The Playboy of the Western World

Act I of The Playboy of the Western World opens in a bar on the west coast of Ireland. The bar owner’s daughter, Margaret Flaherty (called Pegeen Mike), is working alone. She is interrupted by the arrival of her second-cousin Shawn Keogh, a young farmer who is vying for her heart. He asks where her father has gone, and Pegeen Mike tells him that Michael James, her father, left to attend a wake. Shawn comments that it seems odd for him to be going to a wake so late at night, especially when it means leaving his daughter alone at the bar. Pegeen Mike agrees, bemoaning the fact that she must spend the night alone and afraid. Shawn remarks that she won’t have to worry about that once they are married. According to Shawn, the two are set to wed, pending the dispensation from the Catholic Church. Pegeen Mike shrugs him off, scoffing at his confidence in their betrothal, and again asks how she can be expected to spend the night at the bar all by herself.

Shawn reveals that perhaps Pegeen Mike has reason to be afraid, for on his way in to see her, he heard what sounded like a young man in a nearby ditch, “groaning wicked like a maddening dog” (10). When Pegeen Mike asks why he didn’t see what was ailing the man, Shawn admits he was too afraid to investigate on his own. Pegeen Mike scolds him for his cowardice. To spare his masculine pride, Shawn begs her not to report the incident to her father and the other men who are away at the wake.

Just then, Michael James and his farmer friends, Philly O’Cullen and Jimmy Farrell, return from the wake. Pegeen Mike scolds her father for leaving her alone, but he and the others are certain she could have handled herself, if needed. Michael James offers that Shawn stay with Pegeen Mike if she is that frightened since they should be engaged soon. Shawn refuses, insisting that the situation would break the rules given to him by Father Reilly and the Church. Staying in a house alone with Pegeen Mike before they are married could tarnish their reputation or tempt them to have premarital sex. Michael James is aghast at Shawn’s response, shocked that the rules of the Church are more important to Shawn than Pegeen Mike’s safety and comfort. Michael James and the other men begin to corner Shawn, saying they can lock him in another room in the house, barring him from potentially sleeping with Pegeen Mike, but ensuring that she doesn’t spend the night alone. Shawn breaks away, hurling curses at Michael James for trying to make him go against the priest’s orders. He exits, followed by howls of laughter from the men in the bar. Pegeen Mike hushes them, telling her father it’s his fault that she is left alone in the first place since he won’t spend the money to hire a pot-boy (a server in a tavern) to help her with her work.

Moments later, Shawn returns with a fearful look in his eyes. The man he heard groaning in the ditch earlier that night has crawled out and is following him. Shawn rushes into the bar to hide, and Christy, a dirty and tired young man, enters. He greets the group and asks for a glass of porter (a strong, dark beer) from Pegeen Mike. The group quickly ushers him in from the cold and begins to tend to him. Christy asks if the police often search the bar. Michael James assures him that they don’t but wonders why the stranger should ask such a question. Christy admits that he’s done something terrible and illegal. After the group drills him to name the deed, to no avail, Pegeen Mike tries to call his bluff, saying, “You’re only saying it. […] A soft lad like you wouldn’t slit the windpipe of a screeching sow” (17). She then jokingly says she’ll knock him with the butt of the broom, arousing anger in Christy. He warns her not to strike him, proclaiming that he killed his father last Tuesday for doing something similar. The old man had annoyed Christy, so he raised his loy (a long shovel used in Ireland) and split open his father’s skull, then buried the body with the potatoes. Christy has been on the road ever since then.

Instead of reacting with fear, or threatening to turn Christy in to the police, the people in the room react with awe. With the exception of Shawn, they view Christy as a man of great courage, and Philly and Jimmy begin to sway Michael James into hiring Christy as a pot-boy to protect Pegeen Mike. Jimmy tells his friend, “Bravery’s a treasure in a lonesome place, and a lad would kill his father, I’m thinking, would face a foxy divil with a pitchpike on the flags of hell” (19). The group views Christy’s act of violence as confirmation of his bravery and masculinity. Pegeen Mike jumps in on the praise, telling her father she surely wouldn’t be afraid if he were around the house. If someone is willing to kill their own father, they’d be willing to do just about anything. Michael James is convinced and offers Christy the job as pot-boy, including fair wages and a place to sleep.

Christy accepts the offer, and the arrangements are made for him to stay the rest of the night with Pegeen Mike as the men head back to the wake. Only Shawn lingers behind, asking if he should stay, but Pegeen Mike ushers him out, reminding him that he’s afraid of what Father Reilly will think if he stays. As soon as Shawn leaves, Pegeen Mike turns her attention to Christy. She begins to flirt with Christy, who, surprised but flattered by her advances, returns them.

Pegeen Mike prods Christy to tell her more about himself. She assumes he must be highly regarded by the women where he comes from, and lives “like the king of Norway or the Western World” (24). Christy discloses that his life was much different than she imagines. At home, no one paid any mind to Christy, and he lived alone with his father, who was an annoying, crude drunk most of the time. Pegeen Mike comforts him, saying he’ll have a more peaceful life as long as he lives under their roof.

A knocking is heard at the door: Widow Quin, a woman about 30 years old, has come to check on Pegeen Mike and the new pot-boy. Pegeen Mike tells Christy to pretend to be sleepy, fearful that if the widow finds out how interesting he is, she’ll talk with them all night. After Christy agrees, Pegeen Mike answers the door and lets Widow Quin inside. She tells Pegeen Mike that she ran into Shawn and Father Reilly, who told her of Christy’s arrival. They sent her to check in on Pegeen Mike out of fear that Christy might have gotten “roaring, romping” drunk. She has given them her word that she will take Christy home to lodge with her since it isn’t fitting, according to the priest, to have someone like Christy lodge with a young woman like Pegeen Mike: “There’s great temptation in a man did slay his da” (28).

Widow Quin is instantly taken with Christy, and the scene soon turns into a battle between the women for Christy’s attention. It is revealed that Widow Quin murdered her own husband by hitting him with a rusted pick, which caused an infection to set in that slowly poisoned him to death. Widow Quin argues that this is exactly why she is better company for Christy than Pegeen Mike and tries to make him leave the bar. Pegeen Mike protests, prompting a humorous fight between the two women.

Ultimately, Christy tells Widow Quin he’d rather stay at Pegeen Mike’s. Widow Quin says that if he won’t come with her, she will just have to stay at the bar with the two of them. She begins to lay down to rest, but Pegeen Mike will hear none of it. She threatens the widow to leave, and Widow Quin begrudgingly does as she’s told. However, she is not willing to leave without having the last word. She tells Christy that Pegeen Mike is only waiting on the marriage papers to wed Shawn. Christy approaches Pegeen Mike as she bolts the door behind the widow, asking if it’s true. Pegeen Mike assures Christy that she “wouldn’t wed [Shawn] if a bishop came walking for to join [them] here” (30). Christy is relieved and settles in for bed. He remarks to himself how life has changed for the better since killing his father and wonders why he didn’t do it sooner.