Riders to the Sea

In Riders to the Sea, John Millington Synge contrasts the values and practices of English/Anglo-Irish so-called “civilized” Christian society with the remnants of Irish pagan mysticism, which often deeply affected the type of Catholicism that took hold in Ireland. Through this contrast, Synge both reveals the interplay between Irish and English cultures, even in isolated islands, and returns a sense of dignity to the lives of those who retain elements of mysticism in their culture and religion, despite English and Anglo-Irish disdain and misunderstanding.

Synge uses the characters of Maurya, Cathleen, and Nora (Maurya in particular) to reveal the importance their community places on superstitions while still upholding other elements of Christianity. Followers of Catholicism in Ireland historically retained far more influence from paganism than other European branches of Catholicism. Ireland long retained stories of fairies and adherence to the superstitions of old. To many English and Anglo-Irish, however, such supernatural beliefs “were considered to be an indication of a backward and uncivilized consciousness: the very opposite of rectitude and propriety, the sine qua non of Anglo-Irish and English culture” (Collins, Christopher. “‘This World of Inarticulate Power’: J.M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea and Magical