Black & Green Atlantic

The protagonist of John Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World, Christy Mahon, is transformed into a local hero among Mayo for murdering his father. Whilst Christy does not personally view himself as a heroic figure as Christy is preoccupied with legal anxieties, Christy quickly understands that the story positions Christy as a legend. For the villagers, heroism is defined as an act of defiance against an authoritative figure, viewing the death of Christy’s father as heroic as opposed to murder. The villagers believe that Christy saved himself from a monotonous and tedious existence, which the villagers are unable to alleviate themselves from. The loy is employed as a symbol of Christy’s heroic elevation as the long spade, used traditionally for farming, represents Christy’s rural farming life, implying Christy’s ability to transform a tool of his toil into a tool of power and rebellion. Synge presents a close-knit community longing for a saviour figure, symbolised by Pegeen as a figure keen to accept and praise Christy.

However, Christy is juxtaposed with Shawn, who refuses to play the role of Pegeen’s protector. Pegeen casts away from Shawn once learning of Christy’s story, revealing Pegeen’s visceral desire for a heroic figure. However, once Synge reveals that Christy’s father is not dead, Pegeen and the villagers turn on Christy. The Playboy of the Western World explores the easiness of considering a story fantastical as opposed to real, highlighted by the mythical pedestal that Christy is placed upon. After Christy leaves Mayo, Pegeen is presented as distressed, illustrating Pegeen’s unwaning longing for a protective and heroic figure. Linked to the exploration of heroism, Synge presents the villagers’ attitudes towards authority. Christy is celebrated for killing Old Mahon, whom Christy describes as tyrannical and the villagers seem unconcerned about the legal repercussions of harbouring a fugitive. Whilst Christy is originally viewed as a worldly and authoritative figure, the villagers turn on Christy and Christy is saved by Old Mahon. Despite Christy trying to kill Old Mahon twice, Old Mahon is presented as Christy’s authority figure and Old Mahon’s saving of Christy presents authority as simultaneously oppressive and protective. The villagers conclusively remain ambiguous towards authority as whilst they are tempted by the prospect of defying authority, they concurrently desire the security that authority provides, fearing the potential consequences of authority figures turning against the village. 

When I was watching “Playboy of the Western World” and “Riders to the Sea,” one particular phrase that appeared in both works stood out to me—the “big world.” Characters in both plays refer to the “big world” as a place separate from their own. Michael, in “Playboy of the Western World” tells his family that “in the big world, it’s knives they use.” Maurya, in “Riders to the Sea,” notes another difference between this big world and Ireland: “In the big world the old people do be leaving things after them for their sons and children, but in this place it is the young men do be leaving things behind for them that do be old” (13). It is unclear whether the big world is the same as the western world that the title of “Playboy of the Western World” refers to, but Ireland is clearly not a part of this big world.

The distinction between the big world and Ireland, or the western world and Ireland, raises some questions about how the characters in these plays conceptualize their sense of place in the world. What, exactly, is the big world? What are the boundaries of the western world, of which Christy is the only playboy? Paradoxically, it seems like Ireland is at once a leader of the Western World and separate from it. Widow Quin laments Christy’s sailing from “Mayo to the western World,” implying a separation between the two, even as she claims Christy is the playboy of the western world. And though the big world is separate from Ireland, Sara calls for a toast to the wonders of the western world, which include “the pirates, preachers, poteen-makers, with the jobbing jockies; parching peelers, and the juries fill their stomachs selling judgments of the English law”—most of which are particular to Ireland. These characters share a lack of clarity about Ireland’s place within the world. Is their country, with its “stony scattered fields and scribes of bog,” part of the western world or isolated from it? (“Playboy of the Western World”).

The only clear boundary between Ireland and the western or big world is the sea which surrounds them. Indeed, the sea is a force to be reckoned with in “Riders to the Sea”—it kills Maurya’s husband and all five sons until “there isn’t anything more the sea can do to [her]” (23). Multiple characters in “Playboy of the Western World” refer to the sea that must be crossed to leave Ireland. Evidently, although the sense of place in these plays is contradictory, the sea/the Atlantic is a defining feature. The movement of the ocean, which we discussed when reading Gilroy’s work on the Atlantic, is an organizing feature for their conception of Ireland.

I was doing some reading on The Playboy of the Western World after finishing watching it, and was intrigued to learn that the play caused riots after it opened in Dublin in 1907. The audience was offended by its depiction of backwards morals and believed that it gave a bad name to Irish people. The points that prompted the largest objections were the glorification of patricide as committed by Christy Mahon, and the mention of women’s undergarments. People attended the show and threw objects at the stage to protest its subject matter, and this continued when it opened in New York in 1911. The cast of the play even got arrested at one point for putting on an immoral show. I would find it very interesting to explore how this play moved across the Atlantic, and how the change from an Irish audience to an American audience affected the public’s understanding of Irish customs and culture.

Theatre in general has a long history of causing moral panic and outrage. As we discussed in class, The Octoroon also stirred up a lot of controversy after it was released, because of its portrayal of interracial relationships, slavery, and the inclusion of a Native American character. Much of the content we are reading for this class has been incredibly subversive, for depicting the lives and stories of historically marginalized groups. I don’t know if this is a stretch in thinking, but this reminded me of the current push to ban books happening in many states in the U.S. Proponents of this idea have stated that books with LGBTQ+ themes or discussions of race are inappropriate for children, and they have backing from wealthy Republican donors. The protests against and censorship of plays from the 19th and 20th centuries shows just how long these types of moral panics have been prevalent. I am very grateful that these plays have survived, and that we are able to discuss and learn from them.

The social construct of race and racial identity is one that has been so influential that it became deeply-ingrained into the structure of American society from the beginning. While the emphasis of race in American society manifested an abundant amount of negativity in a multitude of different ways, one of these ways which is important and different to consider is how negativity surrounding specific racial identities can greatly alter one’s self image and beliefs about what they think that they are worthy and/or deserving of. 

At the time of Dion Boucicault’s play The Octoroon, a play about a young girl named Zoe who was one-eighth black in 1800s America, American society had deemed that even the smallest amount of black lineage designated (and dominated) your racial identity as black, even if you were able to visually pass as white. Given the extreme negativity towards blackness and black people at this time, this was often something that people wanted to hide if they were able because they knew that if people found out they were even the smallest bit black, they would forever be defined by that very small component of their racial identity. The Octoroon’s Zoe deals with this issue very heavily and personally: after hearing a love profession from George, a white man who could give her a good life, she begins to spiral about how her culturally-dominant black identity is what will indefinitely drive them apart. In addition to this belief, it is also very clear how deeply this racial identity is wired into and intertwined with her personal identity. Not only does she describe herself as being cursed and an “unclean thing,” but also that her race binds her to a life of suffering that she may never escape from (Boucicault, 154). As a white man who does not understand, naturally, George is very confused and tries to reason with Zoe, however, as certainly as her racial identity is defined, her mind is made up and there is no changing it.

In “The Playboy of the Western World,” I was intrigued by the way that death and violence were treated with such lightheartedness by the characters. I recognize that this play is largely satirical, but it was still interesting that Pegeen and her family praised Christy once they heard that he had murdered his own father, even if it was provoked by the father’s mistreatment of his son. Death is taken so lightly that this was considered honorable, and even heroic. Not only this, but Pegeen and her family simply accepted Christy’s explanation without any evidence that he had a justifiable reason to kill a man, and her father, Michael, even left her alone with him at night. 

This is not the only instance in which revenge murder is not only tolerated, but encouraged. When Christy’s father shows up later in the play, and Christy is proven to be a liar, the characters once again act upon Christy’s father’s word, without any sort of proof. There is no legal trial or official judgment when the characters decide to hang Christy; they simply decide to take matters into their own hands, which makes sense in the context of the play because it is already established that killing is almost a necessary way to deliver justice, about which nobody seems to think twice. Michael even says, “If we took pity on you, the Lord God would, maybe, bring us ruin from the law to-day, so you’d best come easy, for hanging is an easy and a speedy end” (1:57:35). This represents the underlying religious tone that is present throughout the play, and how God is a huge factor in the characters’ actions. The idea that God would prefer that they actually kill Christy instead of spare him is ironic, and does not really align with the forgiving nature of God that Catholics tend to preach. 

The tension between a supposedly-merciful God and the characters’ tendencies towards violence as a religious form of revenge serves as a point of reflection for the audience. The play might be considered a critique on Irish Catholicism, if it allows for such brutality. This makes me wonder if the play, which was set in the early 1900s, applied to the context of our class, might even be speaking to hatred involving racism. Although it does not directly deal with race, I wonder if the play’s depiction of Irish Catholic values gone astray can be applied to Irish racism towards Black Americans during and after the Civil War, especially with the knowledge of Daniel O’Connell’s disgusted stance on Irish Catholic involvement in American slavery.

The movie “The Playboy of the Western World” provides a glimpse into the social norms, customs, and beliefs of the early 1900s. One of the main social implications presented in the film is the stereotypes of women. For example, Pegeen was initially put off by Christy’s confession of killing his father. However, she began to compliment him on how such a fine gentleman he was, and promised he would find peace being in her spare room. She repeatedly said this and urged him to stay. She was oddly attracted to how ‘masculine’ Christy was and figured he would be a strong protector since he went as far as to kill his own father to end his bad treatment. I believe this is an unfair stereotype because it suggests that women are largely emotional and use little to no logic. She almost immediately looked past his alleged actions and thought of him as an ideal man regardless of his terrifying actions. The film also explores themes of violence in Irish culture. The villagers are initially horrified by Christy’s confession, but they soon become fascinated by his story and view him as a hero for standing up to his father. This point is significant because the villagers’ speech, behavior, and attitudes toward sin and morality were greatly shaped by a deep devotion to Catholicism. This is interesting because it appears that the glorification of violence is so great that it ultimately trumps their religious values, which makes Irish people seem like they admire aggression. Finally, the film highlights the importance of community in Irish culture. The villagers in the film are portrayed as a close-knit group who look out for one another, despite their differences and disagreements. This sense of community is emphasized by the way the villagers rally around Christy, showing the importance of social bonds and connections in Irish society. All in all, this movie provides a fascinating glimpse into Irish culture in the 1900s.

In Dahomey was certainly a play that pushed the boundaries of Black theatre in America in the early 20th century. It gave Black people the opportunity to change their narrative and tell a story that did not solely conform to the rigid stereotypes of minstrelsy. They gave their characters unique personalities and depth and sent them on a national adventure. Nonetheless, the production team still decided not to stray to far from the status quo. They still wore blackface, still did cakewalks, and still ridiculed their own race. In essence, as Daphne Brooks put it, they “straddle the boundaries between an ‘authentic’ and ‘fanciful’ blackness”(223). However, can they really be authentic while still actively portraying stereotypes put on them by their oppressors? Further, can they truly progress if they are still pandering to their oppressors? It seems that the production team was not willing to fully revolutionize the industry but make enough changes to put them closer to where they wanted to be in due time. This, unsurprisingly, was met with backlash from not only white critics but Black ones as well. In trying to appease both sides, they did just the opposite. White critics complained that it was “insufficiently Negroid” (210) and that it “gives us the negro who has assimilated what is worst in European civilization instead of the negro at best, in close and sympathetic touch with nature” (234). They did not care about the talent of the actors or the plot development, but solely the usual stereotypes that were not present. On the other hand, Black critics complained that it was not pushing the boundaries enough. Both questioned its political and cultural relevance. This begs the question of whether they should have just made the production void of all minstrel stereotypes. I, for one, think they should have produced a play that was as “authentic” and “natural” as possible to them. I understand why they chose to straddle the boundaries as they were in a precarious economic and social situation. It was used as a stepping stone to advance their careers as entertainers, playwrights, composers, etc. However, because they chose to compromise, I don’t think this play made as much of a social impact as they claimed it would’ve.

I was really interested in the concept of race in The Octoroon because it is directly related to a topic that I am studying in another class taught by Professor Julia Kowalski, titled “Foundations of Cultural Analysis and Engagement.” We have recently spent time discussing how race itself is not a biological construct, but rather a cultural and societal one. We read an article by Jefferson Fish about how Americans construct race based on what he calls “blood.” He writes, “Quadroons and octoroons are said to be people who have one-quarter and one-eighth black ‘blood,’ respectively. Oddly, because of hypo-descent, Americans consider people with one-eighth black ‘blood’ to be black rather than white, despite their having seven eighths white ‘blood’” (Fish). 

Meanwhile, in places like Brazil, the construction of race is not based on ancestry, but by what a person looks like (Fish). For example, a Black woman and a white man might have two children, one might have lighter skin and the other might have darker skin. According to the American perspective on race, those children are both Black, and therefore are the same race. In Brazil, however, those children would be considered different races, because race is constructed by their appearance. It is important to note that in both the U.S. and Brazil, the concept of race is “real,” it is just not based on biology as much as it is based on our cultural perception of race. 

I thought this was very interesting because of the treatment of Zoe in The Octoroon. She is described as an Octoroon, and she was born out of wedlock (Boucicault). Based on what Fish wrote, in some cultures with different constructions of race, she would likely be considered white. Zoe, however, goes so far as to say, “Of the blood that feeds my heart, one drop in eight is black… that one drop poisons all the flood… the one black drop gives me despair, for I’m an unclean thing” (Boucicault 154). This perspective on her ancestry clearly comes from internalized racism based on descent, not appearance. This reading sheds light on exactly how this construction of race came about, as it is this “one black drop” that makes Zoe a slave at all. Thus, this construction of race likely exists as an attempt to keep African Americans in slavery, even if they appear white. 

All of this made me think about our in-class discussion on what it means to be “white,” especially in the historical context in which the Irish were not necessarily considered to be a part of this racial category when they first came to America. If Americans classify by descent, and not appearance, then it follows that the Irish could be excluded even though they technically have white skin, whereas if our view of race was constructed based on appearance alone, then this would not be possible because Irish skin color is nearly the same as descendants from other European countries.

Works Cited

Fish, Jefferson M. “Mixed Blood: An Analytical Look at Methods of Classifying Race.” Psychology Today, 1 November 1995, www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/199511/mixed-blood. Accessed 26 February 2023.

“The Octoroon” provides a cruel yet realistic depiction of slavery, describing the sale of Zoe, deemed an octoroon due to the fact that she is one-eighth black. Zoe’s social status robs her of many freedoms: her freedom of self, freedom to love whomever she desires, freedom to move wherever she wants to and many other things. However, these are not the only atrocities Zoe faces. Perhaps the most tragic aspect of the play is the way Zoe views herself, which is made clear through the way she describes herself in dialogue. In her conversations with George, Zoe objectifies herself; she identifies herself as “an unclean thing” (154) and refers to herself as a “what” (154) rather than a “who.” Even if not an object, she does not refer to herself as human, as she tells Dora that “You know you can’t be jealous of a creature like me” (161
).  She also seems to be ashamed of her race, as she explains that “our race has one virtue—it knows how to suffer” (154). Despite the fact that the man she loves, George, tries to dissuade her of this self-hatred, it is embedded and appears unchangeable. 

I found “The Octoroon” especially powerful because it so profoundly highlights the shame Zoe feels based on her primordial identity. In discussions of slavery and race in the classroom, it is easy to focus on the historicism or the physical atrocities that define these spaces. Personally, I had not greatly enough considered how much racism and slavery affect perception of self. Despite the fact that Zoe is only one-eighth black, she is still cast astray to be verbally abused and socially outcast so that she may internalize this treatment. Even if freed from slavery, this struggle with identity would leave Zoe restrained from living the life of a proud black woman. Boucicault’s work left me wondering how we can alter our perceptions of self or if it will always be tethered to the trauma and prejudice we have experienced in our lives. 

I found Daniel O’Connell’s address to the Committee of the Irish Repeal Association of Cincinnati to be very interesting. It’s both impressive to me that O’Connell took such a strong stance against the Irish Americans who were against Abolition, and disheartening that Irish immigrants would adopt such a position in the first place. O’Connell focuses a lot on this very idea, saying “It was not in Ireland you learned this cruelty” (1). 

I also find it interesting that O’Connell saw it as a necessity and a priority to denounce the racism of Irish-Americans, and that he fought for Abolition alongside Irish liberation. I think that his politics are very representative of the intertwined ideas of the Black Atlantic and the Green Atlantic, and the similarities in the fight for rights and liberation. I find it indicative of O’Connell’s passion in the fight against oppression that he advocated not just for his own people, but for Black people in America as well. This also reminds me of the term intersectionality, which is a more modern day approach to activism that values interconnectedness and goes beyond advocacy for just one group. I also do believe that it was easier for O’Connell, as a notable white man, to have a more expansive field of advocacy than it would have been for Frederick Douglass. I imagine that Douglass would not have been taken as seriously if he began advocating for Irish rights. It also would have jeopardized his relationship with the English, and he needed to build as much support as he could for the cause of Abolition.

It is also important to acknowledge that Frederick Douglass did indeed practice intersectionality, as he campaigned for women’s suffrage and was one of the only men in attendance at the Seneca Falls Convention.