The Countess Cathleen (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Butler Yeats
- First Published: 1892
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Allegory
- Time of Work: Indeterminate
- Setting: Ireland
- Principal Characters: Countess Cathleen, Oona, Aleel, Shemus Rua, Mary, Teigue, Two Demons
- Genres: Drama, Symbolist literature
- Subjects: Folkloric or magical people, Supernatural, Legends, Folklore, Allegory, Disasters, Natural disasters, Devils or demons, Ireland or Irish people, Monsters, Peasantry or peasants, Nobility, Evolution, Celtic Twilight, Celts, Famines
- Locales: Ireland
The Story:
During a famine, an Irish peasant family was talking about strange creatures that had appeared, portents that evil supernatural forces were abroad in the land. The Countess Cathleen and her companions arrived, searching for the way to her castle. The peasants bitterly complained to her of their state, and she gave them what she had left in her purse after previous charity to other starving folk. She invited the family to her castle the next day to receive more.
After her departure, Shemus and Teigue complained at the meagerness of her charity, while Mary...
[The entire page is 1939 words long]
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