Discussion Topic
Cathleen's actions in the turf-loft and their impact on Maurya's entrance in Synge's Riders to the Sea
Summary:
Cathleen's actions in the turf-loft involve preparing the young priest's clothes, which delays Maurya's entrance. This preparation underscores the family's ongoing struggle with loss and death, creating a poignant backdrop for Maurya's eventual entrance, where she reveals her sorrow and resignation over the loss of her sons to the sea.
In Synge's Riders to the Sea, what does Cathleen hide in the turf-loft, and how does it enhance Maurya's entrance?
In Synge's Riders to the Sea , Cathleen hides a "bundle" given to her by the area's young priest in the turf-loft. The bundle is a "shirt and a plain stocking were got off a drowned man in Donegal." The priest suggests Nora and Cathleen examine the bundle and determine whether or not the clothes belong to their brother, Michael, who was previously lost at sea. The two sisters are to examine the bundle when Maurya is out of the house "down looking by the sea." The priest and the sisters want to find out if the clothes belong to Michael without upsetting Maurya. When Nora hears Maurya stirring in her bedroom (waking up from her nap), Cathleen hurries to hide the bundle before Maurya enters and sees it. Introducing the bundle immediately creates suspense and conflict in the play. The audience will now be wondering whether or not the clothes belong to Michael until...
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the sisters get a chance to examine it later in the play. Hiding the bundle does also add dramatically to Maurya's entrance in that it creates a sense of urgency as the audience watches to see if Cathleen gets it hdden before Maurya sees it.
In Riders to the Sea, what is Cathleen hiding in the turf-loft?
The mother, Maurya, is convinced that her son, Michael, has drowned at sea. She even tells her other remaining son, Bartley, to leave the rope so they can use it to lower Michael into his grave when he does wash ashore. Prior to Maurya's statement about the rope, Maurya had been in bed. Her daughters, Nora and Cathleen, were talking. The young priest had brought an unidentified, young man's clothes and Nora intended to find out if they are the clothes of her brother, Michael. Knowing that their mother, Maurya, has already lost her husband, father-in-law, and four other sons, Cathleen decides to hide the clothes so the mother will not dwell on the possibility that they are Michael's clothes.
Cathleen: Give me the ladder, and I'll put them up in the turf-loft, the way she won't know of them at all, and maybe when the tide turns she'll be going down to see would he be floating from the east.