叶芝的《在巴尔雅海滩》是爱尔兰文艺复兴运动的重要作品。这是一部发人深省的伦理悲剧,更是体现了作家文化民族主义思想的一部戏剧。这部戏剧贯穿着一条从自然情感、自由情感到伦理情感、道德情感的发展线索。由于为人处事大多出于内在自然情感和自由情感的驱动,库胡林未能担当起丈夫、父亲和小国王等伦理责任,引发了艾芙和科纳哈的嫉妒、报复和陷害。而库胡林与过去从未谋面的儿子建立起的伦理情感和道德情感,让一生杀人如麻的他根本无力承受杀死儿子的巨大悲痛。最后他发了疯,跳入大海中与海浪作战。通过《在巴尔雅海滩》中库胡林杀子而陷入疯狂的悲剧,叶芝告诫爱尔兰民众一定要完善自己的道德,提高自身的文化修养,才能推动国家的独立和民族的解放。
Yeats' On Baile's Strand is an important work in the Irish Literary Revival. On Baile's Strand is a thought- provoking ethical tragedy,and also a play that reflects the ideology of cultural nationalism of Yeats. In this play there is staged development from natural emotion,free emotion to ethical emotion and moral emotion. Cuchulain is motivated by his natural emotion and free emotion in most cases. He fails to take the ethical responsibility as a husband,father and little king,which aroused the jealousy,revenge and incrimination from Aoife and Conchubar. After killing his own son who he has never seen,Cuchulain regains his ration. His ethical emotion and moral emotion makes it impossible for him to withstand his guilt,even though he fights bravely in hundreds of wars and has killed numerous people. Finally,he goes to madness,and throws himself into the sea to fight against the waves. With Cuchulain's tragedy of filicide and madness in On Baile's Strand,Yeats warns Irish people of improving their morality and education,so as to promote the Irish national independence and national liberation.