The main characters in Exiles are Richard Rowan, a writer; Bertha, his wife in fact; Robert Hand, an old friend of the couple; and Beatrice Justice, another old friend who is more intellectually equal to Richard than Bertha. Richard is an artist who rebels against convention. When he refuses to pursue or marry Bertha, she decides to accompany him to Rome, become his de facto wife and give him a son. Richard is unfaithful to Bertha and, after confessing his infidelity, encourages her to follow her own wishes.
When the play opens, the couple has returned to Dublin after an absence of nine years because Richard has been offered a teaching position at the university. Her old friend Robert admires Richard but secretly tries to seduce Bertha. Beatrice, who also holds Richard in high regard, has come to give piano lessons to Archie's son Richard and Bertha. When Richard openly enjoys Beatice's company as an intellectual equal, Bertha becomes jealous and tells him of Robert's progress. Richard responds by telling Bertha that she should feel free to follow her own wishes. Bertha is annoyed by her response, wanting Richard to become faithful and express his need for her. Instead, Richard, who is torn by the idea that she may be withholding Bertha from her own fulfillment, gives Robert complete freedom to attempt to take Bertha from her. Robert and Bertha go on a date, but the exact details of what happened between them are never clarified. The conflicts surrounding each character's vision of freedom, how each chooses to exercise their free will, and the expectations that the characters have of each other create confusion for everyone about their principles, passions, and intellect.
Main topics
Due to the complexity of Exiles, there have been disagreements on the main themes of the play. One theme is that of exile: man exiled from man, a man exiled from woman, a man exiled from society, and man exiled from inner peace. Another main theme is that of personal freedom. Richard's idea of total freedom in personal relationships is challenged by his own passions and desires. As he tries to force Bertha into the freedom he envisions, he is betrayed by his own need for love and friendship.
Critical reception
The critical reaction to the exiles has been decidedly mixed. Ezra Pound, one of Joyce's most ardent supporters, wrote "Mr. Joyce's game is dangerous and unspeakable because he is not playing on the subject of adultery, but because he is actually mentally pushing the secular problem of personality rights and the responsibility of the intelligent individual for the conduct of those about him, about him. the eternal question of the relative rights of intellect, emotion, sensation, and feelings. "Pound was not alone in his belief that the play was unproductive, and it was extremely difficult for Joyce to stage it. In fact, the first production In 1919, it was in Munich in a German translation, and the public was warned that the play was not appropriate for a general audience. Following Ibsen's example, Joyce had written a play so outside the conventions of the theater of the time that the public found her incomprehensible.
