The Playboy of the Western World 1047match for the women. The aura of excitement that
surrounds his act gives him entrance into the vil-
lage’s somewhat humdrum world. This sense of
belonging is increased when Christy wins all the
games he enters and earns the title of “Playboy of
the Western World.” The people admire his skill
and willingly overlook his crime. Thus, we see that
communities are willing to open up to new people
when they have a skill and a vigor that will add to
the society’s overall advantage.
As long as Christy exudes an aura of excitement
and physical skill, the community accepts him. It is
only when that aura reveals itself to be a delusion
that the town turns on him. When Christy’s father
appears, he shatters the myth of heroic murderer
that Christy has built up. Pegeen and the others
react poorly to Christy’s deception. They want to
turn him over to the law so that they can escape any
implication that they supported the murder of Old
Mahon. After Christy and his father fight a second
time and Christy appears to have killed his father for
real, the townsfolk tie him up. However, the Widow
Quin tries to free Christy; of all the townspeople,
she alone can see that he has a vigorous life force
to offer the town. Unfortunately, he rejects her help,
and Michael and the others make a noose in order
to hang him. After a short struggle, Christy manages
to defend himself by biting Shawn on the leg. The
comedy of the scene underscores the nature of com-
munity in the play. Strangers are welcomed unless
they bring the threat of danger.
The danger that Christy ultimately brings,
though, is the threat of new ideas that resist the
status quo the villagers have become used to fol-
lowing. Christy’s lies have provided the town with
excitement and with the possibility of breaking the
daily monotony. When the arrival of Old Mahon
proves that Christy’s story has been a lie, the mem-
bers of the community feel betrayed and look to
drive out the offending person. In Synge’s satirical
play, the townsfolk can be seen to symbolize some
of the problems that confront any community as
it seeks to develop its own identity. Tensions arise
when members of a community feel duped by a new
arrival, even when they have actively participated in
the swindle. As Christy leaves the village, Pegeen
realizes that she has lost a chance to unite herself
with someone dynamic and life-giving. Her cries
at losing the Playboy of the Western World echo
in the loss that the town will feel as it returns to its
dreary reality. It has enjoyed a brief carnival with
Christy’s arrival. Now it will slip back into tedium.
Synge’s comic masterpiece calls people to awareness
about the problems each community has develop-
ing acceptable boundaries that indicate who really
belongs to the society and who does not.
Arthur RankinHeroISm in The Playboy of the Western World
John Millington Synge creates a memorable comic
hero in the character of Christy Mahon, the pro-
tagonist of The Playboy of the Western World. While
comedy tends to subvert accepted or sacred ideas
about life, it also reinforces the power of the life
force to overcome all obstacles. In opposition to the
tragic hero’s suffering, the comic hero emphasizes
high spirits, the renewal of life, resistance to rigidity,
and a strong sense of the absurdity of the human
condition. Christy Mahon certainly represents the
capacity of the comic hero to succeed against seem-
ingly overwhelming odds. Just when we think life
will defeat Christy, he demonstrates the comic hero’s
ability to triumph, and his triumph inspires a belief
that all can prevail.
We first meet Christy as a moaning voice in
the dark. His groans startle Shawn Keogh, who is
visiting Pegeen Mike at her father’s public house.
Pegeen was alone since her father had gone to a
wake. The two discuss the obstacles in the way of
their marriage, the most profound one being the
local priest, Father Reilly. The priest, who represents
the church, and the wake, which symbolizes death,
frame the life-defying forces that surround Pegeen
and Shawn. These two forces must be overthrown
by the comic hero, Christy Mahon. After Michael
and the other men return from the wake, Shawn,
who can no longer stand Michael James’s mocking,
tries to escape but runs into Christy. Act 1 sets the
tone for the development of Christy’s status as the
comic hero. His mysterious crime intrigues the small
group at the pub, and they attempt to guess what he
has done. After much conjecture from the company,
Christy admits to murdering his father by beating
him to death.