SOURCE: MacCarthy, Desmond. “James Joyce's Exiles.” In Humanities, pp. 88–93. New York: Oxford, 1954.

In the following review, originally published in 1918, MacCarthy enthusiastically discusses the published version of Exiles.

Exiles is a remarkable play. I am more sure of this than of having understood it. I could never undertake to produce it unless the author were at my elbow; and when a critic feels like that about a play which has excited him it means he has not quite understood it. What I can do is to give an account of the play and show where I was puzzled. But first I must come to terms with a misgiving. It is a treat to be puzzled by a play, so perhaps I overrate this one because it has puzzled me? I do not think that is the case, but that possibility is the grain of salt with which what follows...