Riders to the Sea Group
Question:
happy345
Student
Graduate School
Write a character sketch of Maurya of the play "Riders of the Sea."
Answers:
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kwoo1213 Teacher
College - JunioreNotes Editor
Posted by kwoo1213 on Tuesday April 21, 2009 at 7:31 PMMaurya is an peasant woman who has 6 sons, 4 of whom have died at sea. Michael, one of 2 remaining sons, is also feared dead, as is Bartley, her final son. Once the deaths of the final 2 sons have been confirmed, Maurya realizes that she has lost every one of the men in her life to the sea, including her husband and his father.
She is a very strong woman who has endured much suffering in her life due to the deaths in her family. She has remained strong for the rest of her family and has trusted God's plan for her and for her children. She ultimately is able to find peace with the deaths of her husband and sons because the sea cannot take anymore people from her. Plus, she realizes that they are all together now in Heaven:
Maurya’s nobility and maturity of spirit enable her to see the good in all of her men now being together. She sprinkles Holy Water over the dead Bartley and asks God’s mercy on the souls of her men, on her own, and, generously, on the souls of everyone left living in the world. (eNotes)
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