Harp Symbol Analysis

The harp, the national symbol of Ireland, represents the state of Ireland under English colonial rule. The harp that appears in “Two Gallants” is being played by a street performer. This harpist plays “heedlessly” and “wearily.” Meanwhile, the harp itself is personified as a woman who is “heedless that her coverings had fallen about her knees” and “seemed weary alike of the eyes of strangers and of her master’s hands.” The story’s description of the harpist and harp takes this traditional symbol of Ireland and makes it a symbol of Ireland’s decline. First, it connects the playing of the harp to a somewhat desperate performance, for money, connecting the harp and Irish tradition to a failing economy and transactional focus. The weariness of both the harpist and the harp further emphasizes Ireland’s decline. The way that the harp is described as a woman who has been disrespected and robbed of her dignity, and who is tired of being played by the fingers of “her master’s hands” first of all links the plight of Ireland to the way that men in Ireland such as Lenehan and Corley seem to habitually and casually mistreat and exploit Irish women. But it also symbolizes the way that Ireland itself has been historically controlled, exploited, and mistreated by the English—Ireland’s colonial masters. The harp in the story is a rich symbol of Ireland, Ireland’s decline, and the causes of that fall.