Riders to the sea is a one-act tragedy penned down by the renowned Irish playwright, John Millington Synge which was published in 1903 and first performed in 1904. The play is set on the Aran Islands. It is acknowledged as Synge's one of the greatest achievement and a true tragedy.
The chief characters are Maurya, Bartley, Michael, Cathleen and Nora. The play revolves around Maurya who is a grief-stricken old woman. She has lost her husband, father-in-law and four sons to the sea in the past. A chain of circumstances leads to additional catastrophe for the old woman. Presently, her fifth son, Michael has drowned in the sea and she hopes for his body to be washed ashore. Later the day, her youngest son, Bartley enters preparing for a journey by the sea to the Galway fair. Despite the dissuades of his mother, he sets off. Then takes place the most heart-wrenching incident and the old woman loses her last son, Bartley.
Synge has the proficiency to transform the regional and naturalistic into illustrated symbols of the universal and the intangible. He presents fate as wholly responsible for the tragedy. The tragic atmosphere is built up in the very beginning by the setting of the play in the foremost few conversations. The readers get the idea that Michael is dead and Bartley is ill-fated.
The events move headlong towards the final catastrophe. The attention of the readers is drawn to the whiteboards which are kept against the wall which reveal that there has been a death in the family lately. Noora and Catherine the sisters, discuss the clothes of the man who drowned nine days ago to be their brother which builds up the anguished atmosphere of the play. The dreadful situations and the fright full sites seen by Maurya fill the readers with empathy and fear and the hearts of the readers are sorrowful. Maurya's family seems underneath the verdict of death. The play gives a strong message that human beings are mere puppets in the hands of the mighty strength of nature. Man battles constantly but is helpless against the supernatural forces of nature.
The actions have been organised in such a way that the climax emerges logically at the end of the play and does not shock or stun the audience. The tragic atmosphere in the play is constant and through different dialogues and hints, readers have a prepared intellect for another premature demise in the family. Thus, the play flourishes in awakening in us intense feelings of sympathy and fear that are intensified by the influential use of metaphysical and supernatural elements.
