“What all three characters aspire for is freedom. It is the one thing they’ll never have.” Discuss.

Brian Friel has made it clear to the readers through the title The Freedom of the City that this is a play about freedom. More precisely, it is about the lack of social, economic and political freedom of those people at the bottom strata of society. These poor and powerless people are represented by the three main characters – Lily, Michael and Skinner. Although they all aspire to be free, they attempt to achieve their freedom in different ways. Nevertheless, none of the three characters will succeed, and the play seems to make the point that freedom may be an impossible dream in a society where the poor are always being suppressed by the powerful.

All three characters attended the civil rights march, but what each of them want is different. Michael, being the most outspoken and enthusiastic participant, sees freedom as having “a decent job, a decent place to live in, a decent town to bring up [his] children”. Through his conversation with Lily, we learn that he sees marching ...