YMMV / An Triail

• Alternate Character Interpretation: The two brothers are viewed very cynically by the narrative, although they technically are abuse victims as well. Sean telling Liam about Maire's pregnancy symptoms is a genuine mistake on his part - not realising their mother was listening. Sure they don't track Maire down and help her later in life, but she gives a fake name where she lives and never contacts them. On the other hand the final line from each of them is blaming Maire for their lives being ruined.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Maili is the only remotely decent person in the play. She also gets the rather awesome line when the attorneys suggest her house wasn't appropriate for a single mother - by telling them to go to hell.
• Once Original, Now Common: Parts of the play's commentary on the religious bigotry of 1960s Ireland might not seem as shocking since The Magdalene Sisters dropped the same anvil. The popularity of the Les Misérables musical (and the mainstream 2012 film version) doing the same with Fantine probably lessens the impact felt. In the 1960s it was shocking that a woman who had premarital sex would be shown as such a victim.
• Tear Jerker: Maili's description of Maire's suicide. She describes it as her wanting to make sure her daughter wasn't alone.
• Values Dissonance:
  • What caused the biggest scandal in Ireland when this was first shown? The most sympathetic character - after Maire of course - was the prostitute!
  • Maire's mother trying to get her to abort the child was meant to be yet another thing to show her in an evil light in the 60s. With the modern attitudes towards abortion being much different, less so considering Maire's youth and the fact that she was seduced. That being said, modern productions emphasise her trying to trick Maire into taking the drink and disowning her when she refuses.
• Values Resonance: As outlined in this article.
  • Maire being left homeless and reduced to living in a whorehouse after her apartment collapses is all the more relevant in the late 2010s with concerns over homelessness and rising house prices in Ireland.
  • The treatment of women by Ireland made the play seem all the more relevant as Ireland campaigned to have the 8th Amendment repealed in 2018.^note The Amendment made abortion 100% illegal, even in the special cases that many Pro-Life activists are willing to show leniency for.
• The Woobie: Maire in spades. Her whole life is one of being abused and mistreated by her family and the people around her.

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