Synge's Treatment of Christianity and Paganism
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TREATMENT OF CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM, MYTH AND FOLKLORE IN THE PLAYS OF JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE ABSTRACT SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Boctor of $i)ilos(opi)p IN ENGLISH BY RUCHIKA SINGH UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROF. SYEDA NUZHAT ZEBA DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2012 Since 1880, Ireland was producing a generation of young writers who played a crucial role in the creative and intellectual awakening of Irish culture which came to be known as the Celtic Renaissance. The Irish Literary Renaissance was the result of the collective efforts of diverse talents in the fields of foJ^te^^IfS^^IPWranslation, poetry, and drama. Under the leadership of the'W.'B. YeatS^^N^l^ovement was supported by the folklorist Douglas Hyde, the novelists JaWie| Joyce and George Moore, the translator and dramatist Lady Augusta Gregory, the poet and editor M, and the dramatist John Millingtpjj^Sfynge. ^atli contributed to the dramatic literature presented on the stage of the Abbey Theatre and all these writers shared the desire for the establishment of a national literature that would express what they considered distinctive about the Irish imagination. J. M. Synge is regarded as the most distinguished dramatist of the Irish Literary Renaissance. This reputation rests on the output of his final seven years: six plays, two of which. Riders to the Sea and The Playboy of the Western World, are considered as masterpieces. These plays in particular, exhibit the characteristic qualities of intense lyric speech drawn from the native language and dialects of Ireland, romantic characterization in primitive settings, and dramatic construction after the classics of European drama. The major themes central to Synge's work are, illusion versus reality and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. The Celtic Revival identifies the remarkably creative period in Irish literature from about 1880 to the death of William Butler Yeats in 1939. The aim of Yeats and other early leaders of the movement, was to create a distinctively national literature by going back to Irish history, legend, and folklore, as well as to nafive literary models. This was due to the political need for establishing an individual Irish identity. There was an attempt to revitalize the native language and religion of Irish Celts. These playwrights founded a new theatre in 1904 called the Abbey Theatre, to develop and propagate the native Irish culture and language. The Abbey Theatre served as the stage for many new Irish writers and playwrights of the time- The Abbey's fortunes worsened in January 1907 when the opening of Synge's The Playboy of the Western ^or/t/resulted in civil disturbance. The nationalists believed that the theatre was insufficiently political and took offence at Synge's use of the word 'shifts', as it was known at the time as a symbol representing adultery, and hence was seen as a stigma on the virtue of Irish womanhood. The theatre's decision was not to stage Synge's next—and last completed—play, The Tinker's Wedding (1908), for fear of further disturbances. In his preface to The Tinker's Wedding, Synge mentioned that the "drama, like the symphony, does not teach or prove anything" and that the country people [the clergy included], " who have so much humour themselves, will mind being laughed at without malice, as the people in every country have been laughed at in their own comedies". But, at that time, Yeats was not optimistic and he felt that the play would cause too much trouble for his young theatre, and Synge also seemed to have agreed. Synge's entry into the theatrical world of Dublin was by no means triumphant one. Almost all his major plays, at first, failed to attract the audience and his The Shadow of the Glen and Playboy of the Western World, were received with indifference and hostility. Hence in the present study an attempt has been made to explore Synge's quest for the essential national identity in Ireland by presenting the authentic Irish elements in his plays to stir Irish national consciousness. The story of Synge's reputation in Ireland is one of the most painful and discreditable chapters in the country's cultural history. For many years, from the hostile reception accorded to his first staged play, he was criticised and reviled by the critics and distrusted by theatregoers, who boycotted his plays on Dublin stage until long after the dramafist's death in 1909. The proposed thesis analyses Synge's dramas from a mythological perspective and Christian forbearance to validate the themes of the plays in Ill the Irish context. Chapter One, Introduction, in the present study, introduces the native Irish cuhure and highUghts the key traits of the Celtic mythology and folklore. It, then, discusses the various foreign invasions of Ireland, their influence on the Irish country life and subsequent destruction of Irish cultural heritage which resulted in the 'dark ages' of Irish culture. With the arrival of Christianity in Ireland in the fourth and fifth centuries AD, the native pagan religion of Ireland suffered a fatal blow and most of the pagan population was converted into Christianity. Irish struggle to preserve its literary wealth could have proved futile because Druids (Celtic learned people) left no written document about their religion and culture, but fortunately the Christian monks had written it down and thus the records of early Celtic literature survive. Though we fmd the largest number of recorded material in Ireland yet we may not trust its Celtic originality because its writers are from different cultures and their influence on their writings cannot be ignored. The chapter also attempts to provide few details on the New Theatre Movement, started in Ireland in Synge's times to glorify the rich Celtic past. Though Synge's contemporaries had already brought folk elements and lyricism of the Celtic past to the Irish theatre but it was only with him that the Irish audiences found a new sort of folk realism and Celtic poetic fervour in drama. In Chapter Two "Synge's Treatment of Christianity and Paganism: Return to the Primitive World of Rituals," the attempt is to throw light on ancient paganism and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It also discusses the dilemma of Irish peasants to choose a 'peaceful' way of life between Christianity and paganism as reflected in Synge's plays. This dilemma has been summarised by Synge in a famous line from his play The Well of the Saints, which says: The lord protect us from the saints of God' (Synge, Plays 116). The argument presented here is that Synge's attempt to revive the pagan 'primitiveness', which he perceived as being the actual guiding force behind the everyday life of the islanders during his stay in the Aran Islands and Wicklow, is justified in his plays. In Synge's dramas one can IV notice that Christianity is troubled by the deeply pagan emotion which Synge was always quick to detect beneath the surface of Aran Catholicism. His plays are skilfully drafted around the concept of 'return to the primitive world of rituals' and negation of the 'forced' religious practices of the 'other' religion. Synge was well aware of this fact and that is why, he initially stopped the performance of his play The Tinker's Wedding, largely because of a scene where a priest is tied up in a sack. According to him, this scene, as he wrote to the publisher Elkin Mathews in 1905, would probably upset "a good many of our Dublin friends". The present study also suggests that the Christian Church was not only less generous to its pagan forerunners in Ireland, but also mutilated their Celtic deities. Synge, in his plays, made ample use of the old Irish pagan beliefs to revive the lost glory of the Celtic religion and in doing so he adopted a modem outlook which hurt the Christian feelings of many. But, here, one must not forget that his writings are inspired from his actual experiences in the Aran Islands. Synge did not invent anything himself; rather he used the beliefs of the 'essentially pagan' people to serve his purpose through the plays. Synge's growing interest in old Irish myths and folklore to rekindle the glory of Celtic Ireland through his plays, has been discussed in Chapter Three "The 'Syngean' World of Mythology and Folklore: Ardour for Irish Myths and Legends." The chapter focuses on the fact that Synge had made ample use of the Irish mythology and folklore in his plays to revive the diminishing Celtic literature in his own unique way. Some of the major Irish mythological deities, legends and fairy-people are mentioned in the chapter whose major characteristics are either shared by Synge's characters in his plays or the peasants believe in some of the customs related to them. Some similarities with certain Celtic folklore are also traced in Synge's plays and have been mentioned in the chapter. His play Deirdre of the Sorrows is based on an Irish folklore and apart from this many incidents are similar to old mythology and folklore. The chapter is an attempt to interpret myths and folklore in his plays because unlike other revivalists, his plays are not wholly based on the mythic structure (except his last and unfinished Deirdre of the Sorrows). Synge has made use of only those mythological and folkloric patterns which were present in the conversations and actions of the peasants as Synge himself noticed during his Aran visits. The theme of The Well of the Saints is highly fantastic, and Deirdre of the Sorrows is based on an Irish legendary character.