Play analysis

After having read the play, reviewed the lecture and other materials on the play, write your own informed analysis of the Rising of the Moon, discussing the following aspects:             

A. One-paragraph introductory information about the play: name and dates of the playwright, the date of the play; when and where the plot of the play takes place, who the main characters are.

B.  Information about the world of the play and how that world operates. This means, think about the following questions and answer them for yourself, then

• What are the given circumstances?


• What conflict triggers the plot and starts the ball rolling?


• Who are the main characters (protagonist, antagonist, secondary characters) and how do they affect the plot?  That is: what is their ‘agenda’, what do they want and how that conflicts with what other characters want? What obstacles they need to overcome to get what they want? What tactics they use to get what they want? Which character’s objectives drive the plot forward? Which character has changed most by the end of the play and how? Have the characters succeeded in achieving their objectives or they failed?


• What are the most important images throughout the play? For example, describe in your own words what do we see on the stage as the play opens? What do we see around the middle and then at the end of the play. Are there some important visual elements in the set, props or costumes that are especially important or recur several times, or are visible all the time? Do these images suggest some important themes in the play? Are there some images implied in the play’s title? If so, what does the title tell us about the play? Do the characters use any images (visual references) in their speeches?


• Determine the beginning-middle-and end: describe how the situation in the beginning of the play has changed by the end of the play and why (reversals, recognitions, etc). Have the characters succeeded in achieving their objectives or they failed?


• Describe the characteristics of the play’s style and genre.