The Invisible Women: Re-evaluating Lady Gregory and Her Works in Modern Irish Literature

Lady Gregory significantly impacted modern Irish literature not only because she helped nurture some aspects of W.B. Yeats’s literary career but because she was committed to fostering and promoting the Irish people’s indigenous cultural identity through her writings. However, Lady Gregory’s identity as an intelligent woman is not given adequate credit, nor are works about her well discussed. This literary study helps us re-examine this great female writer in Irish literature. Lady Gregory’s devotion to the establishment and the management of the Abbey Theater and her plays which promote Irish nationalism belie the fact that, in addition to being a qualified theater runner and supporter, she was also an intelligent woman. Moreover, Lady Gregory was a woman who craved emotional and sexual satisfaction. Nonetheless, Lady Gregory’s intelligence and her sexuality were, to a certain degree, hampered by her self-imposed monitoring as well as the hostile patriarchal culture of the early twentieth century. By investigating Lady Gregory and her works and works on her, this study enables us to better understand the conflict and compromise of being a woman and a writer in a male-dominated society and hopefully paves the way for our understanding of women in the 21st century.

Funding Source: RGC - General Research Fund (GRF)