Summary of Riders of the sea by John Millington Synge

The play start with Nora, one of Maurya’s daughters brought a bundle of clothes given by
a priest for identification, containing part of the clothes taken from the body of a man drowned
far in the north. After Maurya have been grieving for her son for nine days, who she felt had
drowned, Maurya has fallen asleep, as she wakes up, and they hid the bundle on the turf-loft until
they can have a look at it when they are alone. Maurya has already lost five sons and a husband
to the sea, feared as the lost of Michael and added with fear of losing Bartley, her only remaining
son. Bartley still insists on crossing the mainland on that day, in spite of winds and high seas, to
deliver horses at the fair.

Bartley did not listen to Maurya’s warning, at last she lets him go without her blessing.
The girls persuade her to give him the lunch they had forgotten to give him and so to make
opportunity for that blessing a mother should have given. While Maurya is gone, the girls open
the package. They identified the clothes as Michael's. They comforted themselves with the
thought that his body has been given a proper burial in the north where he was found. Maurya
returned with a terrified vision of Michael riding on the grey horse behind Bartley. She is sure
Bartley going to die. Thus the girls show Michael's clothes to Maurya and her only response is
that the good white boards she had bought for his coffin would serve for Bartley instead.

As she speaks, the neighboring women troop in as she had seen in her vision. A few men
brought in the body of Bartley who has been knocked off a cliff into the sea by the horse he was
leading. The play ends with Maurya's last words that she can sleep now with no worry but only
starvation. Her husband and sons are all gone and the sea could not touch her anymore.

Characters

Maurya: her name is almost the same as the Greek word moira, meaning 'fate'. She is a poor
victim having lost of her husband and five sons to the sea. Her characteristic toward life & death
changed after her sixth or last son drowned in the sea.

Bartley: He is the one of the two riders in the play besides Michael. He is hardheaded as he
insist on going to the sea despite his mother had warned him.

Cathleen: The elder daughter is more responsible and hard-working, taking care of the
household.

Nora: She is the other daughter of Maurya Nora is a bit immature and innocent shown by the
way she talks to Cathleen.