Word: owain
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Macha's husband, Ian, the shepherd (Stephen Frick) is a caricature of a fool. Though he is appreciative of womanhood and respectful of his wife, his weaknesses and stupidity are the cause of her wrestling--while pregnant--with Lord Owain. We sympathize with Macha when she asks, "Are all those who practice a gentle touch weak in the brain...
Angus (Richard Nash) is a perverted and deceitful old man who has raped his daughter for most of her life and justified himself by calling it "love." Lord Owain is a macho, sadistic representative of patriarchal society, who not only forces Macha to wrestle him, but wrestles while his wife--to whom he has been unfaithful--dies in child birth...
Until the very end of the play, the men of Monster are devoid of the humanity, which the women like Macha and her child Etain embody. The final resolution, where Lord Owain comes to lay down his weapons and his machismo, is problematic. His character has not been properly prepared for the metamorphosis. His chastity after his wife's death and his late embrace of a more empathetic way of life cannot be convincing, because, throughout the work, his character has been flat and static. Even if we did believe the change, we would know it was not entirely autonomously...
...entire final resolution is forced. Macha seems overly willing to forgive Owain's sins and to welcome him into her world. Her gesture can perhaps be viewed as her ultimate strength, but it does not seem particularly realistic...