular culture which seeped across from America vs the older, more traditional generation who were use to a more austere lifestyle orientated around work and the church. The generational clash is evident in the play.
- Dramatic irony, when the audience knows more than the characters, for example when S.B. speaks of his memories of Gar to Madge
- Structure:
- The play is organised into Episodes (Episode I, Episode II, Episode III part 1 and Episode III part 2) with an interval between Episodes I and II, and II and III.
- The scenes are a mixture of present time (the night before Gar’s departure for Philadelphia) and flashbacks in the form of Gar’s memories, for example the flashback to the night he and Kate went to her father, and the memory of Lizzie and Con’s visit.
- The present day scenes all take place in the O’Donnell house, with a series of visitors giving the audience a picture of Gar’s life and relationships. This series of visits add structure to the play.
- The unresolved ending – does Gar go to Philadelphia in the end? The audience are left unsatisfied.
- The climax of the play (the highest point of tension) is linked to the central relationship in the play: Gar and S.B. Gar has been struggling to speak openly and meaningfully to his father and finally musters up the courage to speak to him about a childhood memory. This is the climax of the play, but it quickly dissipates as S.B. does not remember the boat being the same colour. Gar is left feeling disappointed, lonely and angry at his father.
- Language:
- The use of colloquial language creates a believable world, recreates Ireland on the stage
- Look at the length of the speeches as the variety is interesting. When around S.B, The Canon, the boys, contrast between the lengthy, emotive speeches of Private vs the short, often grumpy and terse utterances of Public. Note the contrast in Gar’s speech and mood when around female characters such as Kate and Lizzie, where Gar feels relaxed and shows love/affection vs the more withdrawn speeches we see around the male characters which whom his relationships seem always to be have stilted and shallow.
- The use of negative language for S.B. and the Canon
- The contrast between Public Gar’s affectionate language towards Kate in the flashback and Private Gar’s sarcastic and insulting language towards her highlights the change in their relationship.
- Repeated refrains such as the references to the Queen of France (a tool used by Gar to calm himself when feeling agitated and to remind himself not to over-romanticise the past)
AO4 – analysis of context
- Cultural and Religious context – Ireland controlled by Catholic Church – strict rules on sex, marriage, lifestyle, etc (not necessarily seen as consistent – look closely at Private’s criticism of the Canon and his trips to Tenerife each year, his small time gambling with S.B. etc)
- Economic context – stratified society – the more respectable families i.e. the Doogan family who are wealthier, more important, well respected vs the working class i.e. Gar, who does not have money or high social status to speak for him. Presents a problem when Gar and Kate want to marry – they come from different worlds. Kate is used to economic security and can’t see how she could survive on Gar’s meagre wages.
- Emigration and Ireland vs America – Ireland is presented as quiet, limited, stratified, religious and small (Ballybeg = small town). America is presented as noisy, full of opportunity, opportunities for everyone to move up the social ladder, liberal and huge. Ideas of Hollywood glamour and job opportunities make America seem truly like a land full of promise. The choice Gar faces was the same for many at the time. In real life, over 500,000 people emigrated to America in the decade leading up to the setting of the play highlighting the relevance of this play for many, especially young people, at the time. Friel speaks to his own culture.
There is plenty of information available on the context of the play in this ThinkLit article outlining life in Ireland in the 1960s.
Character symbolism
Madge Mulhern
- Madge = maternal figure. Madge fills some of the gap left by Gar’s late mother Maire. Madge’s official role is housekeeper, but she is more of a surrogate mother to Gar and friend to S.B. She represents the traditional role of women in 1960s Ireland: she lives exclusively in a domestic sphere and her value is in the home context.
Lizzie Sweeney
- Lizzie = American exuberance. Lizzie also attempts to fill the gap left by her sister Maire, going so far as to say, “Oh Gar, my son – ”. Lizzie represents those who have already emigrated to America. She is full of emotion, she is free of the restrictions of the culture of Ireland for example, she drinks during her visit to the O’Donnell house, and she speaks of the opportunities, job prospects and new friendships that America has offered her.
S.B. O'Donnell
- S.B. = the old guard, the traditional, working, uncommunicative, emotionless man of rural Ireland in the 1960s. As the stage directions tell us, he is “a responsible, respectable citizen” but he never lets his emotions surface: he has suffered loss but doesn’t speak of it, he loves his son but never tells him, he values Madge but doesn’t show it. Gar can predict his every move and word, showing that S.B. is completely set in his ways, and neither Gar nor the audience expect him to change.
The Boys
- The boys = young, laddish behaviour. Their superficial friendship offers no comfort to Gar on his last night. Their stories are not only false recollections of their antics, they do not focus on Gar or anything meaningful. Rather, they focus deliberately on meaningless memories rather than allow their conversation to touch on anything raw or real.
Master Boyle
- Master Boyle = education. Boyle’s drinking, love of poetry, failed attempts at love and relationship along with his shabby clothes and the description of him as ‘defiant’ represent the good intentions but underwhelming outcomes of the Irish education system. Boyle once dated Gar’s mother Maire, and holds memories of her that Gar is desperate for, and he is the only character to tell Gar he will miss him. Ultimately Boyle is not a character who reflects any hope for Gar’s future in Ballybeg: his request for money for drink from his former student is pathetic and offers no way out for Gar, despite the affection Gar has for Boyle.
Canon Mick O'Byrne
- Canon Mick O’Byrne = the church. The Canon is resented by Friel as repetitive, monotonous, predictable, ignorant, hypocritical and ultimately unhelpful. Gar humorously predicts every word the Canon says, subtly echoing the repetitive nature of church services. Gar accuses the Canon of being a hypocrite, gambling with S.B. in the evenings and spending money on foreign holidays – five weeks every winter! The worst accusation from Gar is that the Canon’s whole job is to reconcile people and mend relationships, and that while he is perfectly placed to help S.B. to communicate with Gar, that he is blind to the issues and reluctant to engage in any meaningful pastoral care, too busy playing cards.
Kate Doogan
- Kate Doogan = the class system. Kate is in love with Gar, but can’t help but show her social status by exclaiming that they couldn’t possibly live on Gar’s income. While she is a kind, warm-hearted girl, she is used to a social status and economic security that Gar can’t provide for her. Subtly, we see Gar register this in his comment on his own clothing when she brings him to talk to her father, and much less subtly when Senator Doogan makes it clear that Kate is going to marry well.
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