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Summary: Act I, Part 1

Opening to when Shawn reenters the pub

On a fall night in a pub on the coast of County Mayo, Ireland, Pegeen Flaherty, the daughter of the pub’s owner, sits alone and writes a letter to a shop requesting items for her upcoming wedding. Suddenly, her fiancé and second cousin, Shawn Keogh, enters the pub and asks where Pegeen’s father, Michael Flaherty, is. Pegeen tells Shawn that Michael isn’t in and that he’ll be attending a wake all night, adding that she feels afraid to be alone in the pub all night while it is so dark outside. Pegeen asks Shawn to stay with her overnight to keep her safe, but Shawn refuses, citing that they are not yet married. Shawn, a deeply religious man, fears angering the village priest, Father Reilly, as they need his approval before they wed since they are second cousins. Pegeen becomes frustrated with Shawn’s repeated mentions of Father Reilly, and so Shawn offers to have Widow Quin, a thirty-year old village woman, stay the night with her instead. Pegeen rejects this idea as Widow Quin is known to have murdered her husband. Still refusing to stay overnight, Shawn states that he feels sure Michael would be willing to change his plans and stay with Pegeen to protect her from any dangers.

At this time, Shawn mentions that he heard a man groaning in a ditch on his way to the pub. When Pegeen asks why he didn’t stop to help the man, Shawn admits that he was frightened of what might happen. Pegeen scolds Shawn, saying that if the man dies it will be Shawn’s fault and the police will come after him. Shawn begs Pegeen not to tell Michael that he was too scared to help the man because Michael would tell the entire village. Pegeen does not promise to keep his secret.

Soon, Michael and his friends Philly Cullen and Jimmy Farrell enter the pub for a drink before the wake, and Pegeen berates Michael for going to the wake and abandoning her all night. Michael says she should prefer he stay at the wake all night rather than try to make his way home in the dark while drunk. When Pegeen repeats how frightened she’ll be while alone, Michael suggests that Shawn stay with her. Shawn expresses his fear of what Father Reilly will think of him staying alone with Pegeen before they are married. Michael, exasperated, points out that Shawn can simply stay in a different room, but Shawn still refuses. Philly and Michael then try to physically force Shawn to stay while Shawn, crying out to Father Reilly and several saints for mercy, tries to escape. As Shawn makes it to the door, Michael grabs hold of Shawn’s coat, which Shawn somehow manages to pull himself out of. Shawn flees the pub. When Michael mocks Shawn’s commitment to his faith, Pegeen defends Shawn and then chastises him for not hiring a pot-boy to help her around the pub. Suddenly, Shawn comes back into the pub, frightened, and says the man he heard groaning in the ditch is now following him.

Summary: Act I, Part 2

From when Christy enters the pub until Shawn leaves the pub

Christy Mahon, a young man who appears tired, scared, and dirty, enters the pub and buys a drink. Christy indicates he is exhausted from walking, and Michael tells him to warm up by the fire. When Christy asks Michael if the police often visit the pub, Michael states that the police have no reason to visit any house in the village, as there are no criminals except for Widow Quin. Christy, clearly relieved by such news, sits by the fire and chews on a turnip as the others watch him with fascination. Michael asks if Christy is wanted by the police, but Christy deflects, saying many people are on the run from the law. Michael, Jimmy, and Philly prod Christy, trying to guess the nature of his crime until an irritated Pegeen observes that Christy seems too weak to have committed any crime. When Christy becomes offended, Pegeen threatens to hit him on the head with a broom, but Christy warns her not to, crying out that he killed his father the previous week for hitting him.

Philly and Jimmy are impressed by the fact that Christy dared to commit such an act, and Michael, now having respect for Christy, asks what Christy’s motive was. Christy replies that he could no longer put up with his father, a dirty man who was getting too old. Christy’s audience now tries to guess how he committed the crime. First, Pegeen asks if Christy shot his father, to which Christy replies that he has never used weapons as he is a law-fearing man. Then Michael asks if Christy stabbed his father, and Pegeen asks if Christy hanged him. Finally, Christy reveals that he hit his father over the head with a loy. Michael wonders aloud how Christy hasn’t been caught by the police, to which Christy responds that he buried his father’s body and then left his home and has been walking in search of shelter for the last ten days.

Suddenly, Pegeen has an idea. She hints to Michael that Christy would make a good pot-boy for the pub, as he would be able to stay with her while Michael is gone all night. Michael offers Christy the job, and Christy accepts. Shawn questions whether having a murderer in the house is a wise idea, and Pegeen snaps at him to be quiet. Christy asks Michael to confirm that he will be safe from the police while staying in the pub, and Michael assures him the police have no reason to be there. Pegeen offers to show Christy to his room, and Michael, Philly, and Jimmy head out to the wake. Shawn asks Pegeen if he would like her to stay, and she mockingly asks if he is afraid of what Father Reilly would think. Shawn states that it would be okay for him to stay since Christy will be there too, but Pegeen declares that as Shawn refused to stay when she needed him most, she doesn’t want him to stay now, and she sends him out of the pub.

Summary: Act I, Part 3

From when Shawn leaves the pub to the end of Act I

After Pegeen insists Christy relax by the fire as he must be tired from walking for so long, she admires his feet, saying his small feet and fine name must mean he descends from nobility. The two begin to flirt, and Pegeen suggests that Christy has traveled all over trying to impress girls with his story. Christy insists he hasn’t told his story until that night. When he asks Pegeen if she’s married, she responds by questioning why she’d want to get married at such a young age. Christy seems relieved by her answer and admits they are alike in that way. Pegeen points out that, unlike him, she would never have had the courage to kill her father. Christy reveals that, until the day he killed his father, no one had paid him any mind. Pegeen flatters Christy, supposing that the local girls must have noticed him, which Christy denies. When Pegeen indicates that she thought Christy would have been living like royalty, Christy laughs and tells her of his life’s drudgery, working in the potato fields and enduring his father’s rages. Pegeen assures him that he can live a life of peace in their village with no one to bother him.

When they hear a knock at the door, Christy fears the police have arrived. Pegeen asks who is knocking, and when Widow Quin responds, Pegeen tells Christy to act tired so that she will not stay too long. Pegeen opens the door and angrily asks why Widow Quin has come to the pub so late. Widow Quin replies that Shawn and Father Reilly have sent her to check on Pegeen, as they worried about her alone with a drunk, rowdy Christy. Pegeen points out that Christy is tired and eating his dinner and tells Widow Quin to go away. Widow Quin says she has instructions to have Christy stay with her instead of at the pub, as Father Reilly feels it’s inappropriate for Christy to stay alone with Pegeen. Upon seeing Christy, Widow Quin wonders aloud how someone who looks so gentle could have murdered his own father. When Widow Quin suggests that she and Christy are similar, Pegeen quickly reminds her that she killed her husband, not her father.

Widow Quin tries to seduce Christy and persuade him to come home with her. Christy falters, clearly unsure where he should spend the night. Ultimately, however, Christy states that as he has been hired as the pub’s pot-boy, he will stay there. Widow Quin then indicates that she doesn’t want to walk home alone in the dark and tells Pegeen she too will stay at the pub. Pegeen fiercely refuses and orders her to leave the pub. As Widow Quin departs, she tells Christy he should not get his hopes up about Pegeen as she is engaged to marry Shawn. Christy feels dismayed by this news, but Pegeen, annoyed that Shawn has tried to spy on her, announces that she has no plans to marry Shawn after all. Pegeen wishes Christy a good night, and, now alone, Christy marvels to himself how lucky he is to have a comfortable bed and two women interested in him, remarking that he should have killed his father years ago.

Analysis: Act I

The setting—a pub at night—reflects the villagers’ physical and emotional isolation, most especially that of Pegeen Mike. Pegeen fixates on not wanting to spend the night alone and feels frustrated that the two men in her life, her father and her fiancé, will not stay with her, highlighting her desire to have someone in her life who can and will protect her. Pegeen’s irritation toward Shawn’s submissiveness, first in how he refuses to stay the night out of fear of what Father Reilly might think and then in how he ignores the groaning of a man in a ditch, indicates that she is not quite content with the idea of having Shawn as her husband. The fact that Michael and his friends also taunt Shawn indicates that Shawn may be unique in the village for his deference to the rules of religion.

Christy’s thirst for attention is apparent when he notices that Michael and the others are interested in him, and proceeds to string them along. Christy admits to his crime after Pegeen says he seems too weak to have done anything of real consequence, a move that reveals his desire to not be viewed as powerless. Ironically, after learning of Christy’s crime, Michael and his friends view Christy with reverence instead of disgust or fear, demonstrating how eager the villagers are for a hero who will stand up to authority. Shawn alone thinks Christy’s status as a murderer may not make him the safest protector of Pegeen and the pub, but he is quickly dismissed by Pegeen and Michael. While Pegeen previously dismissed Shawn’s idea of Widow Quin staying with her on the grounds that Widow Quin was a murderer, Pegeen seems perfectly fine to keep company with a man guilty of the same crime. This contrast indicates the difference in how the villagers view actions committed by women versus men. While a woman who commits murder is considered untrustworthy, a man who does the same is deemed brave.

Throughout Act I, the villagers’ attitudes toward authority are revealed by different characters’ views of the “peelers,” or police and Father Reilly. While Shawn fears disappointing Father Reilly by spending the night with Pegeen, Michael and his friends dismiss such a concern and try to force Shawn to stay at the pub for the night. While Shawn fears getting in trouble with the police for not helping a man who may have been hurt, Michael dismisses Christy’s fear of the police coming to the pub. Such differing attitudes reveal that Shawn is more fearful of those in power than the other villagers. Like Shawn, Christy worries about the police finding him when he first arrives, suggesting that Christy may not be as brave as he seems. The fact that the villagers view a man who claims to have murdered his father as a heroic figure indicates that, despite their lack of fear of those in authority, they don’t have the gumption to push back the way they believe Christy has.

Although Pegeen saw Christy as weak before learning about his crime, as soon as she hears his story, she readily assumes he descended from royalty based on nothing more than the size of his feet and his name, and she more than willingly accepts that, based on his story alone, he is a heroic figure. As Pegeen flatters Christy, he grows more confident, hinting that he is becoming a different person than who he was before he murdered his father. When Widow Quin expresses an interest in him as well, Christy finds himself having to choose between the women, which causes his confidence to expand even more. However, Christy’s apprehensive manner when having to decide about where to stay reveals a lack of bravery or decisiveness. Christy’s last lines of Act I expressing amazement at his newfound situation seem to suggest that it is his story, and not the actual act of killing his father, that has improved his lot in life.

Next section Act II

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