Comment on the use of dramatic unities in Riders to the Sea

Dramatic unities are the principles of dramatic structures relating to time, place, and action. The unity of action demands that the plot of a play be the imitation of a single action with no sub-plots. The unity of time demands that the action of a play be restricted to a day or slightly more and should correspond as closely as possible to the time required to perform the play; and the unity of place demands that the action of a play be confined to a single place or city. All three dramatic unities have been observed in Riders to the Sea.

 

Riders to the Sea Broad Question

Unity of Time

The unity of time demands that the period required by the events of the plot to take place be the same period consumed by its performance in real life. One method of securing dramatic unity of time is to arrange the events of the play within the duration of one day in life so that the action performed on the stage does not appear unnatural to the audience. In Riders to the Sea, Synge has applied the same method. The play begins with Nora bringing in a small bundle with her and telling Cathleen that these may be the clothes of their brother Michael. The time is morning as the stage direction says, "CATHLEEN, a girl of about twenty, finishes kneading cake and puts it down in the pot-oven by the fire." The time is confirmed when Cathleen says that their mother is lying down and probably sleeping, if she is able to sleep. It suggests that Maurya has still not gotten up. Later on, Cathleen mentions that she has hung the rope by the white boards "this morning." The fact that this same rope is visible to the audience from the start of the play, hanging by the boards, indicates that the whole of the action starts sometimes at or after sunrise. Again, when Nora says that Bartley has not eaten anything since the sun went up and Bartley has not been seen or reported eating in the course of the play, the audience can conclude that the play starts after sunrise. Once Bartley is gone, Maurya cries out that he will die by nightfali: "He's gone now, and when the black night is falling, I'll have no son left me in the world." When Bartley's dead body is brought home, Cathleen asks the Old Man to make the coffin when the sun rises, which implies that the time of her speech is at night on the same day. All these references show that the period of action in the play starts in the morning and ends at night, i.e., within less than twelve hours.

 

Unity of place

The unity of place demands that the action of a play be confined to a single place or city. In the play, there is a perfect unity of place. The events in the play take place in the kitchen of Maurya's cottage, as indicated in the stage directions. There is no change of scene from one place to another. Setting items in this kitchen include: nets, oil skins, new boards standing by the wall, pot oven, spinning wheel, table, fire place, ladder, and door. Though there are some incidents, scenes, and conversations about some other places, such as Donegal, the far north, Galway Fair, the Sea by the White Rocks, Connemara, Green Head, the Pier, Spring Well, the Black Cliffs of the North, and the Rocks, these places do not appear before the audience. Rather, these are reported by the characters.

 

Unity of action

This unity of action indicates that there must be a single plot and a single story in a play. It does not allow any sub-plots. Synge has avoided subplots, multiplicity of characters, and unnecessary happenings in the play. There is only a single plot in the story of Riders to the Sea, which is centered around Maurya. She has lost five of her sons, her husband, and her father-in-law before the play begins. When the play starts, we find her mourning for Michael, who is drowning, but her body is not yet found. Her last surviving son, Bartley, plans to go to the sea. She tries to prevent him. He does not listen to his mother. He goes to the sea and meets his doom in the sea. So, the action of the play deals with the sufferings and sorrows of Maurya.

 

Thus, in the play, the three dramatic unities have been scrupulously observed.