Violence in the Theatre of Martin McDonagh

Abstract

This thesis investigates two violent plays by the London-born playwright Martin McDonagh, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter. Considering these texts from a post-colonial and phenomenological perspective, this thesis investigates how violence operates within each text. Chapter One opens by establishing the playwright’s attitude towards theatre. The thesis then defines working parameters for post-colonial theatre, presence, phenomenology and violence. A literature review is then undertaken to outline the current field on the playwright. Drawing on the breadth of scholarly research already established, Chapter Two examines violence in McDonagh’s 2001 play The Lieutenant of Inishmore. This chapter reveals the farcical structure which contains the play’s violence. Using this, the thesis considers how this alters the representation of the characters committing the violence. Chapter Two considers the justification of violence within the colonial context of the play and the phenomenological aspects which illuminate different aspects of violence within the text. Chapter Three approaches McDonagh’s 2018 play A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter from a similar angle and investigates the justification of violence, its colonial context and nineteenth century Dickensian sentimentality. Because of the sparse academic research on this play, this thesis compares and extends ideas using the conclusions reached in Chapter Two. Lastly, the fourth chapter draws conclusions about McDonagh’s significant use of dismemberment, the presence of violence within language and unique aspects of theatre to determine how violence is operating in the respective texts. The thesis then proposes an answer to why McDonagh may be choosing to return to a medium he has expressed distaste for