Undergraduate Honors Thesis
The Playboy of the Western World: Ancient Tragedy’s Reflection in the Irish Literary Theater, Anti-Authoritarian Nationalism, and Tragicomedy Public Deposited
- Abstract
John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World is a comedy written in
early-twentieth-century Ireland that unexpectedly follows a plot similar to a classical Greek
tragedy. The play’s protagonist Christy, a strange young man wandering the pastoral western
lands of Ireland, arrives at a village and announces that he is his father’s murderer. Oddly proud,
he justifies himself to the townspeople. He explains that his aging, dirty father was abusive
(portraying a common Irish stereotype), making him out to be unbearable company for Christy.
His line was written as quite “reasonable” in the stage directions, and so it follows that Christy is
actually well-received by his audience as a parricidal folk hero. In response, a character named
Jimmy exclaims: “Bravery’s a treasure in a lonesome place, and a lad would kill his father, I’m
thinking, would face a foxy divil with a pitchpike on the flags of hell,” (Synge, 106).
- Creator
- Date Awarded
- 2024-04-10
- Academic Affiliation
- Advisor
- Committee Member
- Granting Institution
- Last Modified
- 2024-04-22
- Resource Type
- Rights Statement
- Language
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Raso_Honors_Thesis_2024__1_.pdf | 2024-04-16 | Public | Download |