Gender Roles and Riders to the Sea

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    John Millington Synge wrote many remarkable literary works. One of these works is the play "Riders to the Sea".

    Riders to the Sea discusses a significant feminist issue which is gender roles. It depicts how society limited each gender in a specific role. Women were seen as housewives who should care for domestic matters only. On the other hand, men were responsible for earning the living for the family. This asserts that both genders were oppressed.

     In the play, the mother is left with two daughters and a son after her husband and the other 5 sons died in the sea. She believes that the sea will take her last son as well, and her biggest fear is that she will die with her daughters from hunger because none of them is allowed to work and earn their living.

     The play shows that the oppression of women and preventing them from working could cause disasters since they believed that the lack of men's presence in the family meant dying. 

      Additionally, gender roles oppress men as well because these roles oblige them to earn the living without putting in consideration their need to feel the warmth of home. Furthermore, it also affects the father-son relationship because they are used to seeing their mother care for them directly but not their father. The society pressured men to risk their lives to earn money. This is shown when all the male members of the family died except for one, who also died at the end.

   Riders to the sea is a call for the whole Irish society to reconstruct their country for the Irish need to rise as an independent country full of youthful spirit. This will not happen without modernizing the outdated rules, in the forefront, gender roles.



Comments

  1. Fatema MuhammadNovember 6, 2021 at 4:48 PM

    I think that Synge brilliantly showed the impact of gender roles on society in a very interesting way. letting men sacrifice themselves to earn living and causing the starvation of women after the death of their male breadwinners convey a strong message that these gender roles are devastating for individuals and the society as a whole.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mariam Mohamed HosnyNovember 6, 2021 at 5:12 PM

      You are right. The message was clear and it shows how each gender struggles for no logical reason.

      Delete
  2. Sarah HagarNovember 6, 2021 at 10:24 PM

    Reading this play was really amazing. It reminds me that the Irish Society was structured along with traditional gender roles. Bartley, as you said, is responsible for earnings, while his sister is usually occupied with domestic matters. Even after his death, his mother and his sisters do not know how they will live. I think Synge succeeded in symbolizing the women role in the Irish society during that time.

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    1. Mariam Mohamed HosnyNovember 6, 2021 at 10:42 PM

      The Irish society really suffered, and Synge succeeded in depicting their suffer indeed.

      Delete
  3. Nour HamedNovember 6, 2021 at 10:50 PM

    Riders to the sea is one of the significant one-act plays that demonstrates the idea of “No man at all can be living forever, and women must know how to survive on their own”.

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    1. Mariam Mohamed HosnyNovember 6, 2021 at 11:31 PM

      I love the fact that you stated; If the society had realised this fact, they would have lived an easier life

      Delete
  4. Salma YaserNovember 6, 2021 at 11:36 PM

    I also love the historical references in this work. All of the themes in this play are linked somewhat, and they all serve to the same message - gender roles do destroy families. It even had an impact on women, as in the mother herself, who completely disregarded her daughters!

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    Replies
    1. Mariam Mohamed HosnyNovember 7, 2021 at 12:08 AM

      That is true! The mother really neglected and underestimated her daughters.

      Delete

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