Indoctrinated Ireland

James Joyce’s demons seemed to follow Edna O’Brien, too, a natural born writer, who already stirred a terrible scandal with the publication of her first novel, The Country Girls. The disclosed “painful truth” about the Irish nation caused hysterical unrest culminating in finally burning copies of the novel. Indoctrinated Ireland aims to explain the reasons standing behind such radical reactions and to explore the face of the real Ireland unveiled by Edna O’Brien through the story of Caithleen and Baba, these two devious young girls living their unconventional everyday lives in a highly conservative, brainwashed society. Various aspects of life are discussed, such as education, the Irish curriculum, the position of women in Ireland, religion and the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church. The Country Girls is not only the story of two Irish country girls, but also a loud social criticism that cannot but provoke adequately strong reactions.