Reading Journal 5

• Quick Notes on The Playboy of the Western World
• Christy thinks he has killed his father.
• Christy's father tracks him down.
• Christy and Pegeen become engaged.
• Christy's father attacks Christy; Christy again victorious.
• The mob starts to hang Christy.
• Christy's father arrives, alive, and frees his son. They leave with Christy now proclaiming he is the captain and his father the slave.
• Quick Notes on The Land
• Murtagh: farmer, with son Matt and daughter Sally
• Martin: farmer, with daughter Ellen and son Cornelius
• couples: Ellen and Matt, Cornelius and Sally
• the old men care about the land, the young people care about America
• Matt's father wants a wealthier woman for Matt, they fight, and Sally reports that Matt will take Ellen to America
• Matt tells Ellen he will reconcile with his father
• Ellen tells Matt it is over
• Murtagh and Martin agree on a marriage of their other children
• Quick Notes on The Fiddler's House
• Maire and Anne are ashamed their father goes out and plays the fiddle instead of doing work on their farm.
• Brian helps out for free because he loves Maire.
• Conn promises his daughter he won't go to Flynn's. He goes to Flynn's.
• When Maire gives her argument against his fiddle playing, Conn explains he is the same as her. Marie now understands him.
• Marie encourages her father, will join him on the road.
• Anne will marry James, and they'll take over the farm.
• Reading Journal
• In our three plays, we have three different versions of the character who wants to go out on their own. Therefore, we get three new versions of the Tramp from In the Shadow of the Glen. In our class discussion, we decided the Tramp represented the poet or bard. But what about these three versions we get in our plays this week?
• First, we have Christy in Playboy. Of all three characters here, he is definitely the least sympathetic. He "kills" his father, as he does not want to marry a 45 year old woman. But after "killing" his father twice and being saved in the end by his father, he has gained the freedom he was ultimately seeking. He exits "a gallant captain with his heathen slave" (111). What to make of this? If I was Joseph Holloway, I might describe Christy as a "degenerate[] of the worst type" (461). But I am not Joseph Holloway, so maybe I see it through Pegeen's eyes, reflecting that she has "lost the only Playboy of the Western World" (112). Reading this today, we come with a preconceived idea of western world. Does Synge mean Western World as Irish? True Ireland is from the west, and so is Pegeen lamenting she lost the only playboy in Ireland, and that all the rest are lame like Shawn? In this sense, I don't think Christy is playing the role of the poet. Instead, I think it is Pegeen, who sees the positive in this otherwise unseemly character.
• In The Land, Ellen decides she needs to leave. She explains, "I've stayed here long enough. I want my own way; I want to know the world." She does not want the land and house, it "would be a drag on [her]." We see the tension in these separate scenes that mirror each other. In one scene, the old men are excited about the land. In the second, the young people are enamored with life in America. But maybe here the best way to view Ellen is through the eyes of Sally. In the end, Sally basically fills the role of Ellen, as she will marry Ellen's brother and take over the land. And Sally experiences exactly what Ellen fears, being weighed down by her overbearing father and the endless work on the farm. I think we must conclude Ellen makes the right choice, and anyone who questions it, they should sign themselves up to marry Cornelius and work on the farm for the rest of their life.
• Finally, in Fiddler's House, the fiddler himself is the one trying to escape his own house. His daughters do everything they can to get him to shape up and be a respectable man, but it is no use. And, more importantly, he convinces his daughter Maire that he is correct, and that they are the same. She does not understand his behavior until he explains that he wants "to shine before" everyone, just like she does. After this comparison, Maire supports him entirely, encourages him by handing him his fiddle, and committing to join him on the road.
• Putting all three plays together, it does seem like the theme of In the Shadow of the Glen being played out each time. We had Nora, listening to the Tramp's words, deciding she will go out on her own. In each of these plays this week, we also have characters going out on their own, Christy, Ellen, and Conn, but we really see these characters, or compare these characters, or listen to these characters, through Pegeen, Sally, and Maire, respectively.