Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge - Book Report/Review Example

J.M. Synge's Playboy of the Western World Table of contents Introduction. 2. Playboy of the Western World as one of the most significant plays in the repertoire of the Abbey Theatre. 3. Synge's use of language and examination of the Irish character. 4. Conclusion. 1. Playboy of the Western World, a play written by J.M. Synge, became one of his best works. Firstly it was performed in 1907 in the Abbey Theatre, and it attracts spectator's attention even today. There are some significant reasons of its popularity of the play. Playboy of the Western World is written in expressing theatrical language which is not as common as it was in the beginning of the 20th century in Ireland - this feature of the play makes it more interesting and unusual for us. There are many theatres which perform Playboy of the Western World, and there are many admirers of Synge's talent, and skilful actors perform the characters of the play realizing its plot, genre and themes. For example, one of newspapers described the play: " ...a fantastic opportunity to experience, for the first time, the wealth of wit in the work of writer J.M. Synge...judging by the audience laughter on the night I attended" (Basingstoke Gazette, 2004). This paper will discuss how Synge's use of language and examination of the Irish character contributed in a lasting way to the repertoire of the Abbey Theatre, one of the leading theatres in Ireland. Different aspects of the play and its features which led to the popularity of the play in the repertoire of the Abbey Theatre will also be discussed. 2. As was mentioned before, Playboy of the Western World was firstly performed in 1907 in the Abbey Theatre, and there were much critics about that performance, and it turned into a real riot. For example, Yeats described it: "About forty young men had sat in the front seats of the pit, and stamped and shouted and blown trumpets from the rise to the fall of the curtain. On the Tuesday night also the forty young men were there" (Yeats, 1968). They protested against Synge's depiction of Irish community and his manner of showing the life of Irish peasants, as well as women's manners in the play. The performance of Playboy of the Western World became a deviation from traditional theatrical forms which took place in theatres in that time, but now spectators are delighted by talented work of actors. There is one more reason of huge popularity of the play in the repertoire of the Abbey Theatre. The reason is connected to the historical background of the play. In the beginning of the 20th century Ireland tried to determine its own position in the modern world, and the Aran Islands where the play was set, was one of the poorest regions of the country, and peasants' community played rather important role in social life. So, the colourful language of local people and good display of their habitual life features attracted the audience's attention. The Abbey Theatre is one of the most significant theatres in Ireland, and it is not surprising that J. M. Synge's Playboy of the Western World became one of the most popular plays in its repertoire. In addition to that, the Abbey Theatre of Ireland makes abroad performances of the play (in Philadelphia, for example) - it illustrates its popularity and expressiveness it spite of initial riots, and "This outrage only increased the popularity of the play and Synge's celebrity at the time. And now the play is perceived as the crowning achievement of this most highly regarded of Irish playwrights" (AISLE SAY Philadelphia). 3. Synge's use of language and examination of the Irish character contributed much in a lasting way to the repertoire of the Abbey Theatre of Ireland. Irish character and language of local people played very important role in the play perception by its spectators. There are some important themes in the play which uncover the nature of the Irish character, and these themes were shown in comic and expressive manner that hadn't been done before. One of the play's features is that it acts in an Irish county Mayo during one day. The community life is colourful presented by the author in the plot of the play. The moral standards of that community is shown in the scene where Christy Mahon said that he had killed his father, and the people accepted his "courage" and didn't condemned him: "That was a hanging crime, mister honey. You should have had good reason for doing the like of that" (Synge, Act I, line 106). As it is seen, the language of the play is unusual for our time, and it didn't resemble the classical theatrical language or that of people lived in Dublin. So, the ethical standards of the local people were rather contradictory. This tragicomic situation showed the community's idea of heroism which is rather ironic from our point of view. And in spite of Christy's deed they accepted him, and they are shown as very helpful people - one of the positive traits of the Irish character. Synge depicted typical people in different common situations which could take place in any other village of Ireland. The plot of the play gives also a clear notion about the Irish character and the language of rural people. All the action of the play takes place in the pub of Michael Flaherty, and Synge described the inner household furniture of the pub. Pegeen was writing orders for alcohol supply, and her fiance came to her. From the dialogue between them a reader can know about the real nature of their relations, and the Irish character is also shown in this scene: "If it is, when we're wedded in a short while you'll have no call to complain, for I've little will to be walking off to wakes or weddings in the darkness of the night" (Synge, Act I, line 11). This Shawn's humorous phrase shows the natural language of the people and the manner of talking between them. As was indicated above, the style of the play doesn't resemble that of classical English plays whish showed the life of noblemen and bourgeoisie. But in his Playboy of the Western World the author tried to escape this stereotype of performance and introduced a new kind of theatrical play which reflected the national identity of rural Irish people and folk life. The author wanted to show that Irish people are not as aggressive as some stereotypes show, they are kind and credulous. He answered the critics of the play: "I wrote the play because it pleased me, and it just happens that I know Irish life best, so I made my methods Irish" (Grene, 1975). .The lyricism of the play is mixed with satiric character, and this mix is so attractive for the public today - this is also a reason why Playboy of the Western World contributed in a lasting way to the repertoire of the Abbey Theatre. With his deed Christy won admiration of all people in the village, especially of Pegeen who saw the manners of the local people. They wanted to see a hero, and they transformed Christy's deed into a heroic one. Synge showed his criticism of such position. The author also showed the women protagonists as the bright embody of the Irish character. Widow Quinn was also supposed to be guilty of her husband's death, and Pegeen refused to marry a man chosen by her father - this position contradicted religion customs. The Irish character of Widow Quinn allowed her to doubt in Christy's "heroism": "It's more than "maybe" I'm saying, and it'd soften my heart to see you sitting so simple with your cup and cake, and you fitter to be saying your catechism than slaying your da (Synge, Act I, line 200). Such women position display was one of the reasons why some spectators didn't want to accept the initial performance of the play. These women's independent character is shown in rural language of the Irish people, and lyricism and humour make these scenes brighter. The woman characters are opposed to the men ones, such as Christy Mahon and Shawn. But in spite of that Pegeen loves Christy, and it was hard for her to lose her love: "Quit my sight. Oh my grief, I've lost him surely. I've lost the only Playboy of the Western World" (Synge, Act III, line 260). So, Pegeen and Widow Quinn are rather independent characters and such person as Shown Keogh is the most conservative protagonist of the play. He wanted to marry Pegeen, but he planned to do it only after permission of Vatican. This moment reflects the religious background of the play and underlines the role of religion in the Irish character. Shawn even refused to be alone with Pegeen without such permission: "Let me out of the door, I'm saying, for the love of the Almighty God. Let me out. Let me out of it, and may God grant you His indulgence in the hour of need" (Synge, Act I, line 47). Some people thought that Shawn was a coward, but as the play shows, rural people followed certain social norms, and it was an attribute of the Irish character, especially in rural regions. Synge showed the Irish character through the display of different relations between people and their ways to resolve their problems. The author depicted it with colourful and bright language which combines realism and poetry. Such language allowed the characters to transform their deeds into heroic ones, but their heroism is rather ambiguous, so most of them are presented as tragic figures of the play. 4. The paper has discussed the main features of Synge's Playboy of the Western World and the author's use of language and examination of the Irish character contributed in a lasting way to the repertoire of the Abbey Theatre. This play became the most famous work of Synge, and the Abbey Theatre often includes this play to its repertoire - such skilful, humorous and expressive depiction of the Irish character and rich, fascinating and wonderful language of the characters of the play attract public attention in many countries. Despite of initial negative reaction, theatrical audience appreciates Synge's talent and his ability to uncover social problems and features of Irish rural people in such manner. Sources Critical notes on John Millington Synge and "The Playboy of the Western World". From Synge: A Critical Study of the Plays, by Nicholas Grene (London: Macmillan, 1975). (http://www.ibiblio.org/sally/Synge.html) Critical notes on John Millington Synge and "The Playboy of the Western World". From W. B. Yeats "J. M. Synge and the Ireland of His Time," Essays and Introductions (New York: Collier Books, 1968). (http://www.ibiblio.org/sally/Synge.html) Perry, Claudia. The Playboy of the Western World. AISLE SAY Philadelphia (http://www.aislesay.com/PA-PLAYBOY.html) The Playboy of the Western World. Big Telly Theatre Company. Basingstoke Gazette. October 2004. (http://www.big-telly.com/playboyreview.html) Synge, J. M. The Playboy of the Western World. Bartleby.com. (http://www.bartleby.com/1010/) Read More