Stoicism in J. M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea

Abstract

More than twenty two centuries have passed when a philosophy called Stoicism was founded in Athens for advising the people how to deal with cruelty of life and its fluctuation giving no chance for their negative passions to draw their lifestyle. The recent research tries to investigate the great influence of this philosophy on the Anglo-Irish dramatist John Millington Synge. His one Act tragedy Riders to the Sea is analysed in order to determine the extent to which its tragic protagonist, Maurya, is stoical. For the aim of establishing good setting, the research also provides the reader with a brief introduction about Stoicism; concentration is made on its historic thread in addition to its aims, as well as some basic information about Synge as a leading figure in the Irish literary renaissance. This is followed by a conclusion that shows the findings of this research.