Act I

The Hostage takes place in 1960 in an old house in Dublin. It is owned by Pat, an old Irish nationalist and IRA soldier, and Meg, his spouse. They run it as a lodging house and brothel. Meg believes that "the old cause [of Irish freedom] is never dead." Pat has an entirely different attitude. He states that "the days of the heroes are over." However, by play's end, Pat is shown to be more nostalgic about the War of Independence (1919) and the Civil War (1921-23), and more nationalistic, than he at first appears.

Monsewer enters. Pat and Monsewer were comrades during the Irish Civil War. Monsewer is the real owner of the house, but because he is mentally "distracted" and believes that he is still fighting in the Civil War, Pat runs the house for him. Monsewer was an "Anglo-Irishman" who "converted" to the Irish cause...