Discussion Topic
Maurya's attitude towards the sea and her primary concern in Riders to the Sea
Summary:
Maurya's attitude towards the sea in "Riders to the Sea" is one of deep fear and resignation. Her primary concern is the safety of her remaining family members, as she has already lost many loved ones to the sea's dangers. This fear culminates in her overwhelming grief and fatalistic acceptance of the sea's inevitable claim on her sons.
What is Maurya's attitude towards the sea in Riders to the Sea?
In this excellent play it appears that the sea is almost presented as a character in its own right, rather than just being an inanimate object. It is responsible for the deaths of all of Maurya's son, and as such, she clearly has a very strong reaction towards it. Living on such a secluded, small and isolated island, the sea is how her son's earn their living but also it represents constant danger from the strong storms that wreck ships and drown sailors. Thus it is that at the end of the play Maurya makes this following statement:
They're all gone now, and there isn't anything more the sea can do to me... I'll have no call now to be up crying and praying when the wind breaks from the south, and you can hear the surf is in the east, and the surf is in the west, making a...
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great stir with the two noises, and they hitting one on the other.
From the statement "there isn't anything more the sea can do to me," we can infer that the sea is viewed as an enemy or assailant who has taken everything from Maurya. She can know ironically rest easy when others are praying for their husbands and sons, because the sea is unable to do her any more damage. This is a pitiful and moving speech as we are left with an impression of a womam who has been utterly broken by the sea, so much so that she is beyond being wounded by it any more.
What is Maurya's primary concern in Riders to the Sea?
The mother's main concern is not preventing the death by the sea for her sons -- that is almost a given -- but the recovery of the bodies for decent burial. Synge is not just referring to life and death on the Aran Islands, but to all our deaths. We ask not that we avoid death, but that we end it with the acknowledgement that we had lived, by those we leave behind. THe sweater tat identifies her son, and the vision of the rider on the horse are the outward signs of this concern.