Plato's Cave is an allegory written by the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato in his book The Republic. Its purpose is to compare "the effect of education and the lack of it on our nature". Irish historian FSL Lyons used the image of Plato's cave to describe the isolated state of Irish culture during WWII, in what has become an enduring metaphor for mid-twentieth century Ireland:
"It was as of an entire people had been Condemned to live in Plato's cave, with their backs to the fire of life and deriving their only knowledge of what went on outside from the flickering shadows thrown on the wall before their eyes by the men and women who passed to and fro behind them."Kelly Matthews, author of a book on the Bell Magazine wrote: "Most have concurred that the mid-20th century was marked by a high degree of cultural isolation and stagnation." FSL Lyons also said that "Ireland had already intellectually isolated herself in large measure since independence."
