Translations
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Act 1 Act 2, Scene 1 Act 2, Scene 2 Act 3
Themes
All Themes All Translation Is Interpretation Language, Culture, and Identity The Limits of Language Colonialism and Cultural Imperialism
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Manus Sarah Jimmy Jack Cassie Maire Chatach Doalty Bridget Hugh Owen Captain Lancey Lieutenant Yolland
Terms
All Terms Daniel O’Connell Hedge school Poteen Sapper
Symbols
All Symbols Nellie Ruadh’s baby
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Translations

by

Brian Friel
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Jimmy Jack Cassie Character Analysis

Nicknamed the “Infant Prodigy,” Jimmy Jack is a bachelor in his sixties who is fluent in Latin and ancient Greek and attends classes at the Baile Beag hedge school for the company and intellectual stimulation. Jimmy Jack frequently recites Homer aloud, musing on the various proper translations of ancient Greek and the beauty of the goddess Athene. Though Jimmy Jack is initially a source of comic relief, at the end of the play he imagines marrying Athene and becomes despondent at his loneliness and isolation in the world. He represents nationalists who cling too closely to a mythic vision of the Irish past and, in doing so, are left behind by the inevitable wave of change overtaking the island.

Jimmy Jack Cassie Quotes in Translations

The Translations quotes below are all either spoken by Jimmy Jack Cassie or refer to Jimmy Jack Cassie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
All Translation Is Interpretation Theme Icon
).
Act 1 Quotes

Maire: That's the height of my Latin. Fit me better if I had even that much English.

Jimmy: English? I thought you had some English?

Maire: Three words. Wait — there was a spake I used to have off by heart. What's this it was?

Her accent is strange because she is speaking a foreign language and because she does not understand what she is saying.

“In Norfolk we besport ourselves around the maypoll.” What about that!

Related Characters: Jimmy Jack Cassie (speaker), Maire Chatach (speaker)
All Translation Is Interpretation Theme Icon
Language, Culture, and Identity Theme Icon
The Limits of Language Theme Icon
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:
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Translations PDF

Jimmy Jack Cassie Quotes in Translations

The Translations quotes below are all either spoken by Jimmy Jack Cassie or refer to Jimmy Jack Cassie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
All Translation Is Interpretation Theme Icon
).
Act 1 Quotes

Maire: That's the height of my Latin. Fit me better if I had even that much English.

Jimmy: English? I thought you had some English?

Maire: Three words. Wait — there was a spake I used to have off by heart. What's this it was?

Her accent is strange because she is speaking a foreign language and because she does not understand what she is saying.

“In Norfolk we besport ourselves around the maypoll.” What about that!

Related Characters: Jimmy Jack Cassie (speaker), Maire Chatach (speaker)
All Translation Is Interpretation Theme Icon
Language, Culture, and Identity Theme Icon
The Limits of Language Theme Icon
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:
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