I propose to connect the texts, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme by Frank McGuinness and The Plough and the Stars by Sean O’Casey, together. I will do this by focusing on Kenneth Pyper and Jack Clitheroe’s inability to conform to traditional masculine ideals and their desire to find a sense of belonging outside of the domestic space. Clitheroe is treated like a child by his wife Nora, this can be seen in the way she burns Jack’s letter telling him, he was appointed a Commandant in the Irish Citizen’s Army (O’Casey 29-30). This example indicates that Nora does not think Jack is capable of making decision for himself, which is in stalk contrast to the “traditional male role of central decision-maker”, that scholar Cathy Airth…show more content… He almost wields his a Sam Browne belt and gun, like masculine talismans against Nora’s hyper femininity (8). When Clitheroe leaves to fight, he is also separating himself from Nora and the domestic space, indicating Jack desires another place to belong. Additionally, Pyper is also a non-traditional male, and this is shown in both his sexuality and the way he is often likened to a woman. Pyper has “remarkably fine skin…for a man” suggesting him to be both delicate and fragile like a woman (McGuinness 17). At one point in the play Millen tells Pyper that his behavior is “more fit coming from a crying wom[an]” (20). Pyper has also fails in creating a domestic space for himself, as he kills the ‘three legged nun’ he married in France (29-30). However, these men are able to find a place for themselves outside of the domestic space and achieve a masculine identity by fighting. Both men are able to win the respect of their comrades by the end of the play. Pyper is called a “leader” and is said to have “made a man of himself in Flanders” (76). While Captain Brennan announces that, Clitheroe “took [his death] like a man” and achieve a “gleam of glory” in death (O’Casey
