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O'Flaherty V.C., A Recruiting Pamphlet(1915)은 George Bernard Shaw가 제1차 세계 대전 중에 쓴 코믹 단막극입니다. 줄거리는 영국군 소속 아일랜드 군인이 빅토리아 십자훈장을 받고 집으로 돌아가는 이야기입니다. 이 극은 영국 정부가 아일랜드에서 징집을 장려하고 있을 당시 많은 아일랜드 공화당원들이 전쟁에 반대하는 입장을 표명하던 시기에 쓰여졌습니다.
<A classic read in English_ O Flaherty V.C. _ A Recruiting Pamphlet by Bernard Shaw >
O'Flaherty V.C., A Recruiting Pamphlet (1915) is a comic one-act play written during World War I by George Bernard Shaw. The plot is about an Irish soldier in the British army returning home after winning the Victoria Cross. The play was written at a time when the British government was promoting recruitment in Ireland, while many Irish republicans expressed opposition to fighting in the war.
Summary
Dennis O'Flaherty, winner of the Victoria Cross for his outstanding bravery, has returned home to his local village to take part in a recruitment campaign. In conversation with General Pearce Madigan, the local squire, O'Flaherty admits that he had not told his Fenian mother that he would be fighting for the British side in the war, not against it. Madigan says he must explain to her why the war is being fought, and that even Republicans should help in the struggle against German oppression. O'Flaherty says he's no idea why the war is being fought, he just joined up to get away from home, but one thing he's become convinced of is that patriotism is part of the problem: "You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race".
His mother appears, incensed to discover he's being fighting for the British. But she's even more horrified when Dennis' girlfriend, Teresa, arrives, expecting that the V.C. comes with a large payout in cash.
