The Playboy of the Western World

In The Playboy of the Western World, Synge critiques the romanticization of heroism and glorification of violence. To do so, he depicts a fickle, rural Irish community that jockeys to embrace an entertaining yet falsely esteemed outsider.

Synge uses a comedic representation of patricide to expose the superficiality of heroes. The isolated community of County Mayo quickly welcomes scraggly Christy as a hero, based on his tall tales of murder. Instead of recoiling from the fabulist criminal and turning to the police, the villagers celebrate Christy’s alleged patricide as heroism. The village’s comedic allegiance to Christy reflects the social attitudes toward police and organized authority; the citizens of County Mayo would rather protect and embrace the murderer than welcome the authorities into their community. However, once Christy attempts to murder his father a second time in front of them, the hero myth shatters, and the villagers fear lawful repercussion. This quick shift in allegiance reveals the superficiality of County Mayo’s heroic ideals and social values.

In revering a murderer, the County Mayo community idolizes violence and equates brutality with masculinity. After the arrival of Christy, the social belief of violence as masculine affects the villagers’ perception of other characters, particularly Shawn.