Treatment of Christianity paganism myth and folklore in the plays of John Millington Synge

Abstract

Since 1880, Ireland was producing a generation of young writers who played a rucial role in the creative and intellectual awakening of Irish culture which came to be known as the Celtic Renaissance. The Irish newlineLiterary Renaissance was the result of the collective efforts of diverse talents in the fields of folklore, fiction, translation, poetry, and drama. Under the leadership of the W. B. Yeats, the movement was supported by newlinethe folklorist Douglas Hyde, the novelists James Joyce and George Moore, newlinethe translator and dramatist Lady Augusta Gregory, the poet and editor Æ, newlineand the dramatist John Millington Synge. Each 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 istinguished 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 asterpieces. These plays in particular, exhibit the characteristic qualities of intense lyric speech drawn from the native language and dialects of Ireland, romantic haracterization 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 humanbeings 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 native 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.