Deirdre: A Question of Memory and Ras Byzance (Classic Reprint)

A Question of Memory: Deirdre and Ras Byzance is a pair of dramatic works by Michael Field written in a lyrical, late‑19th‑century voice. Set across distinct worlds—ancient Erin and a royal Ethiopian landscape—the plays blend myth, memory, and fate with vivid character drama. In one tale, a newborn girl named Deirdre becomes the focus of political passion and personal sacrifice; in the other, a royal execution confronts love, duty, and power on the eve of a kingdom’s ceremony. The language is rich, hypnotic, and intensely emotional, inviting readers to follow deep desires and dangerous prophecies through striking stage moments. This edition offers a compact, stage-ready experience of two intertwined imaginations about memory, memory’s costs, and the turn of history through personal choice.

• Two companion plays that mix mythic stakes with intimate human longing.


• Poetic, propulsive language that drives toward pivotal choice and consequence.


• Two contrasting settings—from a ceremonial Erin to a ceremonial Ethiopian scene.


• Themes of memory, fate, love, and the burdens of leadership.

Ideal for readers drawn to mythic drama, complex power dynamics, and language that lingers after the last line.

Michael Field has been a Professor at the University of Houston since 1992. He received his PhD in mathematics from the University of Warwick in 1970. His research interests include ergodic theory, coupled cell systems, the geometric theory of dynamical systems with symmetry and the mechanisms whereby symmetry can lead to complex dynamics in low dimensional systems.