RIDERS TO THE SEA
By John Millington Synge
Summary
The play begins with Maurya,
who has fallen into a fitful sleep. She is certain that her son, Michael, has
drowned, even though she has no proof, and has been constantly grieving for
nine days. Cathleen, her daughter, is doing household chores when Nora, another
daughter arrives. She quietly slips into the kitchen with a bundle that had
been given to her by a young priest. In the bundle are clothes taken from the
body of a man who drowned in the far north. They were sent to Maurya's home,
hoping that she would be able to identify the body.
Maurya begins to look as if
she is going to wake up soon, so the daughters hide the bundle until a time
when they are alone. Maurya awakes, and her fear for losing her only remaining
son Bartley intensifies her grieving for Michael. Keep in mind, she has already
lost five sons and a husband to the sea. The priest claims that that
"insatiable tyrant" will not take her sixth. However, Bartley
proclaims that he is going to venture over to the mainland that same day, in
order to sell a horse at the fair, despite knowing of the high winds and seas.
Maurya begs Bartley not to go,
yet he insists despite her pleas. In a flustered state of irritation, Maurya
bids him gone without her blessing. Upon seeing these events unfold, the
sisters tell Maurya, that she should go out and search for Bartley in order to
give him the lunch that they he had forgotten to bring, and while at it, give
him her blessing.
Maurya agrees to go, and once she
is gone, the girls open the bundle. They find that they were indeed Michael's
clothes, but at least they have the comfort of knowing he got a respectable
Christian burial where he washed up in the north. At this point, Maurya returns
even more flustered and terrified before. She has seen a vision of Michael
riding on the lead horse behind Bartley. Because of this, she is sure Bartley
is doomed to die at sea. The girls then show her Michael's clothes, and she
exclaims that the nice white boards she had bought for Michael's coffin may now
be used for Bartley's instead.
As she says this, the
neighbors (women) enter, their voices raised in what the play calls a
"keen", or wailing lament for the dead. Men follow the women, who
bring in the body of Bartley, who, sure enough, is dead. He has been knocked
off a cliff into the surf below by the horse he was leading. The play ends with
Maurya's fatal submission as she says, "They're all gone now and there
isn't anything more the sea can do to me."
This play resulted in the
public having an interesting outlook to the sea. Whereas beforehand the sea was
always mysterious and adventurous, it now became melodramatic and depressing.
This had a somewhat similar effect to "Jaws" in the mid 70s, changing
peoples' views of water and the ocean, but on a lesser scale.
Critical Commentary
The Colonial Image Refuted
Riders to the Sea is a
tragedy portraying the sort of poor Irish peasant family which had previously
supplied material for comedies on London
stages. Though set in contemporary Ireland, the play provides a window into the life of the people in ancient
times: the life of the Aran community is archaic: untouched by modern life,
untouched by colonialism.
The
power of the sea is the main theme of the play: it is both provider and
destroyer; it provides life, connection with the mainland, but it takes life.
The dramatic structure of the play centres around the sea: in the beginning
there is suspense as to whether the sea has given back the dead body of the
young man it has taken. At the end there is suspense as to whether the last
remaining son will survive the storm. The power of the elements is demonstrated
to the audience in the opening scene as the wind tears open the door of the
cottage. The main epic speech describes the destruction of the men of the
family. As the old woman tells of past tragedies, the next and last one is
re-enacted. This shows the audience that her presentiments and fears were
justified; it demonstrates the struggle with the elements and the cycle of
death; the ancient ritual of the community in the face of death; the stoic
resignation and strength of the old woman.
Many
elements of the play remind one of the classical tragedies of antiquity: the
compelling structure, the foreshadowing of the tragedy and its inevitability,
the element of guilt which is not personal guilt, the stoic acceptance of fate,
the great simplicity and dignity of the main character.
The
play is not a political parable, but it had a significant political impact. It
counteracted the colonial view of the Irish as a rather savage, primitive
uncultured people. It shows a family struggling against overwhelming odds to
survive, and maintaining dignity in defeat. It shows that poverty does not of
necessity mean poverty of spirit. The richness and spirit of the Irish language
is recreated in English modelled on Gaelic speech patterns. The play reduces
the colonial period to an episode in the history of the Irish, as it provides a
picture of how the people lived down the centuries. It could have given the
audience a sense of hope: if a people survived thousands of years battling
against the elements, then surely a struggle against mere human unreason could
ultimately be successful.
NOTES ON SYNGE’S “RIDERS TO THE
SEA”
1. The life of the
Islanders:
A
subsistence life: tiny cottage, no windows, they have what they can make - make
their own clothes from their own wool; live on fish and potatoes; they buy only
flour and tea from money made selling a horse or a pig; they burn turf they cut
themselves; make their own fertilizer from seaweed. They live very isolated
lives: if a stranger comes by, they remember not only what they bought from
him, but exactly what he said. Their contact with and knowledge of the world,
and indeed of Ireland, is very limited: it is the traveller who tells them how
far away County Donegal is - distance is measured in the time needed to walk
it. There is a strict divison of labour between men and women: women do not
fish or sell; they farm, mind animals and house, prepare food and clothes.
2. The dominance of the
sea:
The
sea is both provider and destroyer: provides life, connection with the
mainland, but it takes life. Its power is the main theme of the play:
illustrated for the audience by the tearing open of the door at the beginning,
and by the descriptions given by the girls. Their sense of time, of direction
is determined by the sea. The fishermen struggle to get a living out of the sea
in tiny, frail boats made of tarred canvas, which they make themselves.
The
dramatic structure of the play centres around the sea: in the beginning there
is suspense as to whether the sea has given back the dead body of the young man
it has taken. At the end there is suspense as to whether the last remaining son
will survive the storm. The main epic speech (Maurya's) describes the
destruction of the men of the family. As the old woman tells of past tragedies,
the next and last one is re-enacted. This shows the audience that her
presentiments and fears were justified; it shows the struggle with the elements
and the cycle of death most dramatically; it presents the ancient ritual of the
community in the face of death; it shows the stoic resignation and dignity of
the old woman. The
type of English used is modelled on Gaelic speech and demonstrates the richness
and poetry of Irish.
The
life of the people is presented as being archaic in many respects. It is true
that the characters are shown to be Catholics, but the beliefs of ancient times
are seen to be very much alive: black hags and spirits haunt the seas; Maurya
sees the ghost of her dead son, and all interpret this as a sign that the last
son is doomed. The dead man takes the last remaining son with him. (This
ancient belief in the malevolence of the dead and the threat they constitute to
the living led to the placing of heavy stones on graves in the hope that the
spirit of the dead would not be able to get out and haunt the living.) The
priest is almost pitied by Maurya as a young man who doesn't really know what
he is talking about and who can offer neither sound advice nor comfort, though
he tries his best. There is a great sense of the world of the spiritual,
Catholic and older elements intermingling without conflict.
Many
elements of the play remind one of the classical tragedies of antiquity: the
compelling structure, the foreshadowing of the tragedy and its inevitability,
the element of guilt which is no personal guilt, the stoic acceptance of fate,
the great simplicity and dignity of the main character.
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