희생은 아일랜드 민족주의의 중요한 가치이자 독립 투쟁의 수단이기도 했다. 희생은 예이츠 초기희곡 세 작품—『캐슬린백작부인』,『캐슬린 니 훌리한』,『왕의 문지방』—의 주제이다. 이 논문은 이 세 작품을 중심으로 각기 다른 형태의 희생 을 연구한다.『캐슬린백작부인􋺸에서 캐슬린은 가난한 농부들을 구하기 위해 영혼까지 팔고, 『캐슬린 니 훌리한』에서 젊은 농부인 마이클은 아일랜드의 상징인 노파의 부름 에 응해 신부와 가족을 뒤에 두고 노파를 위해 싸우러 떠난다. 『왕의 문지방』에서 국 민시인인 샤나한은 국가평의회 위원이라는 시인의 오래된 권리를 수호하기 위해 목숨 을 희생한다. 이 논문의 목적은 주인공들의 희생의 의미와 그 희생에 대한 예이츠의 태도를 분석하는 것이다.

Yeats has expended so much energy on theatre for the simple reason that his imagination was essentially dramatic. Just as in his lyrical poetry he was to find a way of embodying his conviction that conflict is at the root of life, so in his drama he was to develop techniques that enabled him to shape his vision into actable form. Despite great differences in subject matter and technique, Yeats's plays consistently dramatize the conflict between the opposing values: passion, intuition, heroism and self-assertion, on the one hand, reason, prudence, convention, community and self-submission, on the other hand. This paper studies the conflicts in Yeats's three early plays: the conflict between the poet Aleel's world of dreams and beauty and Cathleen's decision to sacrifice herself for the community in The Countess Cathleen, the conflict between the life-denying forces of moral orthodoxy and social conformism and gaiety and aesthetic vitality in The Land of Heart's Desire, and the conflict between the poet Forgael's transcendental journey and his companions' absorption in wine, women, and loot in The Shadowy Waters. Thus, conflict is a powerful instrument to dramatize Yeats's dramatic vision and these early plays, in spite of many failings, show the embryo of the recurrent theme of conflict in his more successful later plays.