‘Philadelphia Here I Come!

’
by

Brian Friel

Study guide

Name: _______________
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 Contents:
Page

Short questions 3

Comprehension questions 4

Past exam questions 5–6

Key facts 7

Summary 8 – 10

Themes 11-14

Symbols and Motifs 15

Dramatic techniques 16-17

Quotes 18-20

Lexis 21-22

Key vocabulary for answering questions 23

KWL Chart 24

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 Short questions:
1. Who are the main characters?

2. Identify the protagonist of the play.

3. Identify the antagonist.

4. Who wrote the play?

5. Where is the play based?

6. What era is the play based in?

7. List Public Gar’s friends.

8. What is Gar’s mother’s name?

9. Who is Kate Doogan?

10. Identify the Americans.

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 Comprehension questions:
1. Describe the role of Private Gar in the play.

2. Discuss the relationship between Public Gar

and Private Gar.

3. Illustrate how Public Gar is feeling at the

beginning of the play.

4. How does the idea of Gar going to Philadelphia

come about?

5. Explain how the women in the play are

restricted by the patriarchal society.

6. Discuss the visit of the Americans to the

O’Donnell household.

7. How would you describe the relationship that

Public Gar has with his friends?

8. Did you like the play? Why/why not? Give

reasons.

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 Past exam questions: 2009:

1. A. In your opinion, was Gar a good son to S.B. O’Donnell? Give

reasons for

Describe what happened during the visit of the Americans (Aunt

Lizzy, Uncle Con and Ben Burton) to the O’Donnell household. (10)

your answer. (10)

B. What do you think is the most amusing scene in the play?

Describe what happens and explain what made the scene so amusing.
(10)

2. Answer ONE of the following: [Each part carries 30 marks]

1. (i) “Lack of communication is the main problem for the

characters in Philadelphia, Here I Come!”. Do you agree?
In your answer, you should refer to one or more of the
characters in the play. OR

(ii) Imagine you are Madge, the housekeeper in the O’Donnell

home. Write the letter you would send to Gar a week after he
left for Philadelphia. You should refer to characters and/or
events from the play in your letter. OR

(iii) “Gar’s friends, the Boys, are more to be pitied than laughed
at.” Do you agree with this view of Tom, Ned and Joe? Support
your answer by reference to the play.

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2001:

1 (a) Briefly say whether you think S. B. O’Donnell was a good or bad
father to Gar. Give reasons for your answer. (10)

(b) Describe what happened when Gar, near the end of the play,
tried to get S. B. to remember the fishing trip on Lough na Cloch
Cor. (10)

(c) Overall, do you think Gar was fair to his father throughout the
play? Give reasons for your answer. (10)

2 Answer ONE of the following. [Each part carries 30 marks]

(i) Write a paragraph (150–200 words) on the similarities and/or

differences you notice between Ireland as it is portrayed in
Philadelphia Here I Come and Ireland today.

OR

(ii) From what you see of his Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Con during the
play, do you think that Gar will enjoy his new life with them in
Philadelphia? Explain your answer.

OR

(iii) Imagine Gar telephones one of the boys (Ned, Tom or Joe) from
America. Write out the conversation that might take place between
them. Refer to characters and/or events of the play.

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 KEY FACTS

• Full Title: Philadelphia, Here I Come!

• When Published: Premiered on September

28, 1964 • Literary Period: Realism,

Postmodernism

• Genre: Play

• Setting: Ballybeg, County Donegal, Ireland

• Climax: When S.B. finally lets down his

emotional guard, Gar hurries into the next

room because he’s unable to recognise his

father’s openness.

• Antagonist: Gar and S.B.’s inability to

show affection for one another.

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 Summary
Gar O’Donnell, a man in his mid-twenties, prepares to

leave the small town of Ballybeg, Co. Donegal,

Ireland. Gar is divided into two characters: Public

Gar and Private Gar. Public is the Gar the other

characters in the play see and speak to, whereas

Private is Gar’s internal alter ego, whom only Public

can hear and only the audience can see.

The night before he’s set to fly to America to live

with his aunt and uncle in Philadelphia, Public Gar

goes to his room and packs while having a

conversation with Private Gar. As Public Gar prepares

for his journey, Private Gar speaks enthusiastically

to him about how great his trip will be.

When Gar takes out an old suitcase and finds a

newspaper clipping of his parents’ wedding

announcement, Public and Private pause for a moment

to consider it, thinking about Gar’s mother, Maire,

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who died three days after giving birth. Before he can

get too wrapped up in the memory, though, he

suddenly cuts himself off by reciting an old speech,

which begins, “It is now sixteen or seventeen years

since I saw the Queen of France, then the

Dauphiness, at Versailles!” Having diverted himself,

Gar begins to sing out loud, chiming, “Philadelphia,

here I come.”

Later, Gar sits at the kitchen table with his

father, S.B. As Madge comes in and out of the room,

the two men barely speak, though Gar desperately

wants his father to say something meaningful. Gar

has spent his entire adult life working in the general

store that S.B. runs, and though this means they

spend every day in close proximity to one another,

their relationship remains unaffectionate and

strained. As S.B. periodically gives predictable and

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boring statements while sitting at the table, Private

pleads with him to say something unpredictable.

Because S.B. can’t hear him, though, he continues to

say the things he always says at the end of each day.

This frustrates Private Gar, who suggests that he

would reconsider leaving home if his father would

only say one genuine sentence, something surprising

that might indicate that he actually cares about

whether or not Gar leaves home.

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 Themes

Memories:

Philadelphia, Here I Come! has elements of a memory play.

Although it is set in the present many of the scenes are

flashbacks, and much of the dialogue references things

remembered from the past.

Throughout these flashbacks, we see memories of the

events leading up to Gar’s decision to leave. His encounter

with Senator Doogan, Kate’s marriage to Francis King and

the visit from Con and Lizzy on the day of Kate’s wedding all

gives us background to Gar’s motives for leaving and help

explain his ambivalence about the move. These memories

reinforce Gar’s regrets at how things have turned out and

his uncertainty as to whether leaving is what he actually

wants.

Communication:

‘Philadelphia, Here I Come! ‘is a tragicomedy. It is the study

of a family where communication has completely broken

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down. It becomes clear soon after the play begins that the

protagonist, Gar O’Donnell, has a strained relationship with

his father, S.B. O’Donnell.

S.B. is absent from the stage for much of Episode I. This

suggests that he is absent from Gar’s life.

Sitting at the table with S.B. after a day of work, he yearns

for his father to say something unpredictable, since this

would prove that the old man wants to converse with him.

However, S.B. only repeats the same phrases he says at the

end of each day. This prompts Private Gar to launch into a

monologue about how he’s leaving home because he and his

father can’t engage in a legitimate conversation.

Although Gar wants his father to speak openly with him, he

also recognises on a certain level that communication isn’t

the only way for two people to relate or show affection. Gar

articulates this when he recalls a peaceful day that he and

S.B. spent fishing together.

Friel implies that knowing how to communicate effectively is

a vital skill when it comes to showing affection. Although

it’s possible to silently share meaningful moments like the

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one Gar and S.B. had while fishing, these moments are rare,

which is why verbal engagement is so important when it

comes to maintaining relationships. For instance, the

audience learns that S.B. truly does feel strongly for his

son when he talks to Madge (the housekeeper) about how

fond he has always been of the boy. Unfortunately, he has

never articulated this to Gar himself, which is why Gar feels

so estranged.

Escapism:

Brian Friel uses Philadelphia, Here I Come! to examine and

even challenge the idea that change inherently leads to

happiness. Determined to leave the small Irish town of

Ballybeg in which he has spent his entire life, Gar fixates on

fulfilling the American dream by moving to Philadelphia.

Planning to work at a hotel, he invests himself in the

grandiose notion that relocating will bring him money and a

higher social status.

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At the beginning of the play, Gar is nothing but excited

about his journey to the United States, which he will

remark on the following morning.

A great deal of the play concerns the tension between Gar's

Irish upbringing and his desire for a completely new life.

While he has a deep identification with his homeland, with

friends, a job, and a community, he is also eager to leave it

all behind and start afresh.

Emigration is portrayed as an emotionally complex decision,

one that is as much about rejection of the old as it is an

embrace of the new. While it is never overtly stated, it is

implied that Gar's decision to go to America might have

something to do with his family and friends' inability to

connect with him emotionally on the eve of his departure.

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 Symbols and Motifs
Music (motif)
Throughout the play, Gar listens to records in his room as a way of
calming down and giving himself some pleasure during a stressful time.
His love of music contrasts with his father's silence and the dutiful,
straightforward stoicism of his household. Indeed, his father even
references the fact that Gar is always listening to records when he
plays chess with his friend Canon. Gar's love of music and his desire
for nonessential pleasures is something that differentiates him from
his more pragmatic and serious father

The blue boat (symbol)

Gar has a memory of being a child and going out fishing in a blue boat
with his father. It is one of his happiest memories with his father. He
desperately wants to share it with S.B. and see if S.B. remembers it
as fondly as he does. The blue boat of Gar's memory becomes a symbol
of happiness he felt in childhood and his hope that S.B. will remember
it. However, S.B cannot converse with Gar about the fishing trip and
blue boat becomes symbolic of the ways that Gar and S.B. cannot seem
to connect and their inability to share things or enjoy one another.

"Screwballs" (motif)
Throughout the play, Gar privately calls his father "Screwballs." This
is a teasing and joking reference to the fact that S.B. is anything but
goofy. The motivic joke refers to the fact that S.B. hardly ever
cracks a smile or says a word.

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 Dramatic techniques

Split character
Brian Friel uses an experimental dramatic technique in the
play. He creates Gar Private - who can’t be heard by the
other characters - to allow us access into Gar’s thoughts and
feelings. The only one who hears Private is Gar Public, who
never looks at him.

The use of internal monologue allows us into Gar’s private

thoughts. Here sentences are sometimes reduced to
fragments, jumping from one thing to another and left
unfinished as our own thoughts often are, adding to the
realistic quality of the drama.

Through this innovative dramatic device Friel explores the

complex contradictions of personality and the ‘I’ we show to
and hide from other people.

Dialogue
Friel’s use of dialogue changes depending on character and
situation. The boys and - at times - Gar speak in
Donegal vernacular. This creates realism as it is the speech
pattern we would associate with young men living in this rural
area.

Other characters - such as Senator Doogan and Master Boyle

- speak the Standard English of educated men.

Gar Private’s language is quite poetic at times, especially

when he evokes memories of or mentions his mother.

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We see vivid description in his childhood memory of his
father, ‘just the two of us fishing on a lake on a showery day
– and young as I was I felt, I knew, that this was precious,
and your hat was soft on the top of my ears – I can feel it –
and I shrank down into your coat – and then, then for no
reason at all except that you were happy too, you began to
sing”.

This description is rich in sensory detail, showing the

importance of this memory to Gar as he prepares to go.

Monologues
Private’s monologues obviously show the internal monologue
of Gar, but at times Friel also uses monologues to show
Madge’s feelings. Her final monologue is important as we see
how she too will miss Gar.

This monologue also contributes to the tragedy in the play as

she concludes by surmising “And when he’s [Gar] the age the
boss is now, he’ll turn out just the same. And although I won’t
be here to see it, you’ll find that he’s learned nothin’ in-
between times.”

Her prediction of the cycle of men who are frightened of

showing emotion leaves us with little hope for change at the
end of the play.

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 Quotes:

1. “Just because he doesn’t say much doesn’t mean that

he hasn’t feelings like the rest of us.” - Madge (role of
men)
2. “If he wants to speak to me he knows where to find
me! But I’m damned if I’m going to speak to him first.”
- Public (pride)
3. “She was nineteen and he was forty...” - Private (Gar’s
parents)
4. “...and maybe it was good of God to take her away
three days after you were born...” - Private (Madge’s
words)
5. “Rotten aul snobby bitch! Just like her stinking rotten
father and mother – a bugger and a buggeress - a
buggeroo and a buggerette!!” - Private (social class)
(referencing Kate)
6. “But £3 15s Gar! We could never live on that.” - Kate
(money is an issue) (flashback)
7. “Gar! No matter what you say we just couldn’t live on
that much money. It – it’s not possible. We’ll need to
have more security than that.” - Kate
8. “Madge, Madge, I think I love you more than any of
them. Give me a piece of your courage, Madge.” -
Private (admiration for Madge)
9. “...and never once in all that time have you made as
much as one unpredictable remark...” - Private

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10. “I’m twenty-five, and you treat me as if I were
five.” - Private (referencing his father S.B)
11. “We embarrass one another.” - Private (role of
men)
12. “With the wind howling and the rain slashing
about!” - Lizzy (pathetic fallacy) (Gar’s parents
wedding day)
13. “My son, Gar, Gar, Gar...” - Lizzy (taking Gar on as
if he were her own son) (desperate for a child of her
own)
14. “She got you soft on account of the day it was,
didn’t she?” - Private (the day Kate was getting
married)
15. “You don’t want to go, laddybuck. Admit it. You
don’t want to go.” - Private
16. “’The Boys!’ Couldn’t even come here to say good-
bye to you on your last night” - Madge
17. “This isn’t a healthy sign, drinking by yourself.” -
Kate
18. “You know as much about it as I do.” - Public
(culture of gossip)
19. “You know Ballybeg – Small Town.” - Kate
20. “You’ll do well, Gar; make a lot of money and come
back here in twenty years’ time, and buy the whole
village.” - Kate (cultural context) (money over
health/happiness)

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21. “Look at Master Boyle! Look at my father! Look at
the Canon! Look at the boys.” - Public (role of men)
22. “...but between us at that moment there was this
great happiness, this great joy – you must have felt it
too – it was so much richer than a content – it was a
great, great happiness, and active, bubbling joy –
although nothing was being said...” - Private (important
happy moment between Gar and S.B)
23. “...Canon, what interest have you in money? Sure
as long as you get to Tenerife for five weeks every
winter what interest have you in money?” - Private
(social class)
24. “...because you could translate all this loneliness,
this groping, this dreadful bloody buffoonery into
Christian terms that will make life bearable for us all.”
- Private (not even religion can offer a way out)
25. “To hell with all strong silent men!” - Private (role
of men) (don’t talk about emotions)
26. “...that you were happy.” - Public
27. “Madge - Madge, you’d let me know if – if he got
sick or anything?” - Public (referencing S.B) (worried
about his father)

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Lexis: Definitions:
Internal alter ego

Affectionate

Strained

Periodically

Ambivalence

Reinforce

Tragicomedy

Yearns

Prompts

Monologue

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Legitimate

Maintaining

Articulated

Estranged

Inherently

Fixates

Grandiose

Complex

Embrace

Vernacular

Vivid

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 Vocabulary for the Single Text ‘PHIC!’

• Protagonist

• Antagonist

• Strained relationship

• Identity

• Communication

• Patriarchal

• Escapism

• Emigration

• Social status

• Opportunities

• Relationship (s)

• Nostalgia

• Internal alter ego

• External alter ego

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