2 h 24 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the most shocking story you could tell made a whole village fall in love with you?
In a lonely public house on the Mayo coast, Pegeen Mike Flaherty writes an order for her wedding. Then Christy Mahon arrives, shy, ragged and frightened. He says he has killed his father with a spade. Instead of turning him away, the villagers welcome him as a hero.
J. M. Synge’s comic play turns that welcome into a sharp exploration of storytelling and desire. Village girls bring gifts, Widow Quin sees a chance for company, and Pegeen faces a stranger unlike her timid intended husband, Shawn Keogh. As Christy finds an eager audience, his words begin to change how he sees himself.
What you’ll discover
- A hero made of words Watch a shy stranger gain confidence as the village delights in his shocking tale.
- Pegeen’s restless heart Meet a spirited publican’s daughter who feels bored by the marriage planned for her.
- A pub hungry for excitement Step into scenes where local drinkers and gift-bearing girls gather around the unexpected visitor.
- Speech full of life Savour rolling sentences and vivid images drawn from fields, seas and hills.
- Comedy with a sharp edge Explore how admiration and the hunger for a good story can remake a person.
Who will love it
For anyone who enjoys sharp comedy, rich spoken language, or the story of how Irish theatre found its own voice. It suits students of drama too.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A stranger arrives at a lonely pub
- A shocking story wins him a hero's welcome
- The village girls come to see him
- Words make Christy into a new man
- What the play is really about
- How Synge tells it, and why it caused riots
Who’s who
- Christy MahonA shy, ragged young man who arrives at the pub with a shocking story and finds himself welcomed as a hero.
- Pegeen Mike FlahertyThe spirited young woman who runs the pub with her father and is bored by the marriage planned for her.
- Michael James FlahertyPegeen's father, a publican who likes his drink and his wakes, and who wants his daughter safely married.
- Shawn KeoghPegeen's timid cousin and intended husband, who is more afraid of the priest than eager for the marriage.
- Widow QuinA clever, independent woman who lives alone and sees a chance for company in the new arrival.
- Philly Cullen and Jimmy FarrellTwo local men who drink at the pub and are keen to hear the stranger's story.
- Susan Brady, Honor Blake and Sara TanseyVillage girls who bring gifts to the pub, eager to meet the famous stranger.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 2 h 24 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Lo spaccone del Mondo occidentale in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Lo spaccone del Mondo occidentale
by J. M. Synge · 1907
Christy Mahon enters a County Mayo pub with a shocking story, and a village's welcome begins to remake him.
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In short
The Playboy of the Western World is a comic play by the Irish writer J. M.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stranger arrives at a lonely pub
The play opens in a country shebeen, a rough public house, on a wild stretch of the Mayo coast. Pegeen Mike Flaherty, the publican's daughter, is writing out an order for her wedding. She is to marry her cousin Shawn Keogh, a timid man who is afraid of the priest and will not stay alone with her without a chaperone.
Pegeen is not delighted with her match. She has a sharp tongue and a restless spirit, and she is plainly bored by the men around her. Her father, Michael James Flaherty, is leaving for a wake that night, and he wants Shawn to stay and guard the girl. Shawn dreads the idea and runs off, leaving Pegeen unprotected and unimpressed.
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What is The Playboy of the Western World about?
It follows Christy Mahon, a nervous young man who arrives at a pub in County Mayo and says he has killed his father. The villagers treat him as a hero, and the play looks at how stories shape a person.
Why did The Playboy of the Western World cause riots?
At its 1907 opening at the Abbey Theatre, many in the audience felt it insulted Irish people and Irish women by showing a village that cheered an apparent killer. Protests broke out on several nights.
What does Playboy mean in the title?
In the play it is not about a rich pleasure seeker. It means a bold, spirited fellow, a kind of boasting hero who plays with life, and the title praises Christy as the village's champion.
The author
J. M. Synge
1871–1909 · Irish playwright and poet
J. M. Synge was an Irish playwright at the heart of the Irish Literary Revival and Dublin's Abbey Theatre. Riders to the Sea, his one-act tragedy of a mother on the Aran Islands who loses her sons to the ocean, is among the most admired short plays in English.
More by J. M. Synge
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