Translations

As a man in his late 20s or early 30s, Manus is Hugh’s older son. A kind, soft-spoken, highly articulate man, Manus initially serves as an unpaid instructor and assistant to his father’s hedge school. Because of his economic station, he wears shabby clothes and—as Owen suggests—refrains from proposing marriage to Maire, the local woman he loves. 

When Manus is offered a well-paying job at another hedge school, he appears ready to propose to Maire; however, his plans are thwarted by Maire’s strong affections for the British Lieutenant Yolland. Manus is deeply upset when he learns of the connection between Maire and Yolland, and he comes close to attacking Yolland in retaliation. He refrains, however, when he sees them together and realizes Maire is happy, and that her connection with Yolland is genuine. Manus decides, instead, to flee the area, despite his knowledge that the British soldiers will implicate him in Yolland’s disappearance.

Owen is Hugh’s younger son. He is a charming, handsome, and cosmopolitan man, having left Baile Beag to build a better life in the city of Dublin. In Translations, Owen returns to his hometown with mixed feelings (and complicated loyalties) after spending six years away. He comes home to aid the British army as a translator, helping them communicate with the Irish-speaking locals and anglicize the place names on Ordinance Survey maps. He works on these maps with Lieutenant Yolland, the orthographer responsible for the map’s text.

Initially, Owen defends the anglicization of place names on the maps and the implied colonization of the British army, explaining that even the locals do not remember much of the legacy embedded in their language. He explains to Yolland—who romanticizes Irish culture and language—that many words are corruptions of other words and that their origins are difficult (even impossible) to trace (53). However, when the British army threatens the village in the wake of Yolland’s disappearance, Owen experiences a change of heart. He goes off—likely in search of the Donnelly twins—to join the Irish resistance movement against the British (88). 

Described by numerous characters as a “romantic” (53), the British Lieutenant Yolland fits a romantic profile: a shy, thin, and blonde young man in his late 20s or early 30s, referred to by Friel as a “soldier by accident” (31). Indeed, Yolland explains that his presence in the British army is incidental, the result of longstanding tensions with a tyrannical father. Terrified of facing his father’s disappointment, Yolland joined the army after missing the boat for a position arranged for him in India. He compares the overbearing personality of Captain Lancey to his father.

As a romantic, Yolland falls in love with the language and culture of Ireland. He feels both protective of Ireland’s language and wary of his own involvement with the country’s colonization. He also falls in love with local woman Maire, and the two form a bond, despite a language barrier. 

Though sympathetic toward Yolland, numerous moments in Translations suggest that as an outsider (and a British soldier implicit in colonization), Yolland may never be capable of fully assimilating into Irish culture. When Yolland mysteriously disappears after the dance at Tobair Vree, the play suggests that he may have been kidnapped by a local Irish resistance movement.

Captain Lancey is a cartography expert and the head of Yolland’s department, which is working on the Irish maps. He is a small, “crisply-dressed” (31), and dutiful middle-aged man whom Yolland compares to his domineering father (47). Unlike Yolland, Lancey is uneasy with the locals and uncomfortable learning to speak Irish.

Friel’s script describes Maire as a “strong-minded and strong-bodied woman” (7) in her 20s with a head of curly hair. Open-minded and politically progressive, she expresses her desire to learn English early on in the play, citing the writings of Irish liberator Dan O’Connell. Through O’Connell’s words, Maire explains her own belief that their Irish language is a barrier to modern change. 

Maire’s beliefs are put into practice when she falls in love with the English-speaking Lieutenant Yolland. She learns, however, that some of her most valuable communication with Yolland not only transcends the language barrier but defies words themselves. When Yolland disappears, she attempts to channel her grief into the pursuit of English-language learning with Hugh. However, Hugh suggests—when Maire asks him to tell her what the word “always” (90) means—that any satisfaction from this learning will be fleeting, and that she is unlikely to find what she needs in the English language. 

Sarah is a waif-like young woman of ambiguous age who could be anywhere from her late teens to her early 20s (1). Her speech impediment is so prominent that many locals presume she is intellectually disabled. Manus, however, appears to recognize Sarah’s intelligence, and he patiently tutors her in her speech, helping her to pronounce her own name (2).

Though Sarah never openly speaks her feelings for Manus, the play strongly demonstrates her love for him, suggesting she identifies her speaking defects with his “lame” condition. She shows her affection for Manus by presenting him with a flower, soliciting his attention, and running to tell Manus when she sees Yolland and Marie kissing. Because of her presumed ulterior motive in stirring Manus’s anger, Sarah feels indirectly guilty for Yolland’s disappearance (72). 

Jimmy Jack is a longtime friend of Hugh’s: an intelligent and well-read bachelor in his 60s who lives alone, rarely bathes, and appears dirty and shabby as a result (2). Despite his derelict appearance, Jimmy Jack speaks fancifully of women and romance, particularly the goddess Athene (a feminine embodiment of the knowledge both Jimmy and Hugh elevate so highly). At the end of the play, he bemoans his loneliness and speaks of his desire for companionship, suggesting greater metaphorical divides between the British and the Irish, as well as the Irish and their own roots (85-86).

Doalty is an open-minded, warm-hearted young man who is nevertheless described by Friel as “slightly thick” (10). Engaged—initially—in small rebellions, such as moving the British surveyors’ measuring sticks, Doalty moves on to more organized rebellion when he departs in search of the Donnelly brothers’ resistance group.