Dive into the key themes in Riders to the Sea

Read on for some insight into the original material that has inspired our reframed narrative, a reinvention that remains emotional, dramatic and exposes key themes in Riders to the Sea as both timeless and universal. 

John Synge’s play. Riders to the Sea, which Vaughan Williams’ set directly to music, represents a rural Irish community through the key themes of Paganism, Tradition vs. Modernity, and Fatalism. Synge first visited the Aran Islands in 1897 with his friend and poet W B Yeats, returning every summer until 1903. Riders to the Sea was originally inspired by a story told to Synge during his time there, of a man from Inishmaan whose body had washed up hundreds of miles away on the shore of County Donegal. Synge continued listening to and collecting local stories, recording them in his book before selecting the most poignant to feature in scenes of his play. He wanted to create a dynamic that felt culturally authentic and utterly significant to the emotional truth felt between the characters and audience.  

So how are the themes represented throughout the narrative?  

Paganism: Synge’s study of rural Irish communities sparked a fascination with what he noticed as subtle but pervasive paganism. Brought up a protestant, Synge became deeply skeptical of Christianity and was struck by the observation that the people of this Roman Catholic nation were still widely superstitious retaining many of the folktales born from old Celtic Paganism. References to God permeate the play as characters bless, pray, and implore for mercy; but they also lean on Pagan beliefs to cope with their sufferering, exposing a spiritual doubt and feeling of powerlessness that stems from the fragility of life.  

Tradition vs. Modernity: There is a constant tension between acceptance and resistance, highlighting the pull between the traditional and modern worlds of Ireland at the time. With a mother and her children as the main characters, Synge was able to represent this generational tear throughout the play with Mauyra’s mother figure holding fast to the past  whilst her children must change, adapt and move on. The young are battling a deep sense of duty and the need to hold the balance between the two worlds. 

Fatalism: Synge explores an ancient bargain between nature and humanity – the sea is merciless as the giver of both death and life. Based on Synge’s observations of the culture on the Aran Islands, he put the objects and culture of death central to the narrative in the form of coffins, keening, and mourning giving a sense of permanent threat and inevitability. Death awaits us all and, in that acceptance, there is a comfort of sorts. Grief is the price we pay for love. "No man at all can be living for ever, and we must be satisfied.