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  • Section 4: Arrested in Philadelphia
Book cover of "The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet"
Section 4: Arrested in Philadelphia Introduction
manuscript draft of poem

"A Friend's Illness"

printed journal cover with illustration
Copyright notice field
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The Abbey Row: Not Edited by W.B. Yeats

Page Lawrence Dickinson (1881–1958)
The Abbey Row: Not Edited by W.B. Yeats
Dublin, Maunsel, 1907

The Playboy of the Western World caused riots at the Abbey in January 1907. J.M. Synge’s play tells the story of a young man, Christy Mahon, being valorized for having allegedly killed his father. Offense was taken at profane use of religious phrases and, finally, at Christy’s mention of “a drift of chosen females, standing in their shifts.” Gregory telegraphed Yeats, “Audience broke up in disorder at the word shifts.” The Abbey Row parodies the Theatre’s journal The Arrow, edited by Yeats, by replacing its cover design of Queen Maeve and an Irish wolfhound with “Mrs. Grundy”—the prototype of prudery—holding Synge on a leash. For Yeats, the riots marked a key change in Ireland: “I saw the dissolution of a school of patriotism that held sway over my youth.”

: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature

: Lady Gregory collection of papers

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Items in Section 4: Arrested in Philadelphia

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  • Book cover of "The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet"

    Section 4: Arrested in Philadelphia Introduction

  • printed journal cover with illustration

    The Abbey Row: Not Edited by W.B. Yeats

  • manuscript draft of poem

    "A Friend's Illness"

  • handwritten horoscope

    Horoscope for Lady Gregory

  • handwritten letter by Lady Gregory

    Letter to W.B. Yeats

  • pale pink cover with title, author, and publigher printed with plain black type

    The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet

  • George Bernard Shaw inside a black car in front of the building at Coole Park

    George Bernard Shaw at Coole Park

  • Book cover of "The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet"

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