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Riders to the Sea (1904), a play by John Millington Synge (1871-1909), occupies a crucial place in Irish literary tradition. While painting a compelling portrait of the forlorn lives of people on the Aran Islands, this play also gives a keen insight into the nature of Synges literary universe. Most importantly, this play offers significant clues of his precise relationship with the Irish Literary Movement. The mysterious and even mythical existence of the Aran islanders was carefully recorded by Synge during his various trips to the island. These records were later transmuted into the tragedy of epic proportion, Riders to the Sea, which has gone on to become one of his representative works. Synge was merely twenty-three years old when Riders was first published, but his vision of Irish drama was far from immature or underdeveloped. Even at the early stages of his career, Synge managed to establish his place amongst the leading intellectuals and literary figures of his time, in particular among those who were heralding the modernist movement in Ireland. In short, Riders expresses Synge's artistic and philosophical vision of Irish drama. From Riders, Synge drew a clear course for his future literary endeavors. |
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