The purpose of this paper is to examine the theme of The Only Jealousy ofEmer, one of W. B. Yeats's 'Cuchulain plays'. The central action of the play is thestruggle of three women?Emeer, Eithne Inguba and Fand?for possession ofCuchulain. Unlike Eithne Inguba's confused, cowardly action, Emer's behavior isbrave as well as insightful. And as the chorus suggests, Fand's allurements aretransitory. Fand's metallic allurement contrasts with Emer's passionate suffering.Fand wants to catch him to fulfill herself, not to aid in his salvation. Emer is morecourageous than Eithne Inguba, more self-sacrificing than Fand, and more forgivingthan Aoife. Emer's love for her husband transfigures her, whereas Aoife's vindictivehatred for Cuchulain costs them their only child. Emer is certainly a Yeatsianheroine who performs as nobly as Deirdre or Cuchulain.
Yeats's most immediate source for his Cuchulain plays was Lady Gregory'sCuchulain of Muirthemne, but he significantly altered the source to serve hispurposes. Emer's thwarted desire to attack Fand with her knife is one of the fewlinks between Yeats's source and his much changed finished work of art. From thisprimitive tale of vengeance and jealousy, Yeats created a sophisticated drama ofmental suffering and self-sacrifice. A second major change in the source involvesCuchulain's recollection of Fand's attempt to ensnare his soul. Both his fear uponawakening and his later praise of Emer for saving him suggest that he is glad ofhis deliverance, not despondent over the loss of Fand. Yeats's greatest modificationcame in his treatment of Emer's temperament. Instead of the jealous wife of seekingvengeance for herself, she is jealous only for her husband's well-being. Byrenouncing the love of the man she needs to end her loneliness, Emer proves herself superior to the source heroine.
In the final version, Yeats dramatized, through Emer's hope for the return ofCuchulain's love for her, through her initial inability to give up her hope ofwinning back his love, and through her final renunciation of his love, the depth ofher love and the extent of her sacrifice.