In the Shadow of the Glen Themes

In the Shadow of the Glen, a one-act play based on a folktale John Millington Synge collected on his first trip to the Aran Islands, off the coast of Ireland, is deceptively simple; actually, it is complex enough to contain most of the themes the playwright would explore for the rest of his dramatic career. The most obvious is the tension between the basic human need for security and the equally basic urge for freedom. The play pits Nora’s secure domestic existence against the tramp’s freewheeling life. Nora’s marriage to Burke for his farm, livestock, and sock of money was her bid for security, but it has caused her only unhappiness and loneliness. That she leaves with the tramp rather than reconciling with her old husband or accepting his young counterpart, Micheal Dara, makes freedom the clear winner in the play.

This rejection of security makes In the Shadow of the Glen a very unusual comedy. Classically, comedy is the dramatic mode that substantiates society’s bonds and celebrates human connection, especially marriage and birth. Synge’s play, however, depicts—and even applauds—Nora’s rejection of a constricting bond and her joyful embrace of a free, if insecure, life. Thus, an issue related to the general freedom-versus-security question in the play is marriage and women’s role in it. Freedom’s conflict with security is a universal problem; other Synge plays give it to male characters (notably Christie Mahon in...