Abstract
Treason is a major theme of The Devil’s Disciple, set during the American Revolution. This chapter examines causes of the revolution and loyalty to the Crown in the colonies. Shaw also deals with the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, though not in his plays. Dublin-born, he lived all but twenty of his ninety-four years in England. Although he did not participate in the rebellion, he did not regard fighting for Irish independence as criminal. He opposed the execution of Sir Roger Casement, who tried to enlist Germany’s support of Irish rebellion against England, even urging the Prime Minister not to carry out Casement’s sentence of death. He dramatizes treason in two plays set in France, Saint Joan, which this rebellion influenced, and The Six of Calais.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Arthur, Paul and Cowell-Meyers, Kimberly. “Sinn Féin: Political Party, Ireland and United Kingdom.” Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sinn-Fein (accessed January 17, 2017).
Calhoon, Robert M. “Loyalism and Neutrality.” In A Companion to the American Revolution, ed. Jack P. Greene and J. R. Pole. Blackwell Publishing, 2003, Blackwell Reference Online. http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/tocnode.html?id=g9781405116749_chunk_g978140511674932 (accessed December 5, 2016).
Declaration of Independence. “The Prime Ministry of Lord North.” www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/lordnorth.html (accessed December 6, 2016).
Devil’s Disciple, The. DVD. Kino Classics, 2015.
Devil’s Disciple, The (The Shaw Collection). DVD. BBC Home Entertainment, 2016.
Donnelly, Jim. “The Irish Famine.” BBC: British History, 17 February 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml (accessed December 5, 2016).
Duff, Charles. Six Days to Shape an Empire. South Brunswick, NY: A.S. Barnes, 1966.
Dukore, Bernard F., ed. “Robert Emmet’s Speech at His Trial for Treason.” In Documents for Drama and Revolution. pp. 78–83. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
Evans, G.N.D. Allegiance in America: The Case of the Loyalists. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1969.
Gaelige, Leagan. “Irish Soldiers in the First World War (Somme).” Roinn an Taoisigh Department of the Taoiseach. http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Historical_Information/1916_Commemorations/Irish_Soldiers_in_the_First_World_War.html (accessed December 16, 2016).
Geoghegan, Patrick. “Show Trial Shambles.” Irish News: News 1916, September 1, 2016. http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/1916/show-trial-shambles-34445777.html (accessed December 5, 2016).
History. “Boston Tea Party.” http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party (accessed December 5, 2016).
Holroyd, Michael. Bernard Shaw. Volume 2: The Pursuit of Power. London: Chatto and Windus, 1989.
Jeffery, Keith. Ireland and the Great War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Koot, Christian J. “Smuggling in Early America.” American History: Oxford Research Encyclopedias American History, January 2016. http://americanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-263 (accessed December 6, 2016).
McCarthy, Mark. Ireland’s 1916 Rising. Farnham: Ashgate, 2012.
McDonnell, Michael A. “The Struggle Within: Colonial Politics on the Eve of Independence.” The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution, ed. Edward G. Gray and Jane Kamensky, pp. 103–120. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Mugits, Justin. “Burgoyne’s Failure at Saratoga.” 18th-Century Reading Room. http://18thcenturyreadingroom.blogspot.com/2006/09/burgoynes-failure-at-saratoga.html (accessed December 22, 2016).
O’Connor, Ulick. A Terrible Beauty is Born: The Irish Troubles 1912–1922. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1975.
Reid, B.L. The Lives of Roger Casement. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1976.
Ritschel, Nelson O’Ceallaigh. Shaw, Synge, Connolly, and Socialist Provocation. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2011.
New Statesman, “Roger Casement’s Speech from the Dock,” 1 March 2010. http://www.newstatesman.com/2010/03/ireland-law-england-irishmenPolitics (accessed December 6, 2016).
Shaw, George Bernard. The Devil’s Disciple. The Bodley Head Bernard Shaw: Collected Plays with Their Prefaces, Volume II, ed. Dan H. Laurence. London: Max Reinhardt, 1971.
———. Man and Superman. The Bodley Head Bernard Shaw: Collected Plays with Their Prefaces, Volume II, ed. Dan H. Laurence. London: Max Reinhardt, 1971.
———. The Matter with Ireland, ed. David H. Greene and Dan H. Laurence. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1962.
———. O’Flaherty, V.C. The Bodley Head Bernard Shaw: Collected Plays with Their Prefaces, Volume IV, ed. Dan H. Laurence. London: Max Reinhardt, 1972.
———. Saint Joan. The Bodley Head Bernard Shaw: Collected Plays with Their Prefaces, Volume VI, ed. Dan H. Laurence. London: Max Reinhardt, 1973.
———. Six of Calais, The. The Bodley Head Bernard Shaw: Collected Plays with Their Prefaces, Volume VI, ed. Dan H. Laurence. London: Max Reinhardt, 1973.
Townshend, Charles. Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2006.
Trueman, C.N. “The Great Famine of 1845.” The History Learning Site, March 25, 2015; August 16, 2016. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland-1845-to-1922/the-great-famine-of-1845/ (accessed December 6, 2016).
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. “Political Protest and the World of Goods.” In The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution, ed. Edward G. Gray and Jane Kamensky, pp. 64–84. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Vronsky, Peter. “From Rebels to Revolutionaries,” http://www.fenians.org/fenianbrotherhood.htm (accessed December 6, 2016).
YourIrish.com. “The Fenian Rebellion of 1867.” http://www.yourirish.com/history/19th-century/the-fenian-rebellion-of-1867 (accessed December 5, 2016).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dukore, B.F. (2017). Treason. In: Crimes and Punishments and Bernard Shaw. Bernard Shaw and His Contemporaries. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62746-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62746-5_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62745-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62746-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)