Lady Gregory is best known as a central figure of the Irish Literary Movementand the founder of the Abbey Theatre along with W. B. Yeats, John MillingtonSynge, George Moore, and Sean O’Casey. Her secondary contribution to the IrishLiterature must be that she had discovered Yeat’s genius when nobody paid seriousattention and supported him with every possible environments so that Yeats couldcultivate and exert his genius without wasting his genius in other tribial matters.
It is a wonder that Lady Gregory herself was a playwright and she hadproduced 35 plays in her lifetime. As is generally known to the public, her geniuswas overshadowed by a far greater poet and playwrights Yeats. Of course, she hadno idea and desire to be a playwright, but her writing was initiated by collaboratingwith Yeats.
In “The Rising of the Moon”, ‘Man’ persuades the sergeant who were originallyto seize the Man to be helping his escape through reminding the days when all theIrish people were under Granuille’s leadership. At last the sergeant even betraysfellow policeman X and B and become co-criminal by strongly ordering them to goaway from him. The “Man” who might be a wandering poet consistently remindsthe sergeant of the good old days when all Irish people were single-minded holdingthe same ideal-to be perfectly free from British rule.
In “The Shadow of the Glen”, Nora leaves home following a stranger, Tramp.Literally, she was expelled by her husband, Dan but, frankly speaking, she activelyleaves home for a new and better life. Here Dan represents an old and stubbornBritish rule while “to search for a new life following Tramp represents a newIreland, a free and hopeful Ireland.”
Nora has the same name with Nora in Henrick Ibsen’s “Doll’s House”. Like Nora of “Doll’s House”, Nora in “In the Shadow of Glen”, ventures her life for thesake of an independent, free, and hopeful life.
In “Cathleen Ni Hoolihan”, Michael is rushes out of the house to join theFrench to fight against the British army following the voice calling outside. Peter,Bridget, Patrick & Delia could not hear the old woman’s voice while Michaelclearly hears her & bolts out as if led by ghost not hearing Delia's appeal to waitfor their marriage. In Michael’s eye, the old woman looked like a queen andMichael followed her as if the Queen’s people follow the queen quite naturally.Lady Gregory has been often referred to as ‘a queen’ in that she had a strongleadership like a queen and she had a special power to make people succumb toher will.
In Gregory’s plays it is often represented that she consciously stirs patriotism inpeople’s mind. And especially in three of her plays, “The Rising of the Moon”, “Inthe Shadow of the Glen”, and “Cathleen Ni Hoolihan”, it is so transparent thatLady Gregory intentionally drives the reader to wake their patriotism up andcontinue to fight against British rule by helping the man to escape, by giving Noracourage to follow Tramp, and by making Michael to join the French following thevoice of an old woman leaving his bride-to-be Delia. In most cases, It seems to benothing but patriotism that drives Gregory to write plays. In this sense, Gregorycould be labelled as an political or an activist writer.