Message and Values in Riders to the Sea by J.M Synge Essay

We have seen in the series a musical, a fantasy and a comedy. Something peculiar in scene and tone and more realistic is effective in being the last play in the series. J. M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea is the finest example of one-act play. With limited characters, pointed place, unified action, simple plot, colloquial language and universal tune Synge achieves remarkable success. The play is worth producing and watching because of its artistic values and a strong message that it brings: poverty and destruction of nature cannot conquer the dignity of the people. Riders to the Sea by J.M Synge is a tragic play regarding the sacrifice one family has made over their years on an island West of Ireland. When Synge wrote Riders to the Sea in 1904†¦show more content†¦M. Synge, uncovers the heroic values and the awareness of universal myth with which the islanders enrich their lives. Skelton states that Synge symbolizes the islanders for the making of images and values ... which point towards the importance of reviving, and maintaining, a particular sensibility in order to make sense of the predicament of humanity. (Skelton, 124) The power of the sea is the main theme of the play: it is both a provider and a destroyer; it provides life, connection with the mainland, it, however, takes life. People’s sense of time and direction is determined by the sea. The fishermen keep struggling to get a living out of the sea in tiny boats, even though lots of family members’ lives have been lost in the sea. The dramatic structure of the play moves 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 life of the people is presented as being archaic in many perspectives. The beliefs of ancient times are seen to be 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 main epic speech describes the destruction of the men of the family. As the old