An Analysis Of The Steward Of Christendom Based On The Theory Of Liminality

Sebastian Barry is acknowledged as one of the finest writers in contemporary Irish literature and his works are renowned for the autobiographical elements.The Steward of Christendom is one of his representative works,which is loosely based on Barry’s great-grandfather,an Irishman excluded by the family history as well as the official Irish history.Although the play has won Barry international prestige with many awards since its premiere,the author and the play are not given due attention by literary critics especially in China: In China,there are only four essays about Barry and there is no article about this play.Besides,the previous studies of the play mainly focus on the history and the father-son relationship;However,the liminality of the main character has not been touched upon,although the main character,who helped the British Empire to suppress the Irish,is an Irishman between the Irish and the British.Thus,this dissertation makes an attempt to analyze The Steward of Christendom based on the theory of liminality,hoping to bring this world-renowned writer and his masterpiece into critical attention,and to shed new light on the play.After the analysis,this dissertation concludes that the liminality of the main character is reflected in his gender role and his social role.With regard to the gender role,the main character was in a liminal state between biological male and genderedbeing because he failed to meet the hegemonic masculinity in different stages of life,that is,he failed to succeed at his schooling and be well-behaved in his boyhood,to make a successful claim to power and manliness(including masculine body)in his adulthood,to suppress his emotions towards his son in his fatherhood,and,to retain his dignity as a man and be rational in his retirement.In terms of the social role,the main character was in a liminal state between the Irish and the British: he was still Irish Catholic but he was excluded by the Irish society;he was loyal to the British Empire even after 1921 Irish Independence or after the handover of the Dublin Castle but he was never acknowledged by the Empire.As far as this dissertation is concerned,the main character’s madness can be explained with the help of the theory of liminality.The main character remained in the liminal state and he cannot complete the third stage(reaggregation)because he cannot integrate into the gendered society,the Irish society or the British society.Therefore,he cannot achieve a relatively stable state and he was caught in mental disorder.In other words,he was driven mad by his liminal state.