Dancing at Lughnasa is a play about five sisters living in Ireland. The play is narrated by Chris's son, the youngest of the sisters. Dancing in Lughnasa is a drama and a very emotional sight. It seems like a slow show and not much happens, but by the end the audience realizes that everything has changed for the Mundy family. This play is not only exciting, but also full of many underlying meanings. The characters are all representative of the time and place of the play. They also represent the different members of a family and the characteristics that arise from them. There are many themes and ideas in Dancing at Lughnasa. One of the most widespread general ideas is poverty. The whole family lives on Kate's teaching income and the small income that Agnes and Rose earn from their knitting. Financial stress causes friction between all the characters. Kate is particularly burdened by the financial situation. Another overarching theme of the show is family. The sisters really have to stick together to survive. The family, although not always easy, must respect and support each other. Unfortunately at the end of the show, Michael reveals that they didn't stay together. He explains that Rose and Agnes ran away and were not found until they were very old and Agnes was already dead. Once they left, the whole family disintegrated. This is a very sad and pessimistic work and the themes reflect this. The theme is developed mainly by the characters. Kate feels the weight of responsibility weighing on her. She is stressed about finances, Father Jack's return, and many other factors. His level of stress contributes to the severity of the issue of poverty. At the beginning of......middle of paper...Kate's son. Sometimes he seems incapable. She might be a little slow compared to her sisters, but that's never confirmed. Rose is immature and doesn't think about the consequences of her actions. He also doesn't seem to understand the scope of the situations his family is involved in. Rose lives in her own world. Anything outside of that world doesn't make much sense to her. The contrast between Kate and Rose is very similar to the contrast between a mother and son. Kate takes care of her entire family and Rose lets her family take care of her. Kate is always extremely negative and Rose is very optimistic. Kate also represents the reality of the poverty that the family has been affected by. Rose is confident about the future. Kate ages every day, while Rose is still young and full of life. They are very opposite characters in many ways.