Final answer:
William Butler Yeats helped establish Ireland's first national theater, the Abbey Theatre, in 1904 in Dublin. The theater became a significant cultural institution that played a role in the Irish independence movement and reflected the society's cultural ideology and power structures.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 1904, William Butler Yeats was instrumental in establishing Ireland's first national theater in Dublin, known as the Abbey Theatre. The theater was founded with the intent to promote Irish literature and provide a venue for Irish playwrights to present their works, helping to foster a sense of national identity and cultural revival during a time of political discontent. The establishment of the Abbey Theatre occurred during a period where literature and drama were utilized to engage with social, political, military, and economic debates, reflecting and shaping the cultural ideology of the society.
Yeats's contributions to literature and theater went hand-in-hand with the cultural discourse of his time, as evidenced in his poem 'Easter, 1916', which explored themes related to the Irish independence movement and its impact on Irish society. The creation of the Abbey Theatre was part of a broader historical development of drama dating back to ancient Greece, where drama evolved as a means of communal expression and societal catharsis. It continues to influence how literature and theater respond to the ideological and power structures within a society.