Three Plays: The Fiddler's House, The Land, Thomas Muskerry

"Three Plays: The Fiddler's House, The Land, Thomas Muskerry" by Padraic Colum is a compilation of dramatic works from the early 1900s, during the rise of Irish National Theatre, which examines ideas of who people are, who possesses the land, the impact of family, and problems between old ways and new ideas. The beginning of "The Fiddler's House" shows us Conn Hourican, a fiddler who is proud but has problems, with his daughters Maire and Anne, as they deal with life in the Irish countryside. Conn deals with what he wants to create against what he must do as a father, while Maire and Anne show how they feel about love and what they must do as family. The Hourican family's difficulties show a fight between what people want and what the community expects, since Conn wants to be free to create as compared to what his daughters need to be stable and belong. Their relationships cause ideas about trying to take hold of something, loyalty, and wanting to be tied to their history to be created, starting the play's events.