The Playboy of the Western World

The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge. The play is best known for its use of the poetic evocative language of Hiberno-English heavily influenced by the Irish language as Synge celebrates the lyrical speech of the Irish. On the west coast of County Mayoo Christy Mahon stumbles into Flaherty’s tavern. There he claims that he is on the run because he killed his own father by driving a loy into his head. Flaherty praises Christy for his boldness and Flaherty’s daughter (and the barmaid) Pegeen falls in love with Christy to the dismay of her betrothed Shawn Keogh. Because of the novelty of Christy’s exploits and the skill with which he tells his own story he becomes something of a town hero. Many other women also become attracted to him including the Widow Quin who tries unsuccessfully to seduce Christy at Shawn’s behest. Christy also impresses the village women by his victory in a donkey race using the slowest beast.