preview

Tragedy and Satire of Irish Life as Depicted by J.M. Syng Essay

Decent Essays

Riders to The Sea and The Playboy of the Western World in a way are two opposite poles of Syng's literary work, as the first one represents him as a great patriot and the other as a cruel realistic satirist of the very nation he himself originates from.

Riders to the Sea is a short poetic play that depicts the perennial failure of those who work with and on the sea. The play is a mere moment in the lives of few characters, but it holds within it the meaning of what they and the millions like them have done and suffered. The play reflects reality in which people have to struggle for a living, but unlike most of his work this play is not concerned with social, political or nationalistic issues, it cuts behind the surface engaging its …show more content…

In that light she can be perceived as the universal picture of the suffering motherhood, but also she is an archetype of all Irish women that for centuries endured all misfortunes patiently awaiting their husband to come back from battle, from the sea...but all in vein. Syng tells us that in this world only men die but women endure for the sake of their children and future. He also tells us that in this community the young tend to die before the old, and therefore in Synge's ironic universe this place becomes a microcosms in which the survival is never certain, but death always is. But these people do not hate the sea, Bartley leaves his safe home in spite of the pervading omens of death. For them the sea is their live hood and they are unbreakable tied to it in the constant struggle for life and existence. Maurya's silent expectance of death and bitter acknowledgment of defeat at her son's funeral confirm that. Syng ends the play in the same manner with her words that show calm acceptance with death's inevitability: "No one at all can be living forever, and must be satisfied."

The Playboy of the Western World is a harsh and often brutal satire of Irish patriarchal society and Irish manhood. Synge uses his poeticized language to depict this a bit distorted world where alleged killers, are heroes, where great story telling is more important than any of man's

Get Access