This page was created by Andrew Olsen.  The last update was by Erika Strandjord.

Star of the Sea : A Postcolonial/Postmodern Voyage into the Irish Famine Main Menu About This Project Star of the Sea Overview Joseph O'Connor In this section, you will learn more about Joseph O'Connor and the other works he produced Postcolonial Theory Postmodernism The Gothic in Star of the Sea Historical Figures Language and Music in Irish Culture Biology of the Famine Landlords, Tenants, and Evictions In the following pages, you'll learn about landlords, tenants, and evictions during the Irish Potato Famine Government Policies and Emigration Media Memorials Contributors Brief biographies of the people who made this book.

Commodification of Land (Non-Spoiler)

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The final aspect of land to be considered with Setting in mind is how the commodification of the land in Ireland changes as a result of the potato blight. With Ireland’s dependency of specifically the potato of all crops, the potato blight crippled many Irish economically. The Mulvey family sees this happen to their farm, symbolically representing many of the nameless Irish who suffered the same fate historically.  As a result, these people may find themselves struggling or failing to pay rent to their landlords, leading to eviction in some cases. As a result of these forceful evictions, sometimes homes are destroyed or doors are broken in as a means of forcing the evicted tenants out. This obviously damages the property itself and forces people out onto the streets, a situation with no apparent winner. When the depreciated quality of the farm land due to the blight combines with the depreciated value of the land as homes are damaged and tenants are evicted, the commodification of land in Ireland changes drastically. It’s important to consider how this could affect characters in Star of The Sea. Its tension is especially visible in the marriage delegations between the Merridith Family and the Blake family, as Merridith’s tenants have been largely unable to pay rent affected his personal wealth. As a result, Merridith’s father wants him to marry Blake’s daughter and receive the dowry, securing funds for the Merridith family as the Blake family is much more financially sound.

Work Cited
O'Connor, Joseph. Star of the Sea. Orlando: Harcourt, 2002. Print.
Researcher/Writer: Ben Deetz
Web Designers: Madison Luke and Andrew Olsen

This page has paths:

  1. Setting (Non-Spoiler) Erika Strandjord

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