Themes
Last Updated on June 19, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 200
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The primary theme of John Bull’s Other Island is the harmful effects of colonialism. As part of this theme, George Bernard Shaw considers both the personal effects, including the identity of Laurence Doyle and his friendship with Tom Broadbent, and the broader social effects, in this case on Ireland. “John Bull” is a character who represents the United Kingdom, especially England. He was made popular in the early 18th century. Shaw uses this title satirically to indicate the English attitude toward “owning” Ireland. In addition, the theme of friendship is explored.
Doyle’s Anglophile attitudes seem to help him fit into society while he is living in England, and he does not realize he is losing his identity. Irish-ness has become a nostalgic abstraction, and he believes his broadened perspective will benefit his fellow countrymen when he returns home. Broadbent, despite his affection for his friend, takes a condescending attitude toward all Irish people, and Doyle is both surprised and hurt to find himself lumped together with the others. The more Broadbent claims he gives the people, the more he is actually taking. When he finally even takes his friend’s fiancée, Doyle can see his own self-delusion.
Themes and Meanings
Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 232
John Bull’s Other Island is a satirical comedy about national character. The fact that George Bernard Shaw’s characters, as in so many of his plays, are not merely incessant talkers but indeed inveterate speech-makers helps elucidate Shaw’s themes.
In his sixty-page “Preface for Politicians,” Shaw sketches his view of the English and Irish characters. In contradiction to the received national mythology, he argues for the sentimentality of the English as against the more fastidious imaginativeness of the Irish, who combine a greater sense of the real with a debilitating sense of futility. This analysis is animated in the play, which presents the Union of England and Ireland as a marriage between the kindly, if brutally efficient, English husband and his sensitive Irish mate—in which role Doyle serves as much as Nora.
The presentation is evenhanded and unsentimental; Matt Haffigan, for example, is an unpleasant specimen, for all of his sufferings. Nevertheless—in contradiction to the critical charge that Shaw is incapable of portraying human pain—the play’s sympathy extends even to Haffigan’s Glaswegian relative, who sheds tears of joy at the thought of how much drink can be bought with a five-pound note. Furthermore, Father Keegan represents an undigested lump of suffering in the play: Only the defrocked priest, with his despairing sense of this world as a living hell, operates entirely outside its comic economy.
Themes
Last Updated on June 19, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 175
John Bull's Other Island is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw. The political satire explores themes such as nationalism and cultural identity. The latter is examined by taking the "national identities" of England and Ireland, and personifying theme through the characters Laurence Doyle, an Irishman; Nora Reilly, who is also Irish; and Tom Broadbent, an Englishman.
The literal marriage between Broadbent and Reilly symbolizes the union, or "marriage," between England and Ireland. The marriage analogy also explores the stereotypes or national identities of both England and Ireland. Likewise, the analogy examines the complex and, at times, tense dynamics between the two countries, which is similar to a real-life marriage.
Another theme of the play is accepting one's cultural roots. This is exemplified by Laurence Doyle, who adopts the English mentality and way of life. He symbolizes the internationalist perspective of many socialist intellectuals during Shaw's day. Doyle believes that it was England that made him a "man," and that Ireland is a place he chose to leave because it is a land of "hopeless dreams."
