It could be argued that although O’Donnell seems to play the major part of comic relief in the first Act of the play, he also presents some more serious themes to us. It would be naive to assume that comedy was Friel’s only intention regarding the presentation of O’Donnell, as he helps Friel to achieve [...]

Through Friel’s use of subject matter and style in the opening conversation of “Making History”, he successfully and effectively opens the play, enticing the reader’s attention and introducing the major themes of the play.
One of the first themes Friel presents to his audience, is the idea that Hugh O’Neill is a very atypical hero, and [...]