A Life (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: John Keyes Byrne
- First Published: 1980
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: The 1970’s
- Setting: A small town near Dublin, Ireland
- Genres: Domestic realism, Drama, Psychological drama, Comedy of manners, Autobiographical drama
- Subjects: 1970’s, Self-discovery, Memory, Betrayal, Truth, Success or failure, Ireland or Irish people, Old age or elderly people, Isolation
- Locales: Ireland
Characters Discussed
Drumm (Desmond Drumm), a sixty-four-year- old Irish civil servant on the verge of retirement. Crusty, intellectual, and snobbish, with a biting wit, he clearly regards himself as better than everyone he knows. He is married to a woman he does not respect, childless, and separated from his community by his exacting standards for intellect and work; he is almost totally isolated. News that he has only six months to live prompts Drumm to attempt a healing of old wounds and a final assessment of his life. That final accounting primarily involves his...
[The entire page is 777 words long]
