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Though engaged to Shawn Keogh, the young and beautiful Pegeen has no affection for Shawn, often mocking his respect for religion and showing disdain for his cowardice. When Christy arrives on the scene with his seductive bravery and manner of speaking, Pegeen quickly becomes fascinated by him. Pegeen theorizes that Christy must have descended from nobility based on his small feet and name, revealing Pegeen’s desperate need for a heroic figure in her life. While still adhering to tradition at the beginning of the play, Pegeen becomes curious about defying authority after Christy arrives.

Over the course of a day, Pegeen falls in love with Christy and breaks her engagement to Shawn. Pegeen falls for Christy’s poetic description of their life traveling the world together, a fantasy that ignites her yearning to break free of the village and have new experiences. However, upon discovering that Christy has not actually killed his father, Pegeen feels appalled and is willing to help bring him to the police without a second thought, indicating that her allegiance to her community remains more powerful than her desire for adventure. After Christy leaves the village, declaring that he will be the master of his own life from then on, Pegeen despairs the fact that she has lost him, though it is the idea of having a noble protector and being in control of one’s own fate that she actually mourns. While Pegeen may have been content before falling in love with Christy, she must now live with the pain of wanting something that, for her, does not exist.

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