Research Paper on:
John Millington Synge's Riders to the Sea and Symbolism

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
around the sea. They are people who live, it seems, the most meager of lives, and whose lives are dependent on the sea. But, they are also people who realize  that though the sea provides for them it also takes from them. With that in mind the following paper examines the symbolic content of Synges play, a symbolism which is  intricately linked with the sea. Symbolism and Synge In the setting description in the beginning of the play we immediately know that his house is linked to the  sea: "Cottage kitchen, with nets, oil-skins, spinning wheel, some new boards standing by the wall, etc. Cathleen, a girl of about twenty, finishes kneading cake, and puts it down in  the pot-oven by the fire; then wipes her hands, and begins to spin at the wheel. Nora, a young girl, puts her head in at the door" (Synge). We see  the simplicity of the family, which is symbolic of nature itself in many ways. These people live humbly, spinning and, as we later learn, knitting their own socks. They are  natural people, though we do not get the impression that they are necessarily poor. From this simple perspective we begin to see the people as symbolic of natures relationship  humanity. They represent this relationship and offer us a very humble and simple setting from which to examine the unfolding saga. We also understand, however subtly, that these people  rely on the sea. This is represented in the nets and the oil-skins. And, as the story continues we begin to see that the sea is a dangerous and fearful  entity. We see the daughters trying to decipher if the clothes found are those of their dead brother who was lost to the sea over a week before the play