The Playboy of the Western World by J. M. Synge, book cover
Comedy PDF EPUB

The Playboy of the Western World

Downloads
Under 100
First published
1907
Pages
81

About this book

When a nervous young stranger stumbles into a County Mayo pub claiming he has killed his tyrannical father, the villagers greet him not with horror but with awe, and the local women compete for the attention of this sudden hero. Christy Mahon blossoms in the glow of their admiration, right up until the day his very-much-alive father turns up looking for him. Synge's three-act comedy skewers the Irish appetite for a bold outlaw and the gap between a violent tale and a violent deed. Its frank language and mockery of rural piety sparked riots at the Abbey Theatre in 1907. This free PDF and EPUB edition presents one of the great comedies of the Irish stage.

About the author

J. M. Synge

John Millington Synge (1871-1909) was an Irish playwright and poet at the heart of the Irish Literary Revival and the Abbey Theatre. He built his plays from the speech and lives of country people in the west of Ireland, producing a small body of work that reshaped modern drama.

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Public domain book This work is in the public domain and free of copyright. Anyone may read, download and share it.

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Book facts

First published
1907
Reading time
About 90 minutes
Pages
81
Language
English
Genre
Comedy
Formats
PDF, EPUB, Read online