The Three Elements in the Poem Riders to the Sea Stephanie Levsen ENG125: Introduction to Literature (ADI1428G) Instructor: Katrina Smith August 4, 2014

The poem Riders to the Sea by John Millington Synge is a story about a grieving mother and wife who fears the loss of her youngest son to the sea. The elements through the story is about Maurya who has lost hope and fears the worst for her son (Clugston, 2010). Foreshadowing is an element in the story. Another element in this story is the foil and dramatic irony. The elements combine to make an impression in this story and they set a tone that is dispair and all hope is lost without any relief. The protagonist Maurya in the story has lost five sons and her husband to the sea (Smith, 1987).
She sets the mood for this play as she tries to convince Bartley her youngest not to go out to sea. The protagonist fears she has already lost Michael her other son she has no proof of to the sea (Smith, 1987). The sea along with Bartley to Maurya.
She has battles with them but she seems to lose each time. Without the battle between them this story would lose important elements that keep the story flowing and intriguing.
The author in this story uses dramatic irony to show the emotion Maurya feels as the story unfolds. Maurya’s daughters, Cathleen and Nora, receive a bundle from their priest consisting of Michaels, Maurya’s son, shirt and stockings. Judith Leder offers us an interesting insight on Maurya’s oldest daughter Cathleen adding that “Always practical, Cathleen wants everything to go smoothly and sensibly. Although she is worried about her mother, she knows just how to deal with the old woman's frailty” (Leder, 1990). It is clear that Cathleen knew her mother’s mental state and saw it best to hide the clothes in the loft to avoid further anguish to Maurya. This was information that the reader was privy to. It was assumed that Michael was dead based on this bit of information and Maurya was left unaware for her own well-being.

The Foreshadowing occurs throughout this story and leads towards the death of her son Michael and the pending death of Bartley. There is one example in this story is when
“Maurya arranges to purchase the white boards that Foreshadowing was evident throughout the story. Maurya forecasts her son Bartley’s death when she says “It's a hard thing they'll be saying below if the body is washed up and there's no man in it to make the coffin, and I after giving a big price for the finest white boards you'd find in Connemara” (Clugston, 2010, section 13.3 lines 64-66). In this point the story Bartley is trying to take the horses to the... can be used for Michael’s coffin” (Clugston, 2010).
“The other element in the story which Synge introduces into the play is equally true. Many tales of "second sight" are to be heard among Celtic races. In fact, they are so common as to arouse little or no wonder in the minds of the people. It is just such a tale, which there seems no valid reason for doubting, that Synge heard, and that gave the title, "Riders to the Sea", to his play. She is well aware of her loss and that he will not return to her either. “(J. M. Synge)
“Its characters live and die. It is their virtue in life to be lonely, and none but the lonely man in tragedy may be great. He dies, and then it is the virtue in life of the women mothers and wives and sisters to be great in their loneliness, great as Maurya, the stricken mother, is great in her final word.” (J. M. Synge)
I really like this quote about this Story it is true about this Story there is death and life in this story
This tragedy has an emotional impact from the way in which it foreshadows its outcome.
Riders to the Sea is a powerful play that focuses on the issue of catharsis. Maurya is the prime example of catharis in Synge's play. In the Story the reader first meets her through the words of the daughters; we learn that she is sleeping "if she is able"---remember, she's lost just about her whole family to the sea and she fears she's just lost Michael.
Despite her woes, she does not wallow in her self-pity: her acceptance of fate is never more evident than in her last speech when she says "No man at all can be living forever, and we must be satisfied."
Through Maurya the playwrite Synge gives his reader a catharsis and proves that life goes on.
Despite her woes, she does not wallow in her self-pity: her acceptance of fate is never more evident than in her last speech when she says "No man at all can be living forever, and we must be satisfied."
Through Maurya the playwrite Synge gives his reader a catharsis and proves that life goes on.
What I got from reading this story is that life will go on even in the midst of tragedy.

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Reference page
Clugston R.W. (2014). Journey into literature. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/print/AUENG125.14.1?

Leder, J. (1990). Synge's Riders to the Sea: Island as Cultural Battleground. Twentieth Century Literature, (2). 207.

Riders to the Sea by J. M. Synge. (n.d.). Riders to the Sea : Introduction by J. M. Synge @ Classic Reader. Retrieved August 4, 2014, from http://www.classicreader.com/book/1346/1/