John Millington Synge : the outsider in the Irish literary revival : Synge's concern with the outsider figure as found in his plays

Abstract

J.M. Synge is , in my view, the outsider in the Irish dramatic movement. He was not simply opposed by his audiences and criticized by his reviewers, but his plays were, to a great extent, outside the genre of the Abbey drama in its early years, and thus his contribution to modern British drama is singularly original. Synge's own position as a member of the Ascendancy class and later as an agnostic in a primarily Catholic country enhances his position as an outsider. It is really no wonder that Synge's work constantly acknowledges and examines the place of the estranged individual; the stature of the outsider figure. Following a brief introduction on the political stirrings of late nineteenth century and on how these led to the atmosphere of revivalism, the first chapter deals with Synge's position as a 'Watcher from the Shadows'. In the second chapter we explore the change brought about by Synge's Aran experience, and the form of the new language that set free his style. In the third chapter Synge's role in the Abbey Theatre is examined and his initial masterpiece , Riders to the Sea is discussed. Maurya is seen as the central figure in this play and a contrast is drawn between Maurya as a central protagonist and the marginalised protagonists of later plays. The outsider figure in The Shadow of the Glen, The Tinker's Wedding and The Well of the Saints is the main theme of the fourth chapter. These characters become increasingly complex and rebellious, which situation ironically parallels the mounting tide of opposition against Synge at the Abbey.