Colonialism and Cultural Imperialism Theme Analysis

As with much of Friel’s work, the shifting political and cultural landscape of Ireland lies at the heart of Translations. The play takes place in 1833, a time when all of Ireland was under British control and had been for hundreds of years. The Ordnance Survey represents a moment of increased British interest in the island, and Friel uses this turning point in history to explore the mechanisms and effects of colonization on a small community. Colonization in Translations is ultimately presented as an oppressive, violent effort that robs individuals of their cultural identity and inserts another in its place.

Resentment towards British influence is established early in the play when Doalty, a lively twenty-something and another one of Hugh’s students, brags about repeatedly moving the Red Coats’ surveyor poles around to confuse them and assert “a presence”—that is, to assert that the Irish community in Baile Beag is not going anywhere. Manus similarly does not conceal his contempt for the British, speaking only Irish in front of Lancey and Yolland. When Owen asks his brother to “speak in English,” Manus replies, “For the benefit of the colonist?” Both Doalty and Owen’s actions are deeply political—an assertion of Irish identity and refusal to bow to the “colonizer.”

Lancey, meanwhile, initially attempts to present the Ordnance Survey as a largely benevolent project, a means to provide the military with better information about Ireland and for taxation purposes. In his first meeting with Baile Beag residents, he even calls the British soldiers’ presence “proof of the disposition of this government to advance the interests of Ireland.” Upon Yolland’s disappearance in Act Three, however, Lancey parts with niceties. He threatens to kill all livestock and evict residents if Yolland is not found—a reminder that Baile Beag is firmly under British control and that the locals’ wellbeing is entirely in the hands of the colonizers. Lancey’s threat is also a representation of the violence inherent to colonialism. When Owen, again acting as translator, balks at relaying such information to the locals, Lancey puts him in his place, saying: “Do your job. Translate.” This is a reminder that however useful Owen has been to the British—and regardless of the power he possesses as a translator—he is still not considered an equal by men like Lancey.

Yolland, for his part, is far more sympathetic to the Irish than his colleague, going so far as to fall in love with both the Irish culture and a local Irish woman, Maire. The Lieutenant’s disappearance—and implied death at the hands of the Donnelly twins—further suggests the limits of mutual understanding and translation in the face of colonial oppression.

Because language is inextricable from culture and carries with it such a sense of history, its destruction is a concerted effort by the British to bring the Irish into submission. It is no coincidence that the new national schools being installed across the country will teach only in English. They will also be free and ultimately spell the end for hedge schools like Hugh’s. Maire recognizes this when she tells Manus that when a nearby national school opens, “this is finished: nobody's going to pay to go to a hedge-school.”

Colonialism, it is implied, functions not only by violence but also by forcing the colonized to turn towards the culture of the colonizers to find success. As such, Friel touches upon the opportunity inherent to learning English. Maire desires to learn it so she can go to the United States, where she will have more economic opportunity than she does as a milkmaid in Ireland. Meanwhile, Manus’ refusal to apply for a job at the new English-speaking school represents the fact that Irish nationalists will ultimately be left behind by the inevitable wave of change overtaking Ireland and again asserts the ultimate might of the colonizers.

Friel’s decision to write his play in English is the ultimate signal that the colonizers, in this sense, won. The playwright has in fact said the “fundamental irony” of Translations is that it should have been written in Irish. The theatrical act of watching the play is itself a condemnation of imperialism, as it inherently highlights the fact that an entire people have been robbed of their language. The vast majority of an Irish audience would not be able to understand this play, which in large part celebrates the culture embedded in the Irish language, had the play actually been written in the Irish language.

In the final moments of the play, Hugh translates a passage from Virgil’s Aeneid that mirrors what is happening to the Irish. He says, “Yet in truth she discovered that a race was springing from Trojan blood to overthrow some day these Tyrian towers—a people kings of broad realms and proud in war who would come forth for Lybia’s downfall.” The Aeneid tells the story of the founding of Rome by refugees from the destroyed city of Troy. The “race” that springs “from Trojan blood” refers to the Romans, who would one day overthrow the ancient empire of Libya. It is unclear in this formulation, however, if Hugh means Ireland to be Carthage—the capitol of ancient Libya—or Rome. In this way, it is unclear if Hugh is accepting the colonial destruction of Ireland by the unstoppable British (akin to the Roman Empire) or if he is engaging in hope for an Irish rebirth. As Rome was borne from the ashes of Troy, so too may a new “race” be borne from the downfall of Ireland to “overthrow some day” the British Empire. Ultimately, Hugh’s final lines reflect the fate of both the Irish and the British. While acknowledging the colonial domination of Ireland by the British, these final words also foreshadow that English—as a language like any other—will itself one day change and become eroded; the British may find themselves under the same colonial siege to which they have subjected the Irish.