A Brief Sample Analysis of "The Rising of the Moon" by Lady Augusta Gregory.
I. Plot and Character
A. First Impressions
1. This play will require some diligent dialects work in realizing the language.
2."Police Sergeant" casting -- Victor McLaglen type: large, burly, bluff, inherently
likeable.
3. The Man should, at first, "act the clown," seeming weak and obsequious, in the
way of a Dickensian Uriah Heep. Cast actor with an inherent "dangerous" quality.
4. Beware placing modern American social values on this play. The “terrorists”
are heroes in this world.
5. Moonlight prevails, both symbolically and actually, reflected in the stage
lighting, dark with strange shadows. The "rising of the moon" is in the moment of the
sergeant's awakening.
B. Given Circumstances
1. Environmental factors.
a. The play takes place on a wharf in a seaport town in Ireland. The quay is, in
essence, a peninsula from which there is only one escape for the Man: he must leave by
sea, his landward route having been cut off by the police. Since the Man is being
picked up by a rowboat, we can infer a fairly clear, calm night, with occasional clouds
passing overhead, per the dialog. Several lines refer to a chill
in the air.
b. It is 1905, spring, at the time of periodic criminal court sessions (assizes).
The fugitive was spurred to escape by the imminence of a trial and presumable
conviction. The action takes place at night, after moonrise. The choice of a setting at
night and the condition of moonlight has a profound effect upon the mood, creating a
sense of mystery and danger. Intermittent clouds passing add to the ebb and flow of
tension.
c. Economic environment has some importance in that the reward of one
hundred pounds for the fugitive's capture represents a very significant sum of money to
the Sergeant and his fellow policemen. It is enough money to motivate the Sergeant to
put himself in harm's way to earn it, and even to call his ultimate decision to let the Man
escape into question at the end of the play.
d. Political environment is key to the action. Ireland, in the time of the play, is
under English subjugation. Irish Republican partisans conduct an ongoing resistance
struggle for independence and Home Rule. The partisans are regularly arrested, thrown
into prisons, even hanged, dependent upon the extent of their “crimes.” The Police
Sergeant, although Irish, is a representative of English law and order. He has given up the
republican sentiments of his youth and has become a "collaborator" with the oppressor.
The Man is a "freedom fighter," whose actions place him well outside the law.
e. Social environment is important in that the Man is a leader of an oppressed
native underclass, struggling for its natural rights, which puts him squarely opposite the
Sergeant, who has allied himself with, and has become a "stooge" of, the invader/ruling
class. The revival of the Sergeant's earlier social identity in his youth is a key
accomplishment of the Ragged Man in his quest for escape.
f. Religious factors have little importance in this particular play [In other Irish
plays, the likelihood is great that Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church, and paganism,
will figure heavily.]
2. Previous action
a. A leader of an Irish anti-government revolutionary group has broken out of
jail just prior to his trial. The local police have been ordered to put up "wanted” posters
toward his capture. A police sergeant, posting the signs at the local docks, believes that
the fugitive will try to escape by sea. The assizes have come to town.
b. The inciting incident is the fugitive having broken out of jail.
C. Protagonist-Antagonist, Central Conflict, Dramatic Action, Core Transforming
Journey, Character Attributes and Opposing Attitudes
1. The protagonist is the Ragged Man. The key antagonist is the Sergeant.
2. The central conflict of the play is the struggle between the Man and the Sergeant as to
whether the fugitive will be allowed to pass unmolested and make his escape.
3. As the Man vies with the police sergeant to affect his escape, he actually
causes a more profound change in his adversary. Through a series of well-timed verbal
jousts, and recitations of song and poetry, he causes the sergeant to revive the patriotic
feelings of his youth, and identify, at least momentarily, with the rebel’s patriotic cause,
letting the partisan soldier escape arresti.e. the dramatic action and the core transforming
journey of the sergeant.
4. The character attributes and polar attitudes which contribute to the play’s
action are as follows: [These are brief and exemplary, by no means complete.]
a. The Sergeant has adopted the values of his British oppressors and has
become, in essence, one of them. The ragged man is a resistance-fighter, a partisan for
the anti-British nationalists.
b. The Sergeant is cautious and stolid, not given to expressions of passion, nor to
precipitous action. The Man is daring, flamboyant, and committed to a moral cause in the
name of which he takes often dangerous action. Where the Sergeant has lost the fire of
his youth, the Man still burns with it.
c. The Sergeant believes in the values of law and order. The Man
believes in a higher "natural" concept of justice, even at the expense of law.
d. The Sergeant is of ordinary perceptiveness and intelligence, and is therefore
susceptible to the manipulations of the much more quick-witted, sharply insightful Man.
e. Physically, the characters, as I see them, are quite different. The Sergeant is a large,
stolid fellow with a peasant’s sturdiness, like a large dray horse. The Man, on the other
hand, I would cast as small, lithe, fox-like in his physical quickness and acuity.
D. Point of Attack
The point of attack is the entrance of the Man, whom we later know to be the
fugitive. [At this point, the dramatic action, as stated above, begins.]
E. Moment of Climax
The climactic moment of the play comes just after Policeman B asks, "Did
anyone come this way?" The moment is in the pause before the Sergeant replies, "No
one." It is in that pause that the action hangs suspended; the resolution in question.
F. Resolution
The play resolves with the Sergeant allowing the Man to escape. At least for
the moment, the policeman has been moved to put principle over money, giving up the
gratification and convenience of the reward for the deeper satisfaction of his moral
conscience. In a nicely-conceived ironic touch, the playwright leaves the future of his
conversion ambiguous in that the Sergeant expresses doubt regarding the wisdom of his
action in the final lines.
II. Thought
A. Theme [in brief]
One’s natural moral sense, however long subdued or dormant, is more vital than
the conventions of law and order, and lies, like a sleeping dragon, ready to spring to life
when awakened by conscience
B. Ideas [in brief]
1. There are inherent "natural" values of freedom and justice that may not be
served by law and order, and that a moral course of action may be illegal, yet "just."
2.The most successful conquerors are those who can "sell" their values to the
conquered, so that the subjugated ones sign on to the victor’s culture and police
themselves, even to the point of force and violence, as agents of the conqueror. .
C. Relation to Credo
This play resonates with my stated belief that the spirit of law is more
important than its letter--that in a conflict between the two, I would choose the spirit over
the letter. Further, the play seems to say, as I believe, that justice is not always served by
prevailing law; that justice is a higher “universal” moral concept.
III. Language
Language is a major factor in that the dialect is Irish, lyrical and specific, and
must be properly, naturally rendered for full aesthetic impact. The dialect is a necessity,
as reflected in the dialog itself, but it must be done with expertise and ease. We do not
want a speech that sounds like a lot of overwrought "stage Irish."
IV. Music/Sound
Sound and music play important roles in the following ways:
1. The Man's patriotic songs are an ingenious device, used to stir the soul of the
police sergeant, and to draw the audience to the actor playing the role. The occasional use
of occasional ambient harbor sounds--waves lapping, sounding horns, etc.--can be very
effective in setting the production matrix and punctuating moments.
2. The slap of the man’s hand upon the barrel should have a jarring effect,
causing the police sergeant to startle.
3. The "Rising of the Moon," whistled offstage, signals the arrival of the man's
escape boat.
V. Visual Elements (Spectacle)
Concept
The setting, while achieving a certain amount of realism as a wharf or dock
should, more important, suggest a huge, dark, forbidding peninsula, raised high above the
lapping water, the landward end of which is recessed far out of sight. It should feel
massive, as if built of ancient heartwood timbers, scoured by wind and water. Except
when the policemen's lanterns are on scene, light should seem to come only from the
moon, casting long and eerie shadows, creating dark places in which fear and evil can
lurk, unseen. Intermittent clouds will darken the stage even more in specific moments,
adding to the tension. The costumes are turn-of-the century and realistic as to period and
character. The police are uniformly dressed as "peelers" or “bobbies." The Man is
shabbily attired in Irish homespun, with a dark wig and a floppy hat. By their clothing,
they are clearly on opposite sides of "order."
[NB: The above sample is meant to be illustrative, but not exhaustive. The plays in our
study will require both more breadth and greater detail.]