The Myth-Making Process in Yeats's Deidre

Seo, Yeong-yoonYeats tried to create new Irishness by restoring a pre-colonial Irish identity through national myths. By reminding the Irish people of the ancient mythical heroes, Yeats wished to instill them with a sense of national self-esteem and display the mythic past as a mirror of the future.In Deirdre Yeats dramatized the myth-making process. Here Naoise, who has carried off Deidre, the King's bride, is trapped and killed by the order of the jealous King Conchubar. Deirdre, left alone with the Musicians, breaks out of the world of established legend in which she would be predetermined as a passionate victim, and begins to direct her own fate by snatching the First Musician's knife. Finally Deirdre makes her myth by writing the finish to her tragic love story.Travelling minstrels, the Musicians recognize in the fate of two lovers a pattern of archetypal characters, such as Lugaidh Redstripe and his wife. They introduce the play's action, but do not complete it. They could impose form on the tragic story of two lovers, preserve it as a racial archetype, and transmit it to the descendants of ancient Ireland. Deirdre acknowledges their role by giving their leader her bracelet as a token of having the story right. The two lovers' story could be a timeless myth when handed down to posterity by the Musicians.Deirdre, however, ends unsatisfactorily. Conchubar's last speech vests sufficient authority in himself, but it is contradictory to the previous Conchubar's image revealed as a crafty intriguer.Key Words archetype, Deirdre, Ireland, Irishness, myth, Yeats 서영윤 (단독연구)한성대학교