Three village girls arrive the next morning to see the man they have heard gossip about. However, she assures him she would never marry a coward like Shawn, and then heads off to bed.īefore he falls asleep, Christy muses to himself that he would have killed his father much sooner if he had known it would bring him such respect and fortune. This news devastates Christy, since he has fallen for her. As she leaves, however, the widow refers to Pegeen’s impending nuptials with Shawn. The widow tries to seduce him, but Pegeen insults and sends her off. Widow Quin appears, having heard about Christy from Shawn. Pegeen admires Christy, complimenting him on his physique, his face, his speech and his courage. Michael, Philly and Jimmy then leave for their wake, and a very-intrigued Pegeen chases Shawn away. Michael James offers him a job on the spot, noting that Christy could keep Pegeen company this evening. The group is greatly impressed by this news, and to meet a man who could kill his own father.
He tries to avoid talking about it, but the men pester him until he admits that he killed his father. A shy young man, he simply wishes to warm himself by the fire, but soon enough reveals that he is on the run from the police. Shawn flees before the men can trap him, but quickly returns to tell them that he saw a face looking up out of the ditch.Ĭhristy Mahon, frightened and dirty, enters the pub. Michael James demands Shawn stay with Pegeen, but Shawn refuses, fearing the disapproval of the parish priest. They are drunk, and have not yet left for the wake. Michael James enters, along with his friends Philly and Jimmy. Shawn then reveals that he heard a man outside, wailing from a ditch. However, he offers to send the Widow Quin to stay with her. Shawn refuses, claiming it would be improper for him to be alone with her until they are wed.
Pegeen asks him to stay with her, since the night makes her nervous as well. Shawn Keogh enters, remarking upon the frightening darkness outside.
Her father, Michael James, has left her for the evening, while he attends a wake. Pegeen Mike, daughter to the alehouse owner, sits alone in the pub, writing a letter to order supplies for her upcoming wedding to Shawn Keogh. The entire play is set in a public house (or pub) "on the wild coast of Mayo," outside a village in Northwestern Ireland, circa 1907 (113).
In a short preface to his play, Synge emphasizes a link between the imagination of the Irish country people and their speech itself, which is "rich and living." He credits the Irish people for having such a "fiery," "magnificent" language, and further credits himself for having both the presence of mind and poetic vision to recognize those virtues.
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