The idealistic Countess of the title sells her soul to the devil so that she can save her tenants from starvation and from damnation for having sold their own souls. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. That same night a great tempest broke over the land, which drove away the pestilential mists, and left the country free from evil influences, for with the morning men found the forest lodge crushed beneath the fallen trees, and the two demon merchants vanished. The Countess Cathleen loved the dim, mysterious forest, she loved the tales of the ancient gods, and of. When the Countess heard of this last terrible misfortune a great light broke upon her mind with a blinding flash, and showed her a way to save others, even at the cost of her own salvation.

Didn't care for the wealthy savior thing that the countess had going on, and also the casualness of an act of domestic violence in one scene put a huge damper on my enjoyment of the play. On the other hand, Lillian Aylward, as Chamberlain's God-fearing wife, uses forth-right gestures and voice to create a strong characterization. Now on the very day on which Fergus sailed for England, and his comrade departed to Ulster, two mysterious. The evil influence clung all about the countryside, and seemed in league with the pitiless powers of Nature against the souls of men, till at last the stricken Countess, putting her trust in God, sought out the forest lodge where the demon merchants dwelt, trafficking for souls.

Werner Egk wrote the libretto for his 1955 opera Irische Legende based on Yeats' work.

Overview Countess Cathleen. Their progress was so slow, because of their weakness and the scanty fodder by the way, that no news of them came to Cathleen, and she knew not that while corn and cattle were coming with Fergus across the sea, food was also coming to her slowly through the barren ways of her own native land. awe-stricken and durst not question or check her. The play was first published in 1892 in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics (the spelling was changed to "Cathleen" in all future editions). The play is set a historically in Ireland during a famine. The Countess Cathleen is a figure out of Irish legend. Men in Ireland now have only their lives, and can barely cherish those," said the poor woman, wondering greatly and much afraid. One by one the peasants slunk away, and the demon merchants were quite alone when Cathleen entered the little cottage where they sat, with bags of coin on the table before them and on the ground beside them. There was a lot of potential here, I think, but it didn't quite make it. It is one pure soul, precious as multitudes of more sin-stained souls. In the troubled depths of her mind a thought arose, which came to her as an inspiration from Heaven itself. Like many of Yeats’s plays, The Countess Cathleen was inspired by Irish folklore. PRINTED FROM OXFORD REFERENCE (www.oxfordreference.com). The Countess Cathleen is not only the first play written by William Butler Yeats, but also the first play of the great Irish Renaissance. The wine given by the demons warmed the hearts of all who drank, and the deceived peasants dreamed of happiness when the famine was over, and so the passionate appeal of the Countess failed, and the sale of souls continued merrily.

Subscribe to our email newsletter. ", "How much have I in lands?" This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Countess-Cathleen. And while the servants still mourned over the lost treasures of the house there came another cry of "Thieves! "Would you have us undo our work? All Rights Reserved. But at the end she is forgiven, for her intention was good. From:  The merchants, too, were ever at hand with their cunning wiles, and their active, persuasive dupes, who would gladly bring all others into their own soulless condition. None of this she knew, and despair would have filled her heart, but for her faith in God and her belief in the great inspiration that had been given to her. She dances among the angels and all the universe in in accord with Heaven.

As a whole, the production suffers from an absence of humor and intensity, and adds little worthwhile to Yeats except a chance to see and hear him. Maybe in a longer play, more about this conflict could have been explored. replied the hostess, "then your compassion, your gold and your goodwill are of no avail. The text might warrant revival in a re-envisioning of the style and characters.

(1859—1923) playwright and politician. oh the irony between being a leader among people in feudal ages and democracy nowadays... Irish Faustian verse play by the esteemed Yeats: it twists the Faustian bargain with the virtue charity to some interesting effect. I was unmoved by her death in the end. The countess does all she can to relieve their needs, till the demons steal her wealth.

Dramatic literature, the texts of plays that can be read, as distinct from being seen and heard in performance. The character of Countess Cathleen is meant to teach the importance of what is invaluable in life, which in this case is a person's soul. Thus Cathleen lost by barefaced robbery much of what she still possessed of flocks and herds, or scanty fruit and corn. The devils, who see their lovely valley-full of souls slipping away, steal Cathleen's fortune of gold and tell her that her grain and cattle ships have been lost; she therefore signs away her own (immensely pure and valuable) soul to save the souls of all the others. Sadly but resolutely she turned away, followed by her servants bearing the bags of gold, and as she passed through the village a rumour ran before her of what she had done.