Discussion of The Theme Through The Contrasting Characters in J.M.Synge's 'The Playboy of The Western World'.

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ABSTRACT

Tugas akhir ini ditulis untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat kelulusan

program sarjana di Jurusan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen

Maranatha. Dalam tugas akhir ini, penulis menganalisis tema melalui

perbandingan karakter antara tokoh utama dengan tokoh-tokoh lainnya dalam

drama karya J.M. Synge yang berjudul The Playboy of the Western World .

Melalui karyanya ini, J.M. Synge menggambarkan kehidupan tokoh

utama yang bernama Christy Mahon. Ia dianggap sebagai seorang pahlawan

ketika mendatangi desa Mayo. Anehnya, ia dianggap sebagai pahlawan oleh

masyarakat desa Mayo ketika ia mengaku telah membunuh ayahnya sendiri dan

karena keberaniannya melanggar norma sosial yang berlaku dalam masyarakat

tersebut. Terlebih lagi, ia dianggap sebagai seseorang yang kuat dan mampu

untuk melindungi para wanita di desa Mayo.

Keanehan ini terjadi karena masyarakat di desa Mayo mempunyai

kepribadian yang berlawanan dengan kepribadian Christy Mahon. Masyarakat

Mayo mempunyai kepribadian yang sangat penurut; walaupun dalam hati mereka

ingin memberontak, namun mereka tidak mempunyai keberanian untuk

melakukan hal itu. Terlebih lagi, sebagian besar pria di desa Mayo bersifat lemah,

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Penulis menyimpulkan bahwa tema dari drama J.M. Synge yang

berjudul The Playboy of the Western World adalah ‘Seseorang yang kuat dan

berani melakukan perlawanan terhadap otoritas dan melanggar standar norma

yang berlaku di dalam masyarakat dapat dianggap sebagai seorang pahlawan oleh

masyarakat yang terikat oleh peraturan-peraturan yang ketat dan tidak memiliki

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of The Playboy of the Western World

The play begins in the Mayo village, in a pub owned by Michael James

Flaherty. Peegen Mike, Michael James’ daughter, is engaged to Shawn Keogh

who is a weak and anxious man. They are an unsuitable couple, but they only

have to wait for a dispensation from the Court of Rome before they get married.

Christy Mahon is a stranger who comes from a distant country in the South of

Ireland. He arrives at Michael’s pub one evening. The Mayo villagers interrogate

him concerning the reason why he comes to the Mayo village, and Christy Mahon

claims that he has been on the run from the law because he has killed his own

father.

The Mayo villagers accept Christy Mahon and conclude that he is a man

of great courage. Michael James not only offers Christy to stay and work as a pot

boy in his pub but he also gives him a good salary. The villagers admire him as a

hero because Mayo villagers do not have any strong and brave men. Most of the

men in the Mayo village are weak, anxious, and handicapped. Widow Quinn

comes to Michael James’ pub to see Christy Mahon, and she fights with Pegeen

because Widow Quin wants Christy to stay in her home.

Some girls are curious about Christy Mahon because they hear about the

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breakfast and try to get Christy’s attention. Shawn Keogh is the only man to have

an objection to Christy Mahon because his fiancée, Pegeen Mike, falls in love

with Christy Mahon. Moreover, they arrange a plan to get married. Widow Quinn

asks Christy Mahon to participate in the local sport games held by the Mayo

villagers and Christy Mahon is able to win all races there.

Besides, there is evidence that Old Mahon, who is Christy Mahon’s

father, is still alive. He reveals to Widow Quinn that Christy Mahon merely

knocks him unconscious and runs away. Furthermore, Old Mahon has been

following him ever since. Finally, Old Mahon meets Christy and they both fight

again. After the villagers hear Old Mahon’s stories, they immediately mock

Christy Mahon and then turn against him. Pegeen Mike also rejects Christy and

considers him to be a saucy liar. The villagers, including Pegeen Mike, decide to

hang him.

At the end of the play, Old Mahon and Christy finally stop fighting. Old

Mahon forgives Christy. Both of them leave the Mayo village. Shawn Keogh

states again that he will marry Pegeen Mike and no one will bother them again.

Peegen Mike claims that she has lost the only Playboy of the Western World.

Biography of the Author

John Millington Synge was born in April 16, 1871 in 2 Newtown Villas,

Rathfarnham, near Dublin. In 1872, J.M. Synge’s father, John Hatch Synge

passed away. Mrs Synge and her children, Robert, Annie, Edward, Samuel, and

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In 1887 J.M. Synge joined Dublin Naturalist Field Clubs and he began

studying the violin with Patrick Griffith in Dublin. In 1888 J.M. Synge entered

Trinity College, Dublin. In 1889, he attended lectures in Musical Theory at Royal

Academy of Music, Dublin.

J.M. Synge met and fell in love with Cherrie Matheson, a friend of his

cousin’s and a Plymouth Brethren. He proposed to her in 1895, but she turned

him down on both occasions because of their different religious viewpoints.

In 1896 he visited Italy to study the language for a time before returning

to Paris. Later, he met William Butler Yeats, who encouraged him to live for a

while in the Aran Islands and then returned to Dublin and devoted himself to

creative work.

In January 1897 J.M. Synge joined the Irish League and in the same year

he began writing Etude Morbide. In 1901 he completed The Aran Island.

Afterwards, he completed a two-act version of When the Moon Set.

J.M. Synge fell in love with Molly Allgood and they became secretly

engaged in the year 1906. The first performance of The Playboy of the Western

World in the year 1907 caused riots in Dublin, and yet it was performed with

great success in Oxford and London. Synge's later works, including The Tinker's

Wedding were published in 1908, but not produced for fear of further riots, and

Deirdre of the Sorrows, a tragedy, was unfinished at the time of his death but was

presented by the Abbey players in 1910.

In March 24, 1909 John Millington Synge died of Hodgkin’s disease in

the Elpis Nursing Home, Dublin.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

I choose to analyse drama for my thesis because drama portrays life as it

is and shows the real life of common people. Moreover, the actions and the

dialogues can help me reveal the characters’ emotion deeply. Drama is one of

three main genres in literature which performs various actions and dialogues by

the players. According to Shaw, ‘Drama is a literary composition in dramatic

form intended to be presented on a stage by actors who assume identities, speak

dialogue and perform actions devised by an author.’ (Shaw, 1972: 289). The

human life serves as an endless source of supply of interesting material for

drama. As Reaske states ‘Drama is a work of literature or composition which

delineates life and human activity by means of presenting various action of - and

dialogue between - a group of characters.’ (Reaske, 1966: 5).

I choose to analyse J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World

because this drama has a different theme in comparison with those of J.M.

Synge’s other works, most of which deal with nature, such as Riders to the Sea

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World is a comedy that satirizes the way Irish people express their feelings

through singing and praising aside from seduction towards other people they

admire. ‘In all of the plays, The Playboy of the Western World is the exception,

being racial comedy satirizing the Irish delight in romantic personalities.’

(Beckoff, 1972: 156).

Moreover, I choose to analyse The Playboy of the Western World because

it is a controversial play. The first performance of this play causes a riot in Dublin.

It happens for the reason that the audiences feel that the portrayal of the

protagonist and the other major characters in the particular drama does not reflect

true Irish, ‘He had no attempt to represent Irish life as it is lived.’ (Skelton, 1971:

115). The people who protest the play are largely Catholic nationalists. They find

the play to be a kind of an insult to Irish moral and religious grounds. In the play,

there are some scenes that depict an unmarried Irish woman who sleeps with a

stranger living under the same roof and the Irish society’s admiration and support

towards the murderer. Moreover, there are a lot of violent acts that occur in this

particular drama. J.M. Synge’s depiction of the characters and their manner of

speech become the objection of the protesters.

Despite the controversy arising out of his works, J.M. Synge makes a great

contribution to the revival of the Irish literature. He was one of the Irish

playwrights who founded the Irish National Theater. He intended to revive the

Irish legends, culture and traditions in his literary works. ‘The group was able to

employ Irish folklore and history without becoming purely nationalistic: by

relying heavily on symbolism and other devices, it came fairly close to fusing

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contribution of J.M Synge is by producing some of the best plays of the 20th

century in the drama, including The Playboy of the Western World.

I would like to analyse the theme of The Playboy of the Western World

since I find that the theme of the play is clear and essential. By analysing the

theme of a story, the readers will be able to find the meaning of the story as it is

stated that ‘Theme is the central idea and dominating idea in a literary work and

the moral message implicit in any work of art.’ (Shaw, 1972: 378).

There are a lot of elements which can reveal a theme, one of which is

through contrasting the characteristics of the protagonist of the play, as in the play

The Playboy of the Western World, Christy Mahon, and major characters in the

Mayo society. The portrayal of the protagonist and major characters lead me to

formulate the theme through their action, speech, and thought.

Statement of the Problem

In order to analyse the drama, I state the problems as follows:

1. What is the theme of J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World?

2. How do the contrasting characteristics of the protagonist and major

characters help to reveal the theme?

Purpose of Study

The purposes of studying and analysing J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the

Western World are:

1. To analyse the theme of J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World.

2. To discuss how the contrasting characteristics of the protagonist and major

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Method of Research

In this research, I use library research. First of all, I read my primary text

entitled The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge. Next, I decide the

topic to be discussed in my thesis. Then, I read some supporting criticism and

reference books. I continue my research by gathering information from the

Internet. Afterwards, I start to analyse the drama using the theories that support

my analysis. Finally, I use the data I have collected for my analysis from which I

draw some conclusions.

Organization of the Thesis

I will present my thesis in three chapters preceded by the Preface and the

Abstract. Chapter One, the Introduction, contains the Background of the Study,

the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research,

and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains the Discussion of the

Theme through the Contrasting Characters in J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the

Western World. The last chapter, Chapter Three, contains the Conclusion. This

thesis ends with the Bibliography, which contains a list of the reference books and

various sources that I use, and the Appendices, which presents the Synopsis of the

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

Having read the drama, I find that the author, J.M. Synge, has successfully

conveyed the theme, which is ‘One who is strong and dares to rebel against the

authority and the moral standard of a society may be considered a hero by a

community which is strictly bound by rules and is lacking in strong men’.

The theme is revealed by contrasting the characteristics of the protagonist

of the drama and the major characters, the Mayo society. I contrast the

characteristic of the protagonist and those of the major character in this drama in

order to show they are completely different character.

Christy Mahon, who is the protagonist in this drama, has a rebellious

character. Christy Mahon, who suffers from his father’s pressure, cannot stand

living any longer with his father because his father often hits him for no apparent

reason and often forces his will on Christy Mahon. He encourages himself to

rebel against his father by killing him. Christy Mahon also rebels against

Catholicism. He does not follow the Catholic moral code by living with an

unmarried woman under the same roof. I also find that Christy Mahon is

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when he is able to beat all the participants in the local sport game and when he

defeats his cruel father with bare hands. Christy Mahon is also portrayed as a

strong man who is able to protect the women in the Mayo village.

The Mayo villagers act as an obedient lot. The Mayo village society is

oppressed by the authority. However, in contrast to Christy Mahon, they do not

have the courage to rebel against it. The Mayo villagers also feel irritated by the

moral codes applied there, but they just follow the codes without taking any

action to oppose them. I also find that the Mayo men are weak. Most of them are

handicapped and stupid. They are not only weak but also cowardly. Their

cowardice makes them unable to protect their women.

The Mayo villagers adore Christy Mahon as a hero for the reason that he

is a figure whom the Mayo villagers want to be. The Mayo villagers see Christy

Mahon’s rebellion and strength as an act of heroism, which they cannot have. I

assume that this drama is an excellent work of J.M. Synge as he is successful in

contrasting the protagonist with the major characters. Moreover, the contrast

creates an uncommon theme; the theme rarely happens in our society. In my

opinion, one who rebels the institution cannot be considered a hero, yet he must

bear some consequences. One also cannot be considered a hero simply because he

is physically strong. Moreover, one deserves praise to be a hero if one is brave to

do something worthy and not something which is inappropriate or which puts

others into misery.

Having analysed The Playboy of the Western World, I find that JM.

Synge wants to give a moral message to the readers that all oppressions can

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Furthermore, the drama itself is controversial. I am of the opinion that it is

controversial because the Irish objected to J.M. Synge, who was known to have

been reviving the Irish legends, culture and traditions in his literary works, creates

characters who do not reflect true Irish. The protagonist of the drama, Christy

Mahon, an Irishman, does not represent the noble quality as a hero. On the

contrary, in my opinion he is actually a criminal because he tries to kill his father.

Moreover, the Mayo society who is supposed to represent the Irish society, adores

Christy Mahon. Perhaps J.M. Synge’s portrayal of the Irish cannot be accepted by

the Irish society. Besides, the depiction of their rebellion to Catholicism and the

use of so many rude words and violent acts in this drama offend Catholicism in

Ireland. I conclude that the drama, The Playboy of the Western World, is a

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References:

Bekcoff, Samuel. History of English Literature. New York: Monarch Press. 1972.

Coxhead, Elizabeth. J.M. Synge and Lady Gregory. London: Longmans. 1969.

Reaske, Christoper R. How to Analyze Drama. New York: Monarch Press. 1966.

Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc. 1972.

Skleton, Robin. The Writings of J.M. Synge. London: Thames and Hudson.1971.

Primary Text: