Characteristically Chekhovian, Aristocrats is a brilliant portrait of a dysfunctional family and a decaying culture. The O’Donnells were once Irish Roman Catholic nobility but now, with the impending death of their patriarch, their long line of district judges will come to an end. The grown up children in the family have returned home to celebrate the marriage of the younger, stay-at-home sibling Claire. None of them are happy and the ghost of their mother, who seems to have committed suicide, haunts the family. The only way the siblings can escape their father's hold over them is through his death. However, their lives and dreams have already been ruined; is it too late for them to start over?
Aristocrats guide sections
