“The Land of heart’s desire” is a play scripted by an Irish poet, playwright, and 1923 Nobel winner named William Butler Yeats.
Setting
The play is set in a room with a floor-to-ceiling fireplace in the center and a large alcove to the right. There are seats and a table in the alcove, as well as a crucifix on the wall. The nook is bathed in the brightness of the fire. To the left, adjacent to the audience, there is an open door, a bench to the right, and the trees can be seen via the entrance. Shawn Bruin, Bridget Bruin, and Maureen Bruin are seated at the table next to the fire in the alcove.
Plot
Yeats focuses on the tension between the divine and natural worlds; this conflict is fundamental to his early spiritual changes. As visualized by Yeats (pg. 3), the fairy kid enters the home and is first greeted warmly by Father Hart’s family. The girl seems to be suspicious since she appears to be opposing Christianity, and she is anti-God. The priest removes the Crucifix from the wall since it is frightening for the kid. The fairy child wishes to entice Mary to accompany her to a fairy realm devoid of death, pain, and human responsibilities. The play vividly portrays Yeats’ love for his own Ireland as well as the many myths and tales surrounding fairies and a sort of a fairy realm into which humans are enticed. The drama takes place on May Eve, which is a period when fairy people have the most extreme ability to influence a man, and it is at this time that fairies’ magic is most robust in Ireland.
Characters
The characters are passionate searchers attempting to transcend the mundane and painful reality in which they find themselves in an ideal realm of liberty, pleasure, heroism, and sacrifice. For example, the heroine in the play expresses boredom with the monotonous pace of her existence. This life offers nothing new in its lengthy course except daily routine and eternal stagnancy. In this dramatic lament about aging and unfulfilled ambitions, a faery kid meets spouses Shawn and Mary Bruin at their home, which they share with Shawn’s parents, Maurteen and Bridget Bruin. The kid, whom the Bruins first see as gentle conception, decries God and astounds Father Hart.
Work Cited
Yeats, William Butler. The Land of Heart’s Desire. Vol. 2. Thomas B. Mosher, 1916.