The Words upon the Window-Pane
by William Butler Yeats
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See Also
- William Butler Yeats (Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition)
- William Butler Yeats (Critical Survey of Poetry: British, Irish, & Commonwealth Poets)
- William Butler Yeats (Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition)
- William Butler Yeats (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
- William Butler Yeats (Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century)
At a glance:
- Author: William Butler Yeats
- First Published: 1934
- Type of Plot: Naturalistic
- Time of Work: The 1920’s
- Setting: Dublin, Ireland
- Characters: Dr. Trench, Miss Mackenna, John Corbet, Cornelius Patterson, Abraham Johnson, Mrs. Mallet, Mrs. Henderson
- Genres: Naturalistic literature, Drama
- Subjects: Gambling, 1920's, Fantasy, Spiritualism, Ireland or Irish people, Time, Aging
- Locales: Europe, Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
The Play
The action of The Words upon the Window-Pane takes place in the parlor of a now-seedy Dublin boardinghouse that has an illustrious history. Built in the eighteenth century and originally owned by friends of Jonathan Swift, the house has had as its occupants two celebrated Irish patriots, as well as Esther Johnson (1681-1728), Swift’s “Stella.”
As the one-act play opens, guests are arriving for a séance, to be conducted by Mrs. Henderson, a medium who has journeyed from London at the invitation of the Dublin Spiritualists’ Association. The...
(The entire page is 2845 words.)
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