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Deirdre is the story of a young girl raised in isolation to become the Ulster King's wife. She instead falls in love with a young man and they elope to Scotland. Lured back to Ireland many years later, she is faced with treachery and eternal sorrow.
Stephens's two novellas, Deirdre (1923) and In the Land of Youth (1924), are drawn from the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology. They were intended to be part of a five-volume work, an Irish Epic, but Stephens abandoned the idea, discouraged by critical reaction.
Like many of his contemporaries, Stephens was greatly affected by the Easter Rising (1916), a rebellion of Irish republicans against the British, and his book The Insurrection in Dublin (1916) remains a classic account.
Stephens' astringent use of irony suggests affinities with his friend James Joyce. He wrote The Demi-Gods (1914) in this vein, but Deirdre (1923) was constructed in a more formal, rhythmic prose.
Stephens's two novellas, Deirdre (1923) and In the Land of Youth (1924), are drawn from the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology. They were intended to be part of a five-volume work, an Irish Epic, but Stephens abandoned the idea, discouraged by critical reaction.
Like many of his contemporaries, Stephens was greatly affected by the Easter Rising (1916), a rebellion of Irish republicans against the British, and his book The Insurrection in Dublin (1916) remains a classic account.
Stephens' astringent use of irony suggests affinities with his friend James Joyce. He wrote The Demi-Gods (1914) in this vein, but Deirdre (1923) was constructed in a more formal, rhythmic prose.