A Divided World and a Divided Self

Synges Playboy of the westbound World is essenti in ally a play of opposites. The tensity between tradition and individualism is the active force that drives the characters toward the comic conflict.Shawn and Christy embody the masculine half of this equivalence while Pegeen Mike and the widow Quinn exemplify the feminine. Interestingly, the conflicts of the characters in isolated situations throw a brighter light on their motives than when secondary characters argon present in the scene.While much of the plays actual humor derives from the chorus-like responses of confederate characters (notably when the pub patrons question Christy about his fathers supposed murder), the inner lives of the four main characters are explored in greater detail in direct dialogue exchanges.For this reason, it is important to consider Playboy of the Western World as a psychological as well as a tender query into the early 20th century Irish mind.The moral, social and familial institutions at work in the lives of the characters are inseparable from the behavior of the characters themselves and their behavior, in turn, affects the ways they perceive and challenge the institutions that establish a collective social identity. Synges satire, then, is fundamentally subversive. By undercutting a prevalent strain of Irish romanticism Synge effectively exposes the dispute between the real and the ideal in Irish opinions about their own history and customs.The influence of organized religion is at the heart of Synges concern. Shawns reluctance to stay with Pegeen Mike overnight testifies to his precaution of the priests, and by extension, the communitys censure. This is confirmed when he admits, Im afeard of Father Reilly and what at all would the blessed Father and the Cardinals of Rome be saying if they heard I did the like of that? Shawn is unable to take the fervent leap in terms of his affection for Pegeen Mike, being overly concern with outward appearances.Though his pres ence at the pub overnight willing not be breaching social etiquette in any way right away revealed by the opinions of the pub house patrons, he worries about the possibility that some vague other will entertain harsh opinions. For this reason, Shawn is repeatedly unable to take a stand for what he purportedly desires sexual union to Pegeen Mike.While religion is key, Shawn also demonstrates a pronounced avoidance to action of any kind. He is fearful of what he perceives as Christys passionate and unpredictable nature. The threat of violence is abhorrent to Shawn. However, his pacifism is not the pull up stakes of moral objection but rather a product of physical cowardice.Christy, in contrast, is not concerned with the price of taking extreme action. Despite his meek exterior, his story of parricide is told with earnest, and he behaves first in much(prenominal) a way that he seems shell shocked by committing the murder. Later, of course, this turns into something else, when he be gins to celebrate his action as proof as his own manliness.This is an important turn in the play because he moves from a fear of the social judgment of his illegal and immoral action into a defiant assertion of his own individualism. This disruption occurs because he senses the positive (and perverse) effect his reputation as a murder has on the members of the community in general and on Pegeen Mike in particular.Once Christy recognizes the advantages he has when perceived as dangerous he speedily adopts a romantic and celebratory posture. His pride in the matter is exactly what sets him up for his serio-comic fall when his father, the old Mahon, appears miraculously raised from the dead.Another pair of characters defined by their opposing views is that of Pegeen Mike and the Widow Quin. Their pronounced share is related to domesticity. While the Widow Quin is perceived as an outsider and generally shunned by the community, she is more(prenominal) of a realist. This is evidence d when Mahon arrives and the widow does not reject Christy as a potential love interest.As an ripened and more mature woman, the Widow Quin is not as easily swayed by the romantic accumulation Christys story of murder offers. She is more interested in his companionship and status as a help-mate. She is eminently practical.Pegeen Mike, however, is far different. For the twenty year old barmaid, the idea of a savage killer for a husband is alluring. Shawns proposal disgusts her when compared to that of Christy because he lacks the essential brutishness that defines her idea of an appropriate mate.Consider the hastiness of her words when she says, Wouldnt it be a bitter thing for a girl to go marrying the like of Shaneen, and he a more or less kind of a scarecrow, with no savagery or fine words in him at all? She is not concerned with the pragmatic reality of what it means to be married to a man who has defied the law. Her moderate is full of high romance and flattered by Christys sentimentally poetic use of language.