Symbolism In Riders To The Sea

Symbolism in the Play

The major symbol of the play is the sea, the source of life and at the same time the destroyer of the life. The people of the Island depend upon the sea for their survival by fishing. They collect sea weeds as a source of fuel. They have to cross the sea for the purchase of the goods and also for the selling of their productions. To make coffins also they have to go across the sea. The sea stands for the main source and the life for the Islanders, but meanwhile the same generous sea turns out to be destroyer and life taking agent. The sea is the natural force which can be violent and fierce at times. It has taken many lives of the islanders, including all the male members of Maurya’s family. She is left with her two daughters

The characters' unusual turns of phrase (for instance, 'The young priest is after bringing them,' to mean 'The young priest brought them') can seem strange to the modern reader. They would have seemed just as strange to audiences in 1904 Dublin and London.
The language of Riders to the Sea belongs specifically to the fishing communities of the Aran Islands. Synge transforms it. Homely details add to the realism of the play. Simple words are used repeatedly, like they might be in fairy tales. When Bartley is looking for a piece of rope, Cathleen says 'Give it to him, Nora; it's on a nail by the white boards. I hung it up this morning, for the pig with the black feet was eating it.' The symbolic use of color is also typical for the play. Significantly, the necessary rope is hung up by the white boards that will be used for Bartley's coffin. Words often have double meanings, as well. When, for instance, Cathleen laments 'It's destroyed he'll be, surely,' she means that Bartley will be hungry; but the words can also be read as a prophecy of his death.
Interpretaion of the

The playwrite Arthur Miller wrote an excellent article on catharsis and its power in drama. Miller's ideas come from Aristotle. For a work to experience/have catharsis, conflict must arise, tragedy must occur, but hope and acceptance MUST be found. If hope and acceptance are not found, the work has pathos and nothing more. _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. Notice how 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