John Bull’s Other Island | John Bull’s Other Island

At a glance:

Author: George Bernard Shaw
First Published: 1907
Type of Plot: Naturalistic; comedy
Time of Work: Summer, 1904
Setting: London, England, and Rosscullen, Ireland
Principal Characters: Tom Broadbent, Laurence Doyle, Cornelius Doyle, Father Keegan, Nora Reilly, Barney Doran, Matt Haffigan
Genres: Naturalistic literature, Satire, Drama, Comedy
Subjects: Values, Twentieth century, England or English people, Politicians, London, Patriotism, Ireland or Irish people
Locales: London, England, Rosscullen, Ireland

Act one opens in the Westminster office-cum-bachelor rooms of Broadbent and Doyle, civil engineers. Tom Broadbent, very much the cheery, beef-fed John Bull, just back from a trip, instructs his valet, Hodson, to pack their bags for Ireland. He inquires whether anyone has called while he was away. Only an Irishman named Haffigan, replies Hodson, so disreputable that the punctilious valet showed him the door. However, Broadbent expresses an enthusiastic desire to see him. At that moment, fortuitously, Haffigan calls again.

John Bull’s Other Island | John Bull’s Other Island

At a glance:

The Play

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