In this ‘literary companion,’ Kopper includes excellent chapters devoted to (1) brief biography and chronology, (2) Synge’s prose, (3) each of his six plays, (4) poems, (5) use of Christian and pagan motifs, (6) use of Irish mythology, (7) literary influences on Synge, (8) Synge’s relationship to the Irish Literary Renaissance, (9) Synge’s language of women, (10) his use of language generally, and (11) an assessment of Synge’s achievement. In addition, Kopper includes a superb select bibliography; a detailed list (with annotation) of characters, locales, and motifs; and stage histories of Synge’s plays… . Strongly recommended all libraries–academic and public–maintaining 20th-century Anglo-Irish literature collections or general drama/theater collections. Choice
This companion to Synge’s work covers the important issues in Synge criticism from about 1900 to the present day. Each essay includes a bibliography, and a general bibliography follows. Also included are a brief chronology; a glossary of characters, locales, and motifs; and representative stage histories which also describe productions of Synge’s plays in Ireland, the United States, and several other countries. The final essay is the editor’s assessment of Synge’s overall contribution, and the volume concludes with a general index. This work takes into account the prominence that Synge and other writers of the Irish Renaissance have attained in recent years in the worldwide academic community. The essays deal with Synge’s use of language, his place in the Irish Renaissance, his reputation abroad, the forces that influenced his thought and writing, and the foreign productions of his plays. Each essay supplements the author’s analysis with bibliographical citations and a synthesis of previous Synge criticism in order to allow for further research.
By combining thorough coverage of the basic issues and sources of Synge criticism with fresh approaches provided by a group of distinguished scholars, Kopper has produced an important study of Synge and his milieu. It should prove valuable for college and university courses in modern literature and the Irish Renaissance, modern drama, and the theatre.
