Riders to the Sea J M Synge

Plot of the One-Act Play Maurya has lost her husband, and five of her sons to the sea. As the play begins Nora and Cathleen receive word from the priest that a body, which may be their brother Michael, has washed up on shore in Donegal, on the Irish mainland north of their home island of Inishmaan. Bartley is planning to sail to Connemara to sell a horse, and ignores Maurya's pleas to stay. He leaves gracefully. Maurya predicts that by nightfall she will have no living sons, and her daughters chide her for sending Bartley off with an ill word. Maurya goes after Bartley to bless his voyage, and Nora and Cathleen receive clothing from the drowned corpse that confirms it was Michael. Maurya returns home claiming to have seen the ghost of Michael riding behind Bartley and begins lamenting the loss of the men in her family to the sea, after which some villagers bring in the corpse of Bartley. He has fallen off his horse into the sea and drowned.

Characters in the Play Maurya: Grief-stricken widow and mother of eight children Cathleen, Nora, Bartley, Shawn, Sheamus, Stephen, Patch, and Michael. Cathleen: Maurya's elder daughter, tries to keep her mother from dying from grief by identifying her deceased brother Michael's clothing. Nora: Maurya's younger daughter, helps her sister with their mother. Bartley: Maurya's youngest and only living son, has died by the end of the play. Maurya's sons Shawn, Sheamus, Stephen, Patch, and Michael, as well as Maurya's husband are all deceased when the play begins. There is also a priest character who is never seen but is quoted by Cathleen and Nora in the beginning of the play.

Note Poetic dialogue of rural Ireland Fatalism – the oscillation between culture and harsh realities, such as the ravaging sea Fragility of life The critical condition of people living in islands Superstitions and recollections from the past Observe the simple life described in the play