Riders to the Sea Explanations

 If it was a hundred horses or a thousand horses you had yourself, what is the price of a thousand horses against a son when there is only one son?

These lines, spoken by Maurya to her son Bartley, have been taken from J. M. Synge's one-act play Riders to the Sea. Here, Maurya rates the worth of a son above any amount of money. To her, the worth of a son is more than the price of a hundred and thousand horses.

Bartley is the only surviving son of Maurya. He is the only earning member of the family because all the men of the family except Bartley have already been drowned in the sea. He wanted to go to the Galway fair to sell two horses in order to meet the family's expenses. While he decides to go to the fair, his mother tries to prevent him from going to the fair by crossing the stormy sea. She tries to arouse his sense of values. She tells him that it is with only two horses that he is going to sell, and even if he had a thousand horses, they would be of no value in comparison with the life of a son, especially if it was the only surviving son.

The lines are charged with Maurya's maternal anxiety about his son's safety. Bartley being her last surviving son is above all monetary consideration.

In the big world, the old people do be leaving things behind for their sons and children, but in this place, the young men are leaving things behind for them.

This quotation is taken from J. M. Synge's one-act play Riders to the Sea. This statement was made by Maurya. Here, Maurya indicates the unconventionality and cruelty of her situation. Maurya here emerges as a pathetic mother who has lived only to see the premature deaths of all her sons.

Maurya, the mother, has lost to the sea all the male members of her family, except her younger son, Bartley. She has recently lost her son, Michael. Now Bartley, the only surviving male member of the family, is preparing to cross the sea to go to the Galway fair. However, Maurya is unwilling to let her son sail over the sea, especially when it is rough and stormy. Bartley does not pay heed to his mother's request and goes out to reach the boat. When he leaves home, Maurya laments the possibility of his death. Cathleen indicates that Maurya's hard words have been bad for Bartley. She then suggests that Maurya should go out with the cake to give it to Bartley. Maurya will then also say some good words for him. Thus, her earlier bad words will have no effect on Bartley's fate. However, Maurya needs a stick to support her. Here she finds that she is taking a stick that has been brought from the town by her dead son, Michael. In other words, she inherits the stick from her son. And here she can notice the unnaturalness of the situation. Usually, the old people leave wealth for the younger ones at the time of their deaths. But in Maurya's case, her dead son has left the stick for her. Thus, in this speech, we clearly notice the tragic situation in Maurya's life.

Riders to the Sea Explanation

He's gone now; God spare us, and we'll not see him again. He's gone now, and when the black night falls, I'll have no one left me in the world.

Exp. This extract has been taken from the one-act drama Riders to the Sea by J. M. Synge. These lines are spoken by Maurya to her daughters. Maurya's son, Bartley, has just left the house to go to the mainland. He did not pay any heed to the warnings from his mother. Then Maurya says these tragic words.

Maurya begins to cry when Bartley leaves for the sea. She expresses her fear that Bartley will not come back alive. She thinks he has gone forever. She means he will perish in the sea. He is her last surviving son, and if he gets drowned, she will have no son left to her in the whole world.

Maurya here expresses her sense of despair. She has a premonition that Bartley will perish in the sea like the other male members of her family, and she will be left destitute. There is a hint of pathetic fallacy here.

Why wouldn't you give him your blessing while he was looking around at the door? Isn't it sorrowful enough for everyone in this house without you sending him out with an unlucky word behind him and a hard word in his ear?

These lines are from the one-act play Riders to the Sea by J. M. Synge. Here, Cathleen rebukes her mother, Maurya, as she had uttered some ominous words at the time of Bartley's departure.

Maurya makes an evil prediction when Bartley goes out for the mainland. Cathleen says that Maurya should have blessed her son when he was going out. The family had already suffered much. Maurya has lost her husband, her husband's father, and five sturdy sons.

So, the whole family is in grief now. And the only son surviving for the family is going to the mainland. But Maurya's mind is full of danger that Bartley would have to face. She thinks of the death of Bartley. Cathleen then suggests her mother bless Bartley at his departure.

Here, Cathleen's belief in tradition has been portrayed. It was among the Aran islanders to bless anyone when he was to go somewhere.

God forgive you; isn't it a better thing to raise your voice and tell what you saw than to be making lamentations for a thing?

These lines are spoken by Cathleen to her mother, Maurya, in Synge's play Riders to the Sea. Here, Cathleen tells her mother to talk to her instead of lamenting for something she has already done.

Bartley is the last surviving son of Maurya. When he goes to the sea, Cathleen forgets to give him the bread baked for him, and Maurya cannot bless him. Maurya is then sent to the spring well to give Bartley his bread and bless him. But she returns, distressed. Cathleen finds her mother wailing in grief. Maurya cannot bless him due to the shock of her seeing a vision that Bartley is riding on the red mare and Michael, riding on the grey pony,, is chasing Bartley from behind. So, Maurya is so shocked that she keeps on keening without talking to her daughters. Cathleen here tries to pacify her mother by saying that it is better to express her feelings in words by saying what she has seen than to wail in grief for a thing that is done.

Maurya's vision of the ghost of Michael riding on the grey pony pursuing Bartley on the red mare is the most terrible supernatural element. It forebodes Bartley's death.

They're all gone now, and there isn't anything more the sea can do to me.

This extract has been taken from J. M. Synge's one-act play Riders to the Sea. Maurya, the mother and protagonist of the play, loses everything in the sea. These lines express the thoughts of a grieving mother who just heard the news of the death of her last son.

Maurya says that all the male members of her family, including her six sturdy sons, have departed from the world. All of them have been taken away from her by the sea. Now, no male member of her family survives, and so the sea will not be able to do any harm to her. The words are very pathetic. Maurya has totally been left by the sea. So, as she hears the news that Bartley, her last living son, has been washed away, she utters the very words.

In the face of the final tragic event of her life, Maurya consoles herself, saying that the worst is over and that now she has nothing to get afraid of.

Isn't it a hard and cruel man who won't hear a word from an old woman, and she is holding him from the sea?

These words are spoken by Maurya in the one-act play Riders to the Sea by J. M. Synge. Maurya is an old woman; she knows enough about the behavior of the sea. She has already lost all the supportive male members of her family; Bartley is her last surviving son. She wants to prevent Bartley from going to the sea. But Bartley does not hear her. Then she says the quoted words.

Finding Bartley to be utterly unresponsive to her advice and her appeal, Maurya says that he is a hard-hearted and cruel man. She tries to stop him from going to the sea so that he may remain alive, as she thinks the sea is rough. But Bartley is completely indifferent to her words. The words of an old woman should touch a young man's heart, but Bartley is behaving like a heartless man, she says.

The line contributes greatly to the pathos of the play and adds something to the tragic conclusion of Maurya.

It isn't that I haven't said prayers in the dark night till you wouldn't know what I'd be saying, but it's a great rest I'll have to show, and it's time surely.

 These lines are uttered by Maurya at the end of J. M. Synge's one-act tragedy Riders to the Sea. She speaks here sorrowfully about how she had kept long watches during the nights and prayed for the wellbeing and safety of Bartley, who was her last surviving son, and the support of her desolate life.

The dead body of Bartley is brought to the cottage and laid on the table. Maurya kneels down at the end of the table and indulges in the 'keen' over the dead body. She is suddenly overpowered with 

bereavement, and reflects on the futility of all her prayers for Bartley. Addressing Bartley, she says it is not true that she has not prayed to God for his safety in the dark nights. In fact, she kept on saying prayers all night, even after Bartley fell asleep. But all her prayers have been in vain. With Bartley's death, all her restless worries and prayers are gone. She will no longer pray; she will have no worries; she will have no anxious observation of the sea and the sound and direction of the winds. From now on, she will have nothing to disturb her rest and peace of mind.

The lines show Maurya's calm resignation to her fate. With the death of Bartley, she has attained the status of stoic resignation.

No man at all can live forever, and we must be satisfied.

This is the last line, spoken by Maurya, of J. M. Synge's one-act tragedy, Riders to the Sea. Here, Maurya is reconciled to her fate.

Maurya has lost all her men-folk in the sea. The sea has devoured eight male members of her family, one by one. After losing them all, she tries to console herself, saying that it is enough for her that Michael has been given a decent burial in the north by the grace of God. A fine coffin would be made for Bartley out of the white boards in the house, and he would surely be given a deep burial. One cannot hope for more than this. She now realizes that death is the inevitable end of all men. Since a man must die today or tomorrow, he must be satisfied if he can give the dead a decent and deep burial according to Christian death rites.

After her long and difficult life, Maurya has understood that there is a limit to which a man's efforts can take him. Hence, she heroically accepts the death of all her menfolk.