Old Woman. But there were others that died for love of me a long time ago. Well, you would like a nice comely girl to be beside you, and to go walking with you. Patrick. I must be going to meet my friends. I don't think it's one of the neighbours anyway, but she has her cloak over her face. Yeats. I don't see anybody. Bridget [to Peter]. [Peter takes his pipe from his mouth and his hat off, and stands up. Michael! Look at him, Peter; he has the look of a man that has got the touch. By the time of Cathleen ni Houlihan's departure, Michael is completely under her spell, and cannot even remember the fact that he is supposed to be married the next day. Bridget. Yeats, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. They are gathering to help me now. Michael! What way will you do that, ma'am? Look here, Michael, at the wedding-clothes. Bridget. Michael. Time enough, time enough; you have always your head full of plans, Bridget. [He goes to the window and looks out.] Her trouble has put her wits astray. Who was it, I wonder? I heard one on the wind this morning. Those are grand clothes, indeed. Old Woman. They that had red cheeks will have pale cheeks for my sake; and for all that, they will think they are well paid.”. She says that she did not make a huge gain by marrying a simple farmer. Not long, not long. Cathleen ni Houlihan essays are academic essays for citation. Have you got the fortune, Michael? It must have been someone I knew when I was a boy. Michael. Michael. Error rating book. Old Woman. Yes, I made the bargain well for you, Michael. We can take the ten acres of land we have a chance of since Jamsie Dempsey died, and stock it. Bridget [to the Old Woman]. Is it long since that song was made? Come over here, Peter, and look at Michael's wedding-clothes. Take them, Michael, and go into the room and fit them on. What kept you, Michael? That is true, indeed. Michael's fiancée pleads with him not to join the army and fight for Ireland, insisting that he will not go, but it's of no use; he is under Cathleen ni Houlihan's spell. Bridget. Michael. What is it you would be asking for? Old Woman. Old John Cahel would sooner have kept a share of this awhile longer.". Bridget. [He puts bag on table and goes over and leans against the chimney-jamb. A few pence, or a shilling itself, and we with so much money in the house. [Patrick opens the door and Michael comes in.]. Peter. Bridget. Delia’s dowry is a symbol of the importance of material wealth. When the Old Woman enters the family's house, they want to feed her and give her money, but are surprised to hear that it is not material donations that she wants. Peter [offering the shilling]. [To the Old Woman.] Old Woman. Michael. Patrick [who is still at the window]. The bag of coins, however, is eventually replaced by Cathleen ni Houlihan, who symbolizes the preeminence of nationalistic ideals... Write a brief character sketch of Bridget Gillane. Did Delia ask any of the money for her own use, Michael? Bridget. It is not her friends you have to go and welcome, Michael; it is the girl coming into the house you have to welcome. We will go to the fair of Ballina to buy the stock. I saw the widow Casey one time at the market in Ballina, a stout fresh woman. You have plenty to do, it is food and drink you have to bring to the house. Bridget. There is no use leaving it out for every stranger to look at. You seem well pleased to be handling the money, Peter. Many that are red-cheeked now will be pale-cheeked; many that have been free to walk the hills and the bogs and the rushes, will be sent to walk hard streets in far countries; many a good plan will be broken; many that have gathered money will not stay to spend it; many a child will be born and there will be no father at its christening to give it a name. He relishes the opportunity to use the money to do the things he's always planned to do on the farm. Too many strangers in the house. I do not know what that song means, but tell me something I can do for you. I hope he has brought Delia's fortune with him safe, for fear her people might go back on the bargain and I after making it. We can do great things now we have it. Where would they be going and no fair at hand? "Cathleen ni Houlihan E-Text | Cathleen ni Houlihan". [She goes on singing, much louder.]. We can do great things now we have it. There are no horses in it. These are the clothes you are going to wear when you marry Delia Cahel to-morrow. Michael. She's turned into the gap that goes down where Murteen and his sons are shearing sheep. Michael [coming over towards the table]. Bridget. Bridget. I wonder what they are cheering about. Bridget. I may as well put the money out of sight. It will be a neighbour coming to hear about Michael's wedding. She outlines the fact that, though it will be difficult and require a great many sacrifices, and there will be a great deal of tragic loss, the cause is a noble one. I have travelled far, very far; there are few have travelled so far as myself, and there's many a one that doesn't make me welcome. She doesn't know well what she's talking about, with the want and the trouble she has gone through. I never thought to see so much money within my four walls. Describe the atmosphere that prevailed in the gillane household before the entry of the old woman ? You have plenty to do, it is food and drink you have to bring to the house. "I made the bargain well for you, Michael. Will you have a drink of milk? GradeSaver, 26 March 2012 Web. "Michael! She did not seem to take much notice of it, or to look at it at all. Is she right, do you think? Old Woman. [He takes no notice.] Michael. It must be the strange woman Patrick saw awhile ago. Bridget [to Peter]. I went round by the priest's house to bid him be ready to marry us to-morrow. Bridget. MICHAEL GILLANE his son, going to be married. The boys are all hurrying down the hillsides to join the French. I hear him coming up the path. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Cathleen ni Houlihan by W.B. They are cheering again down in the town. Old Woman. I must call the neighbours together to welcome them. Peter. It is not a man going to his marriage that I look to for help. [Raising her voice.] Peter [aside to Bridget]. She is described as a hard-working, opinionated woman, who is angered when her husband mentions that, unlike their soon to be daughter-in-law, she had no dowry when they were married. I thought I heard the noise I used to hear when my friends came to visit me. Early in the play, Peter references the fact that he was the one who was able to convince Delia Cahel's father to hand over the entire dowry in a timely manner. Many that are red-cheeked now will be pale-cheeked; many that have been free to walk the hills and the bogs and the rushes will be sent to walk hard streets in far countries; many a good plan will be broken; many that have gathered money will not stay to spend it; many a child will be born, and there will be no father at its christening to give it a name. Peter. Bridget. Here, he outlines those plans. We were looking out for you this long time. Who is it, I wonder. What had you the day I married you but a flock of hens and you feeding them, and a few lambs and you driving them to the market at Ballina.". Not affiliated with Harvard College. I did not, but I saw a young girl, and she had the walk of a queen. [He turns towards her.] Peter [to Old Woman]. [Peter goes over to the table, staring at the shilling in his hand in a bewildered way, and stands whispering to Bridget.]. She is described as a hard-working, opinionated woman, who is angered when her husband mentions that, unlike their soon to be daughter-in-law, she had no dowry when they were married. What clothes will I be wearing to-morrow? There are ships in the Bay; the French are landing at Killala! [The Old Woman comes in. Old Woman. Peter. The woman that is coming home is not coming with empty hands; you would not have an empty house before her. Bridget. Bridget. Peter. Peter is sitting at one side of the fire, Patrick at the other. It is not silver I want. [She goes out; her voice is heard outside singing.]. They that have red cheeks will have pale cheeks for my sake, and for all that, they will think they are well paid.". Peter comes over to the table.]. Yeats. Old Woman. Describe the atmosphere that prevailed in the gillane household before the entry of the old woman ? [She is vexed and bangs a jug on the dresser.] Patrick [turning round from the window]. We will be well able to give him learning, and not to send him trampling the country like a poor scholar that lives on charity. Singing I am about a man I knew one time, yellow-haired Donough, that was hanged in Galway. It's likely Michael himself was not thinking much of the fortune either, but of what sort the girl was to look at. Was it much land they took from you? It is proud she must be to get you, a good steady boy that will make use of the money, and not be running through it or spending it on drink like another. This cryptic comment foreshadows that the Old Woman's message is more allegorical than literal. That's true for you indeed, and it's long I'm on the roads since I first went wandering. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Cathleen ni Houlihan by W.B. Michael! [She drops his arm. The family makes a big deal of the money they have come into with Michael's marriage to Delia, as it is... What role does the dowry play in the play Cathleen ni Houlihaan? "Well, if I didn't bring much I didn't get much. Yeats. Can you see who it is? Bridget. Why would she look at it when she had yourself to look at, a fine, strong young man? Some call me the Poor Old Woman, and there are some that call me Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan. Old Woman. Peter. Yeats. Here, the Old Woman is clear in her call to arms, and she inspires Michael to leave his promise of a stable future. They do be cheering when the horses take the water well. The bag of coins, however, is eventually replaced by Cathleen ni Houlihan, who symbolizes the preeminence of nationalistic ideals... Write a brief character sketch of Bridget Gillane. Delia. When the people see me quiet, they think old age has come on me and that all the stir has gone out of me. The woman that is coming home is not coming with empty hands; you would not have an empty house before her.