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Subject matter: The Use of Symbols in Riders to the Sea

A close reading of the play Riders to the Sea, by John Millington Synge,

apparently shows that this structurally simple text is abundant with infinite symbolism.

Synge untangles its story through a meticulous employment of this literary devise, which

allows the readers to incorporate their personal associations with those that are

traditionally ascribed or inherited. This association renders into a deeper emotional

involvement of the readers or spectators, as it relies on them to bridge the gap between a

symbol and its significance within a given context. Such mental engagement requires the

use of an imagination, awareness in tradition, and a disposition for analytical thinking.

The symbols operate along with the narrative in order to communicate its central

theme of mortality. The symbols employed within Riders to the Sea, form a layer that

conveys heightened levels of meaning and enhances readers' comprehension of the full

sphere of the text. Upon close examination of the play, it becomes evident that it employs

over twenty symbols; however, for the purpose of this paper, the use of six specific

symbols will be analyzed in order of their appearance in the text. These symbols include

nets, the spinning wheel, fire, the sea, the horse, and the well.

The description of the opening scene of the play Riders to the Sea includes such

specificity as, “Cottage kitchen, with nets, oilskins, spinning-wheel, some new boards

standing on the wall [...]” (Synge 3). The inclusion of nets within the set is significant

because of their immense symbolic relevance. According to the A Dictionary of Symbols,

by J.E. Cirlot, “The net is the extreme form of the symbolic bunch of ribbons, the bow

and the bond, and hence it is closely bound up with the symbolisms of Entanglement and

Devouring” (228). The notion of “entanglement” is noteworthy because it correlates to

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the theme of the inescapability from the cycle of life and death. As the males in Maurya's

family become directly entangled by this cycle, a part of Maurya's essence as a mother

also gives over to mortality, as she progressively surrenders a part of herself. Cirlot's

explanation also included the idea of “devouring”. Within this play, the sea is presented

as the destructive agent that sacrificially devours and consumes more then half of

Maurya's family. Cirlot elaborates by suggesting that it is the weapon of those “who fish

in the waters of the unconscious” (228), which is a rather appropriate analogy considering

the strong predominance of the sea symbol within this play. Michael, who is one of

Maurya's sons, is a good fisherman as it is referred, suggests that the sea is their

livelihood. Maurya has lost six sons and a husband to the sea, with Bartley being the most

recent sacrifice. Thus, the sea has been both a provider and a destroyer to Maurya's

family, and while it has bestowed many blessings upon their house, it has also been the

cause of great suffering and loss. The play as a whole can be interpreted as Maurya's

process of “fishing in the waters of the unconscious,” as she comes to accept the

inevitability of death, and the inescapability from life's cycle. However, unlike that of

Bartley, who impulsively runs off into the water without his mothers blessing, Maurya's

process of exploration is a cautious one. It's an unconscious journey that requires the use

of figurative nets, which will keep her physical, emotional, and spiritual pacification

afloat.

Cirlot connects the symbol of nets with heaven by referring to a passage from a

book, Tao Te Ching, which illustrates the idea that, “it is not possible for the individual,

by his own efforts, to escape from the universe” (228). “God has bound us with his power

and it is beyond our capacity to withdraw or leave” (228). In Riders to the Sea, the male
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characters desire to remain within, rather then depart from this world, but their lives are

unwillingly withdrawn from them, and they are not able to escape the laws of the

universe.

Chevalier and Gheerbrant state that in psychology, the “fearful weapon” of nets

represents those “complexes, which entangle the subject's internal and external life”

(699). The play illustrates the difficulty of unraveling such psychological nets within

Maurya's mind. She has not been accustomed to confronting the flaws and her not being

accustomed to it is her approach to dealing with the numerous deaths in the family.

Maurya's inclination towards habitual denial is exemplified in the scene where she has

forgotten about the necessity for nails in the building process of the graves. She has

unconsciously omitted such a nuance from her mind because she has never fully accepted

the deaths to be real.

Furthermore, Chevalier and Gheerbrant say, according to the Old Testament, nets

are “an expression of anguish” (699), which can be attributed to the protagonist of this

play. They also cite from The Testament, “The sorrow of death compassed me and the

pain [or nets] of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon

the name of the lord” (699). Another citation, “It is interesting to notice that in oriental

tradition the gods are provided with nets in order to catch men in their meshes” (699).

Chevalier and Gheerbrant discuss that:

“analysts of such tradition interpret nets as being a symbol of searching through

the unconscious and the most deeply repressed memories, with the intention of

transferring its contents into the conscious, like the fish from the depth of the sea.

The sky is occasionally compared with the net, the stars representing the knots of
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its inevitable meshes. Thus, it is impossible to escape from the universe and the

laws which govern it” (699).

By the end of this play, Maurya comes to accept these laws, and if she was able to

contextualize her unconscious tendencies to oppress rather then confront her emotions,

she would be finally able to unravel that which is deeply repressed. The fact that nets are

often associated with the entrapment of spiritual power, further establishes the idea that

with acceptance of mortality comes spiritual and physical freedom. By the end of the

play, Maurya experiences a definite growth in a form of spiritual development, and she is

able to attain peace and serenity as a result.

The set description mentions the presence of a spinning-wheel, which is abundant

in symbolic relevance to this text. Cirlot suggests that the symbol of spinning is

“equivalent to bringing forth and fostering life” (305). In the beginning of the play, Synge

describes,

CATHLEEN, a girl of about twenty finishes kneading cake, and puts it down in

the pot-oven by the fire: then wipes her hands, and begins to spin at the wheel

[…] (3).

It is significant that Cathleen and Nora, who are Maurya's daughters, engage in

the activity of spinning because they are within the childbearing years but on the other

hand, we are informed in the very beginning of the play that:

NORA [in a low voice]: Where is she?

CATHLEEN: She’s lying down, God help her, and maybe sleeping, if she’s able.

[NORA comes in softly, and takes a bundle from under her shawl.]

NORA: [spinning the wheel rapidly]: What is it you have? […] (3)
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Maurya is unfertile like a waste land and she no longer can give birth to a child while her

daughters represent the young women who will sustain the circle of life by replenishing

the earth through their own offspring, thus filling the void, which has been created

through the passing of their brothers and father. Furthermore, Cirlot connects the symbol

of the wheel to that of the wheel-of-fire. The function of the wheel-of-fire is to stimulate

the sun in its activity and to prevent winter and death. For him, “It is therefore, a

symbolic synthesis of the activity of cosmic forces and the passage of time” (370).

Within the context of the play, the symbol of the spinning-wheel can then be interpreted

as the symbol of fertility. It is cosmically designed to stimulate and protect the process of

rejuvenation, while operating within the laws of the universe pertaining to the cycle of

life and death and the passage of time.

According to Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant,

“The wheel symbolizes cycles, new beginnings and renewal, which directly

correlates to the theme of mortality. In Buddhism, Buddha set in motion the

Wheel of the Law, which is the law of karma. This law states that, there is no

power able to reverse the direction in which the wheel revolves” (1099).

This notion can also be attributed to fate, which seizes the power of control over

one's future, out of human hands and fully bestows it into the hands of the Higher Power.

Tom Chetwynd in his book Dictionary of Symbols suggests that In the Zodiac tradition,

“the wheel is associated with the wheeling constellations around its still center, the Polar

star: as they relate to the wheel of life and death” (425). Aside from the obvious

relevancy of the wheel of life and death to the themes of this play, the notion of

“constellations around its still center” is also very pertinent. The fire represents the still
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center, while the characters can be regarded as human incarnations of the solar

constellations.

The stage direction to the actor playing the role of Nora, instructs her to put down

the kneaded cake in the pot-oven by the fire. Synge repeatedly employs the symbol of

fire, which is immensely rich and multifaceted. All of the proceedings within Maurya's

house seem to transpire within the vicinity of the fire, which appears to be located in the

center. Similarly to planets that orbit abound the sun, characters gravitate towards the fire

through an unconscious desire to reach warmth and restore energy. Cirlot suggests that it

is associated with the concept of life and death as well as superiority and control, and has

developed into the “expression of spiritual energy” (105). Maurya experiences spiritual

growth by the end of the play; however, it is attained at a high cost. She only realizes

what was always true after the death of her last son, and the closer she gets to fully

internalizing the concept of inevitability of death, the closer she comes to being burned

by the fire herself, which with time, similarly to death, consume all. Fire is the “agent of

transmutation”, considering that all things derive from and later return to fire (Cirlot

105). This is quite significant because this notion supports the established theme of the

cycle of life and death. Fire is the “mediator between forms which vanish and forms in

creation” (Cirlot 105). It represents destruction, transformation and regeneration, which

are also qualities that can be attributed to the sea.

One of the strongest symbols employed within Riders to the Sea, is that of the sea.

The degree of its importance becomes evident through its inclusion within the title of the

play. The first reference to the sea is made by Nora, who is Maurya's youngest daughter,

when she says, “We're to find out of it's Michael's they are, some time herself will be
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down looking by the sea” (Synge 3). She is speaking of the shirt and a plain stocking that

had been taken off a drowned man in order for his relatives to identify him. Cirlot

suggests that the symbol of the sea is the “transitional and the mediating agent between

the non-formal (air, gasses) and the formal (earth, solids) and, by analogy, between life

and death” (281). He elaborates by stating that, “’To return to the sea' is to return to the

mother', that is to die” (281). Mary Miller and Karl Taube in their book The Gods and

Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya advocate that “in ancient Mexico, the sea

is considered to be the watery underworld and the symbol of fertility. In the Christian

tradition, the sea is often associated with the mankind and its dwelling by the flood”

(148). Chevalier and Gheerbrant say by referring to the mythology of Ancient Egypt, “the

coming into being of earth and life was conceived in terms of emergence from the sea”

(837). It is interesting to note that each of these seemingly unconnected sources have

some relation to either the processes of coming into or departing from this world, in other

words with the process of life and death. Chevalier and Gheerbrant assert, “Whoever

crossed the sea with its sharks and the demons, its terrifying waves which are so hard to

surmount, may be said to have gone to the Ends of the Earth and departed to the beyond”

(837). Bartley attempts to do just that even against his mother's wishes, for which he is

forced to “depart beyond.” He represents the last male sacrifice from Maurya's family, to

the “terrifying” and dangerous force that is the sea. While talking to Barley, Maurya says,

“If it isn't found itself, that wind is raising the sea, and there was a star up against the

moon, and it rising in the night. If it was a hundred horses, or a thousand horses you had

itself, what is the price of a thousand horses against a son where there is one son only?”

(Synge 5-6)
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This passage is significant because it is abundant with symbolism, which

enhances the understanding of the play's themes. The last symbol of this passage is that

of horses. Horses are associated with burial-rites in chthonian cults, while others consider

it a symbol of the cyclic movement of the world of phenomena. It is interesting to note

that in Germany and England, to dream of a white horse is considered to be an omen of

death. Horses also stand for intense desires and instincts (Cirlot 152). Despite the

dangerous conditions, Bartley plans to cross to the mainland in order to dispose of a horse

at the fair. He does this without the consent of his aging mother. This intricacy illustrates

one of the examples through which Synge establishes the female dominance, in relation

to intuitiveness, insightfulness, and sharp-mindedness. The high degree of

interconnectedness of the symbols and their thematic relevance is exemplified in the

passage written by Chevalier and Gheerbrant, on the significance of the horse symbol.

This passage states that the horse is often associated with the beginning of time and

darkness (516). It also relates to the chthonian time from which it sprang, centering, like

blood pulsating in the veins, out of the bowels of the Earth and or from the depth of the

sea...It is the mysterious child of darkness and carried both of death and of life, linked to

the destructive yet triumphant powers of Fire and the nurturing yet suffocating powers of

Water (516). This passage intertwines the themes of morality, the beginning and the end

of time, life and death, the duality of the sea as a nurturing yet a “suffocating” or

destructive agent, and the correlation of the symbol of the sea to the symbol of fire. Thus,

the horse symbol encompasses many of the relevant ideas of this play.

After Maurya comes back, having failed to bless Barley and give him the bread,

she begins to explain a frightful sight that she had witnessed. She says, “I went down to
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the spring well, and I stood there saying a prayer to myself. Then Bartley came along,

and he riding on the red mare with the grey pony behind him. [...]” (Synge 11). This

passage is significant because of the symbolic relevance of the well. Cirlot proposes that

the well signifies salvation. “The well is also a symbol of the soul, and an attribute of

things feminine” (369). “In all traditions”, according to Chevalier and Gheerbrant, “wells

are ascribed a sacred character. They embody the three cosmic orders, which are the

Underworld, Earth, and Heaven. They themselves are a microcosm of the cosmic

synthesis” (1095). Maurya was saying a prayer by a well, at the bottom of which is the

same substance that was the cause of most of the deaths and suffering in her family;

however, without this substance the entire human kind would parish. This presents

circularity in its symbolism, which is appropriate to its round physical form.

The complete comprehension of the thematic undercurrents within the narrative of

Riders by the Sea, by John Millington Synge, strongly depends on the understanding of

its symbolic content. Upon consideration of its numerous symbols, the reader or spectator

uncovers layer of profound truths, which would have been unreachable without a closer

treatment of the text. For this purpose, six symbols had been chosen and analyzed in

order of their appearance in the text. These symbols include nets, the spinning wheel, fire,

the sea, the horse, and the well. Upon such analysis it became evident that all of the

considered symbols are tightly interconnected amongst each other. Furthermore, they all

possess another common denominator, which is a strong relation to the theme of

mortality and it inevitability.

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Works Cited

Chetwynd, Tom. Dictionary of Symbols. London & Toronto: Granada Limited, 1982.

Chevalier, Jean, and Alain Gheerbrant. A Dictionary of Symbols. Trans. John B. Brown.

2nd ed. London: Penguin Books, 1982.

Cirlot, J. E. A Dictionary of Symbols. Trans. Jack Sage. 2nd ed. New York:

Philosophical Library, 1971.

Miller, Mary, and Karl Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya.

London: Thames and Hudson, 1993.

Synge, John Millington. Riders to the Sea & The Playboy of the Western World. Ed. R.
K. Kaul. 20th ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005.