For a nation to be sovereign, it must possess and control land. In John B. Keane’s play, “The Field,” the insatiable lust for land is at the heart of the conflict. In Ireland, the Irish rebelled against English rule to secure their own land and become independent. Keane illustrates Ireland’s hunger for land and its willingness to instigate violence to gain possession of land through Bull McCabe and his interactions with others.
The primary conflict in the play originates from Bull’s steadfast resolve to purchase and possess Margaret Butler’s land. The date for auction of the four-acre parcel was set for April fifth. The four-acre field symbolizes Ireland and its four provinces. “‘There’s shamrock in the south-west corner. Shamrock, imagine! The north part is bound by forty sloe bushes. This
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“‘Tadhg, my son, marry no woman if she hasn’t land’” (Keane 112). Only marrying a woman if she owns land refers to the desire to reunify Ireland. Bull owns nineteen acres of land and Tadhg reveals that his love interest possesses “nine acres o’ land” (Keane 142). The number nine symbolizes completeness and finality and the number nineteen, combination of two perfect numbers, nine and ten, represents perfection, further suggesting that Ireland would not be complete without reunification (Class). Bull’s insistence of his son marrying a woman with land alludes to Pearse’s declaration of entrusting Ireland’s children with the task of coming to a peaceful reunification if the rebellion does not succeed. Bull also inquires how well Tadhg’s prospective wife handles herself with pigs and cattle, to which Tadhg replied, “‘She’s a man by day but she’s a woman at night’” (Keane 142). Pigs and cows are symbolic of fertility and abundance, alluding to the land’s fruitfulness. Thus, Bull urges his son to marry a masculine woman who can handle livestock because, otherwise, the land will become infertile and