The Playboy of the Western World
In every complete book of Shakespeare’s work, “The Merchant of Venice” is listed as a comedy, but anyone who has seen or read the play will probably agree that it’s not very funny. In fact, the very notion that Elizabethan audiences, or perhaps the characters themselves would consider plot points like maligning a man for his religion (or his job, depending on what school of thought you belong to) or extracting a pound of human flesh from a living man humorous makes for an uneasy theater-going experience.
The same is true for J.M. Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World.” It begins when Christy, a farmer’s son, stumbles into a tavern claiming to have murdered his father not seven days ago. To his relief (and the bewilderment of the audience, I expect) the townspeople don’t run him out, but applaud him for his courage. Only a very brave man would have the guts to kill his own dad. Then, after all the women in the surrounding area fall head over heels for him and he’s all set to marry the tavern keeper’s daughter, Pegeen, Christy’s father shows up with nothing more than a wound on his head.
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