Brian Friel: The Liar as Artist

Abstract

This chapter examines the importance of Wilde’s plays and essays to Brian Friel’s works. Particular attention shall be paid to Philadelphia Here I Come! and Faith Healer, but the relevance of Wilde to Friel’s entire career shall be contended. Rewriting history, art overcoming life, and the power of lying are all Wildean preoccupations that Brian Friel adapts into a canvass upon which ethical art can be created in the contemporary moment in Ireland.