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Mary Gwaltney Vaz Universidade do Algarve In the Gap: Space, Language and Feminine Roles in The Playboy of the Western World In Oscar WildeÕs dialogic essay, ÒThe Decay of LyingÓ, one of the speakers, Vivian,traces the relationship between life and art. Initially, the two are separate, as art focusesupon the abstract, the Òunreal and non-existentÓ. In a second stage they meet and inter-mingle as art uses life for her Òrough materialÓ, reformulating it, however, so that theresult is Òabsolutely indifferent to factÓ. In the third and final stage, life Ògets the upperhand, and drives Art out into the wildernessÓ (Wilde, 1999: 1078). This brief outline isdirectly applicable to J. M. SyngeÕs 1907 play The Playboy of the Western World, divides into sections that exactly reflect these three stages . Furthermore, an examinationof the play in light of VivianÕs sketch allows us to revise traditional assumptions aboutrhetoric and reality in the play and its individualistic hero.We can best understand the three stages if we observe what happens to space, lan-guage and feminine roles in each. In the first, which lasts from the playÕs beginning tothe moment when Christy says he has killed his father, radical separations exist in termsof interiors and exteriors, words and their effects, and the hierarchical relationshipsbetween Pegeen and the two men in her life, her father and her fiancŽ. As the playprogresses, these divisions vanish in the second stage, which ends when the villagerssee Christy and his father together, but return in the third. If we first look at the dynamics of space in the beginning of the play, we see a Òfun-damental contrast between inside and outsideÓ, and as Parker points out, in SyngeÕswork, Ò[i]nside space is associated with the structured social community and its tradi-tional institutionsÓ (Parker, 1985: 69). SyngeÕs interiors may be stable, but they are dull,and their inhabitants desire the excitement of the exterior. As Chaudhuri shows, ÒThepublic house in which the playÕs action is to occur begins as a centrifugal space: onewhich is in the process of being desertedÓ (Chaudhuri, 1989: 377). Only one character,Pegeen, is left inside, and she would prefer to be outside. Both Parker and Chaudhuriagree that she is ÒcaughtÓ in the shebeen (Parker, 1985: 72), becoming the ÒplayÕs pris-onerÓ (Chaudhuri, 1989: 377). In fact, we find out later in the play that she has been Òtempted often to go sailing the seasÓ (Synge, 1974: 55), but clearly has never beengiven the chance. The letter she writes at the playÕs opening will hopefully bring excite-ment from the outside as it asks for special clothing for a wedding and spirits for a cel-ebration Ð Òboots with lengthy heels on them and brassy eyes (É) with three barrelsof porter (É) ( 1). As a further suggestion that she would rather feel threatenedthan bored, Pegeen allows her imagination to play upon the dangers of Òthe thousand 5) roaming the countryside. Even a pot-boy would bring some excite-ment from the outside. When Pegeen asks her father to find one, he responds, ÒWouldyou have me send the bell-man screaming the streets of Castlebar?Ó ( town, of course, is the source of the wedding ÒspiritsÓ, the establishment of ÒMisterSheamus Mulroy, Wine and Spirit DealerÓ being located there ( Indeed, something exciting is approaching. It is Christy Mahon, the Òeternal wan-dererÓ whose Òmobility (É) makes him so attractive to PegeenÓ (Chaudhuri, 1989: 384).The traveler is Òdestroyed walkingÓ (Synge, 1974: 7) and is associated with the Òbig 11), a Òhigh distant hillsÓ ( 12) and boots that have been muddied 9) and soldiers Òfighting bloody wars for Kruger andthe freedom of the BoersÓ ( 10). Even before the event that pushes him onto thehighway, the first ÒmurderÓ of his father, he is connected with the outside. As he tellsPegeen, ÒThere wasnÕt any one heeding me in that place saving only the dumb beastsof the fieldÓ ( 16). Furthermore, his father says he was always Òstretched the halfof the day in the brown ferns with his belly to the sunÓ ( In contrast to Pegeen, Christy is on the outside and would like to get in. He seesthe villagers in terms of the interior space they inhabit. Thus Pegeen is the Òwoman ofthe houseÓ ( 7), and Michael James is the Òmaster of the houseÓ ( 8). Fur-thermore, he defines his social position in terms of that interior, saying that his fatherÒcould have bought up the whole of your old house a while sinceÓ ( all, he wants to be allowed to stay in their Òsafe houseÓ ( If the opening scene shows clear divisions between inside and outside, effectivelyseparating male and female protagonist, it also has divisions between words and theactions associated with them. Two written documents are moving in opposite direc-tions. PegeenÕs written words requesting the materials necessary for a celebration arePegeen awaits delivery of goods to be sent by Mr. Sheamus Mulroy. Their effects willbe delayed in time and in space. Another written document, the Òdispensation from thebishops, or the Court of RomeÓ as Shawn innocently puts it ( 2), is comingtowards the shebeen and is subject to a similar delay.When Christy first enters the shebeen, words and deed are still separate. As Kingpoints out, Christy is unable to say what he has done to his father because he is Òamere sayer of words, not a doer of deedsÓ (King, 1985: 136). As the villagers offerwords for what he has done, he responds, ÒI had it in my mind it was a different wordand biggerÓ. Pegeen, in disgust, asks, ÒWere you never slapped in school, young fel-low, that you donÕt know the name of your deed?Ó (Synge, 1974: 8).Finally, the first part of the play reveals a sharp division in social roles. The spaceChristy values so highly (and the space that seems to imprison Pegeen) is firmly M ordered. A ÒmasterÓ controls the establishment and has ensured that it conforms to thedemands of the law, as it is ÒÔLicensed for the Sale of Beer and Spirits, to be Consumed 8). This interior provides Pegeen with two roles. To her father,she is the dutiful daughter who stays behind while the males enjoy the excitement ofKate CassidyÕs wake. Her shock upon hearing that Christy has murdered his father, andher na•ve remark, ÒI never cursed my father the like of that, though IÕm twenty andmore years of ageÓ, reveals her customary submission to authority ( 18). ToShawn, on the other hand, she is a masterful shrew. As he describes her later in theplay, she has Òthe divilÕs own temperÓ and can only get along with Òa quiet simple fel-low wouldnÕt raise a hand upon her if she scratched itselfÓ ( Interestingly, ChristyÕs previous relationship with his father parallels PegeenÕs, as theson has played the role of slave to his father. According to Christy, his father was themaster who Ònever gave peace to anyÓ for Òit was a bitter life he led me till I did up aTuesday and halve his skullÓ ( 18). Thus, as the two protagonists approach eachother, they come from environments that sharply separate social roles into masters andAt the beginning of the play, then, powerful divisions exist in terms of space, whereinside and outside mean profoundly different things, in terms of language, where wordsand their effects are separated by space and time, and in terms of social roles, wherekey figures play the roles of masters and slaves. In physical terms, there are barriersthat exist Ð the walls and doors of the shebeen prevent the outside from coming in.In regard to the story of Old MahonÕs murder, VivianÕs description in ÒThe Decay ofLyingÓ of the relationship between art and life parallels this first part of the play. As heexplains, ÒArt begins with abstract decoration, with purely imaginative and pleasurablework dealing with what is unreal and non-existent. This is the first stageÓ (Wilde , 1078). Indeed, in this sectionthe villagersÕ characterization of ChristyÕs crime is purely1974: 10). However, what happens to ChristyÕs story in the next part of the play willreflect the mixture of art and life that appears in VivianÕs second stage.The playÕs second stage is defined by the notion of the gap. Indeed, to use spatialmetaphors, the walls that created divisions are pulled down and replaced with largegaps, vacuums that are quickly filled with disorder, liberation and madness. ParkerÕsilluminating discussion of gaps in the play shows that they are generated by ÒthematicoppositionsÓ. The scholar goes on to say, ÒIn this play, Synge seems committed toexploring central gaps in human experience and demonstrating the importance of what happens to people in those gapsÓ (Parker, 1985: 68). Inside them one can observeÒliminal situationsÓ which, like rituals, are Òthe potentially transformative expe-rience of being on the threshold between two recognized cultural loci or in a break filled with Òfestive misrule; at such times all members of a society are released from NTHEANGUAGEANDOLESIN LAYBOYOFTHE Although ParkerÕs distinction Òbetween the home and the roadsÓ has greatly influenced my cha-racterization of interiors and exteriors, his view of the shebeen differs from mine. While I see it more asÒhome,Ó he describes is as Òa public or communal space Ð rather than a home. (É) It is a liminal spacewhere wanderer and local can meet on neutral groundÓ (Parker, 1985: 70). the hierarchical structures of the patriarchal order which normally determine their identity (É) and temporarily inhabit a realm of cultural confusion or inversionÓ ( In this play, the gap is foreshadowed in the first part by a tiny Ò opens the door to announce that the Òqueer dying fellowÕsÓ coming (Synge, 1974: 7).Yet another small gap Ð the ÒslitÓ of a Òwind pipeÓ Ð is mentioned just before Christytells the villagers he has killed his father ( 10). These tiny openings will expandto grand proportions during the play as the fictional gap in Old MahonÕs head growsand is filled with Dionysian madness. In fact, the gap that ChristyÕs story ushers in willbe the functional equivalent of the church document Pegeen is waiting for, a documentthat will allow the churchÕs rules on consanguinity to be broken and will thus initiatethe celebration she has been waiting for. The document consists of words Òon a sheep- 21-22) coming from Òthe Court of RomeÓ as Shawn naively says,but in the reality of this play, it will be replaced by the words of a man associated withforeign Catholic powers, Òthe great powers and potentates of France and SpainÓ ( 15). ChristyÕs words will create and simultaneously fill a gap, just as Christy himself willfill ShawnÕs coat in Act II after the latter has fearfully emptied it in Act I.The second stage of The Playboy of the Western World contains many figurative gapsthat contain altered interiors and exteriors. Small, enclosed, claustrophobic spacesexpand to infinity, mimicking outside space, and these are particularly associated withdeath. In the beginning, when Christy, Òa close manÓ ( 12), assumes he will becaught and hanged for the murder of his father, he expects to be put in a Ònarrow 30) like the one that has been prepared for Kate Cassidy ( there, however, the space available to him will expand to infinity in ÒhellÕs gap gapingbelowÓ ( 10). Jimmy FarrelÕs imagination likewise places Christy in hellÕs infinitespace, Òa foxy divil with a pitchpike on the flags of hellÓ, and Pegeen expects that withhim she wonÕt have to fear Òthe walking deadÓ because a man with that kind of expe-rience will of course be quite handy at battling them ( Old Mahon is likewise enclosed initially in a narrow space, at least in ChristyÕs storyabout him, for Christy swears that he has Òburied himÓ ( 11), yet before long hebreaks out of his shallow grave, risen Òfrom the deadÓ ( of the walking dead whom Christy must battle. The first time the story of Old MahonÕsmurder is told, there is no mention of his wound, but as the ground opens up to revealthe walking dead, the wound opens as well so that he is Òsplit to the knob of his gul-letÓ ( 28) and later to Òthe breeches beltÓ ( PegeenÕs instinctive response to Christy also assumes that an interior space canexpand to monumental proportions, although she refers to a psychological interior,comparing Christy to Òthe poetsÓ who are Òfine, fiery fellows with great rages whentheir temperÕs rousedÓ and assuming he has killed his father because of Òblind rages Ó ( my italics ). She is certain of his tremendous powers,the Òmighty spirit in him and a gamy heartÓ ( 34). The quiet ladÕs inner being mustsurely expand to hold such emotion. tional or psychological, all expand as ChristyÕs story grows. They are gaps that arisebetween opposing interior and exterior spaces, yet they allow such spaces to intermix. M A similar mixing occurs when Christy and Pegeen imagine themselves together orwhen Christy refers to other pairs of lovers. A series of striking images arises, imagesthat combine the inside and the outside, creating a liminal space that is neither whollyone nor the other, but both. In these, male and female are given their heartÕs desire asChristy is allowed in and Pegeen is allowed out. Christy tells Pegeen of lovers in thenight Òtalking deep love in every shadow of the ditchÓ ( women are outside, yet they have simultaneously managed to enter an enclosed, shel-tering space, a ditch (reminiscent of a shallow grave). Likewise, when Christy andPegeen picture their future relationship, they imagine themselves outdoors ÒpacingNeifin in the dews of nightÓ in a Òkind of a poacherÕs loveÓ ( they find cover. They will Òshelter easy in a narrow bushÓ ( 55) or will be foundÒgaming in a gap of sunshineÓ, a beam of light which creates an enclosed space withtranslucent walls which allow inside and outside to mix together ( Another remarkable image of the mingling of a vast exterior and interior occurs asChristy metaphorically puts the infinity of the night sky inside PegeenÕs head: ÒAmnÕt Iafter seeing the love-light of the star of knowledge shining from her browÓ ( Furthermore, there is Òthe light of seven heavensÓ in PegeenÕs heart, light which willshine outward because she is Òan angelÕs lampÓ ( 54). The description is an echoof PegeenÕs reference to ChristyÕs raging emotions which tear him inside and burst forthin poetry. PegeenÕs internal heavens pour forth in light, while ChristyÕs do so in words.Nevertheless, with both, tremendous internal energy escapes in beauty. Both have innerbeings with the capacity to expand, tear, and shine forth, mixing inside and outside.Words and actions also mix in this liminal gap. In the playÕs second stage, wordsand actions are not divided as they are in the first one. In the crucial transformationthat allows the gap to open, Christy is pushed into Ònaming his actÓ (King, 1985: 137),and at that moment we see Òlanguage as actionÓ ( 13). Furthermore, the origin ofthe first ÒmurderÓ and thus ChristyÕs story is associated with words that perform actionssimply by virtue of being uttered. Christy attacks his father because the old man triesto force him to marry the Widow Casey, a woman he describes as a witch with thepower to cast spells. She is Òa hag this day with a tongue on her has the crows andseabirds scattered, the way they wouldnÕt cast a shadow on her garden with the dreadof her curseÕÓ (Synge, 1974: 27). Throughout the play ChristyÕs Òfine wordsÓ ( work a similar sort of performative magic,as many scholars have pointed out. Theyseem to ÒdoÓ and ÒsayÓ at the same time, much like ChristyÕs arresting image of loversÕtalk Òwhere youÕd hear a voice kissingÓ. In this description, the utterance of a humanvoice can perform the action of kissing. Furthermore, these men and women make loveby Ò deep loveÓ ( my italics In terms of social roles, the gap created by ChristyÕs story has a liberating effect,viously been available to her Ð ShawnÕs master or her fatherÕs slave Ð break down when NTHEANGUAGEANDOLESIN LAYBOYOFTHE ChristyÕs stories are like ÒÔperformative verbs,Õ because they are being used to perform the illocu-tionary act they refer toÓ (Traugott/Pratt, 1980: 233). He becomes heroic by saying he is heroic.Declan Kiberd discusses the Òpositive revolutionary potentialÓ in the play Òsuggested by a mascu-linization of women and a corresponding feminization of menÓ (Kiberd, 1995: 176-77). I was your wife IÕd be along with you those nights, Christy Mahon, the way youÕd seeI was a great hand at coaxing bailiffs, or coining funny nicknames for the starsÓ ( accompany Christy when he is out poaching at night. Furthermore while she wouldhave been ShawnÕs shrewish mistress, she will simply lend a ÒhandÓ with ChristyÕsimagined adventures.This part of the play, then, contains a gap that allows opposites to interact andinsists on breaking down former division. In terms of VivianÕs outline of the relation-ship between life and art, it precisely mirrors his second stage. He explains,Then Life becomes fascinated with this new wonder, and asks to be admitted into thecharmed circle. Art takes life as part of her rough material, recreates it, and refashions it infresh forms, is absolutely indifferent to fact, invents, imagines, dreams, and keeps betweenherself and reality the impenetrable barrier of beautiful style, of decorative or ideal treatment.(Wilde, 1999: 1078)Similarly, ChristyÕs story (art) takes the attack on his father (life) as its Òrough mate-rialÓ, but completely refashions it so that it is Òindifferent to factÓ by the end. InsideChristyÕs gallous story, rhetoric and reality blend together as word and deed merge inperformative utterance. Thus, in both VivianÕs sketch and SyngeÕs play, art and life inter-act in a second stage. What Vivian describes is highly paradoxical because it allows elements of art andlife to mix while simultaneously keeping an Òimpenetrable barrierÓ between the two.What happens in The Playboy of the Western World is similarly paradoxical because thismerger of utterance and action inside the gap, what Kiberd calls the Òdancing dialec-ticÓ between Òpoetry and violenceÓ (Kiberd, 1995: 170), is made possible by, and isdependent upon, a separation of story and deed outside the gap. In fact, this liminalgap exactly reverses the relationship between rhetoric and reality inside and outside of it. It is an unwritten rule of the play that this fragile gap can remain open only so longas the story of the murder and the reality of ChristyÕs action in raising the loy remainseparate. This situation in the play has a parallel in speech act theory, for just as thepower of ChristyÕs language is dependent upon (although not reflective of) an externalsituation, so too Òthe accomplishment of an illocutionary act depends [upon] Ôappro-priateness conditionsÕÓ (Traugott/ Pratt, 1980: 230). The maintenance of the separationof word and deed outside the gallous story is the appropriateness condition for thepower of utterance inside the story.The necessary separation of rhetoric and reality outside the gap explains the urgentneed to keep Christy and his still-living father apart. As long as Old Mahon remains ÒdeadÓor a Òwalking deadÓ and as long as the gaping wound in his skull remains as large aspossible, this other, miraculous gap can remain open. The character who is responsiblefor keeping the gap open is the Widow Quin. Consequently, she must make sure thatthe person formerly known as Old MahonÕs son is never identified with the playboy. WIDOW QUIN: (É) That lad is the wonder of the western world.MAHON: I see itÕs my son.WIDOW QUIN: You seen that youÕre mad.(Synge, 1974: 51) M Significantly, the Widow uses MahonÕs supposed madness to maintain the separa-tion between the Òwonder of the western worldÓ and the ÒsonÓ. In fact, the gap createdby ChristyÕs story is itself associated with madness, drunkenness and Bacchanalian cel-ebration as well as the words and savagery of great poets. As the Widow Quin says,he is perhaps Òout of reasonÓ, she attributes his condition to his Òbrainpan that is gap- Christy brings this madness into the shebeen. This disorder is neatly reflected in theconfusion left by the Òpack of wild girlsÓ (ChristyÕs maenads) who listen to his story 31). Pegeen instinctively reacts to the disorder, spitting out commands: ÒFlingout that rubbish and put them cups away. (É) Shove in the bench by the wall. (É)And hang that glass on the nail. What disturbed it at all?Ó ( 29). Soon, however,she is likewise transformed by the Ògreat savageryÓ of his words which liberate her fromthe close interior space in which she has been trapped ( As the Widow Quin struggles to defend this wild, liberating gap against threats fromwithout, it becomes apparent that there likewise exist threats from within. There isalways the danger of a collapse of this interior/ exterior loversÕ space where perfor-mative language and equality reside. When Pegeen says she will go poaching withChristy, he shows surprise and doubt: ÒYou, is it? Taking your death in the hailstones,or in the fogs of dawnÓ, suggesting that she should after all remain inside and adoptthe role of the domesticated female, too delicate to survive in the dangerous outdoorworld. Furthermore, to emphasize his dedication to her, Christy says he would like tooffer a prayer to the interior space that has entrapped her: ÒIÕd be saying my prayersand paters to every jackstraw you have roofing your head (É) ( danger that ChristyÕs magic words will lose their power, a possibility raised by PhillyÕssuggestion that the playboy has told his tale a few too many times: ÒheÕll be rightlyhobbled yet, and he not able to say ten words without making a brag of the way hekilled his father, and the great blow he hit with the loyÓ ( in a newspaper Òof the hanging of a manÓ ( In the playÕs third stage the gap does indeed close and the playboy and son domerge as story and reality meet. A barrier once again arises between inside and out-side, word and act and master and slave. Concern for the law replaces Bacchanaliancelebration when the gap shrinks and disappears; as Pegeen says, ÒAnd itÕs lies youtold, letting on you had him slitted, and you nothing at allÓ. Thus, the gap diminishesonce again to a tiny slit before vanishing because ChristyÕs was, in reality, Òa soft blowÓthat was not powerful enough to tear fiction from reality ( ChristyÕs desperate efforts to reopen the gap only exacerbate the problem becausethey are attempts to bring together story and reality outside the gap, not inside. Forexample, when he tells Pegeen, ÒYouÕve seen my doings this day (É)Ó ( when he reminds the crowd of how he has Òwon your racing, and your leppingÓ ( 62), he is describing a merger of reality (his actual performance) and story (the larger-truly do merge, but contrary to ChristyÕs expectations, mentioning this only intensifiesPegeenÕs anger, because, as Widow Quin knows, the son and wonder have to remain NTHEANGUAGEANDOLESIN LAYBOYOFTHE separate. ChristyÕs second ÒmurderÓ is similarly wrongheaded in its attempt to turn storyinto reality. He defiantly asks Pegeen, ÒAnd what is it youÕll say to me, and I after doingit this time in the face of all?Ó ( 64-5). Her answer, of course, only underscores thea squabble in your back yard, and the blow of a loy, have taught me that thereÕs a greatgap between a gallous story and a dirty deedÓ ( 65). There is indeed Ð and as longas it remains open there can be no such thing as a lie. Stories in the gap remainautonomous and words carry their own actions that are altogether divorced from theactions of real life.All of the effects of the gap vanish along with it. Significantly, interiors and exteri-ors are again separated. Pegeen is once more trapped in the shebeen as she repeatedlyorders Christy to get out. No less than three times does she insist, ÒTake him on from Likewise, with the destruction of the gap, language loses its performative power.Words are no longer actions, and, in fact, rhetoric and action are profoundly split. Inthe first place, ChristyÕs claim that he will ÒstretchÓ his father ( 62) and that he has He may demand, ÒAre you coming to be killed a third timeÓ, but his father remains res- 66). His words cannot bring about a death once the gap is closed. Furthermore, ChristyÕs impassioned rhetoric describing Pegeen seems absurd givenher reality after the gap closes. One has difficulty believing in Òthe splendour of herlike, and she a girl any moon of midnight would take pride to meetÓ ( she burns ChristyÕs leg with the Òlighted sodÓ ( 65). Nor does ChristyÕs heroic self-description seem to bear any resemblance to the original. His speech paints a noble yetdoomed tragic hero, who will Òhave a gay march downÓ to the gallows as he makesthe Òjury in the courts of lawÓ tremble at his deed. There will be Òcrying out in Mayothe day IÕm stretched upon the rope, with ladies in their silks and satins sniveling intheir lacy kerchiefs, and they rhyming songs and ballads on the terror of my fateÓ 65-6). Yet, what does this larger-than-life rhetorical figure become in reality? Likethe Òmad dogÓ he is compared to, he bites ShawnÕs leg and scrambles around Ò knees face to face with old Mahon Ó who is Ò on all fours Ó ( 66). The reality pre-sented to the audience has nothing to do with the rhetoric of the Ògallant captainÓ 67). The infinitely expanding space of hell that could hardly contain the heroicChristy of the playÕs middle section is mentioned once again. Christy threatens hispotential victims that if he catches one of them, Ò(É) itÕs the way youÕll be at the fallof night, hanging as a scarecrow for the fowls of hell. Ah, youÕll have a gallous jaunt,IÕm saying, coaching out through limbo with my fatherÕs ghostÓ ( however, Christy cannot enter this space because he has not killed his father. Instead,we have mighty words spoken by a mad dog.Most distressingly, perhaps, masters and slaves reappear after the closing of the gap.Inside the shebeen Pegeen is once again Michael JamesÕ dutiful daughter/ domestic ser-vant and ShawnÕs shrewish mistress. Michael James knows that as long as she remainswithin, she will be there to take orders, and he immediately begins with the request,ÒWill you draw the porter, Pegeen?Ó To Shawn she will be the cruel tyrant, demanding, a box on the ear Ó ( 67). Outside the shebeen the M master/ slave relationship also reemerges, although in reverse, as Christy becomes theCHRISTY: Go with you, is it? I will then, like a gallant captain with his heathen slave. Goon now and IÕll see you from this day stewing my oatmeal and washing my spuds, for IÕmmaster of all fights from now. [ Pushing Mahon ] Go on, IÕm saying. ( Thus the gapÕs magical ability to break down division is lost. Furthermore, the finalmoments of the play emphasize that these losses are permanent. The wound Shawnreceives from ChristyÕs bite can be viewed as an attempt to once again open the mirac-ulous gap, but as Shawn points out, the breach will close: Ò(É) weÕll have none to trou-ble us when his vicious bite is healedÓ ( This final stage of the play corresponds to what Vivian says in ÒThe Decay of LyingÓabout the inevitable outcome of artÕs interaction with life. He laments, ÒThe third stageis when Life gets the upper hand, and drives Art out into the wilderness. This is thetrue decadence (É)Ó (Wilde, 1999:1078). In SyngeÕs play, reality does indeed get theupper hand when the appearance of Old Mahon proves ChristyÕs story to be untrue.There are various reactions to this ÒdecadenceÓ: anger on the part of the villagers, angerand grief on the part of Pegeen, and an attempt by Christy to recapture the spirit of thegap. As we have seen, however, Christy can reproduce only a flawed copy of the herowho was created in the original gap. This defective reproduction is full of the inequal-ity of the master/ slave relationship rather than the equality of his imagined life withPegeen. It will be lived in the exterior, rather than in a space that mixes inside and out-side. Finally, it will consist of words divorced from action, for no future deeds are men-tioned, only the expectation that Christy and his father will go Òtelling stories of the vil-lainy of Mayo, and the fools is hereÓ (Synge, 1974: 67). The playÕs ending perfectly demonstrates VivianÕs dissatisfaction with the currentrelationship between life and art. While WildeÕs interlocutor in ÒThe Decay of LyingÓcomplains that Ò[f]actsÓ have Òinvaded the kingdom of RomanceÓ (Wilde, 1999: 1080- fact in the form of ChristyÕs living, bloodied, bandaged fatheras it invades ChristyÕs rhetorical kingdom. As Vivian says, Òwherever we have returnedto Life and Nature, our work has always become vulgar, common and uninterestingÓ 1080). This is exactly what happens to Christy when he is reduced to crawlingaround on all fours, biting like a mad dog and when he later becomes a slave-owningtyrant. After the gap closes, he is ÒFact, occupied as Fact usually is, with trying to repro-duce FictionÓ ( 1083). Vivian explains that this is to be expected: ÒA great artistinvents a type, and Life tries to copy it, to reproduce it in a popular form, like an enter- ChristyÕs poor reproduction, then, is the inevitable result of lifeÕs attempt to copyart, and his final speech is a weak attempt to revive the power of words previously spo-ken in the gap. A long scholarly tradition has (erroneously, I feel) arrived at exactly theopposite conclusion and has celebrated ChristyÕs triumph at the end of Act III whileexcoriating PegeenÕs betrayal. Price applauds Christy as his Òimagination transforms thedream into actualityÓ (Price, 1961: 19), but claims that Pegeen Òfalls far short of ChristyÕsimage of herÓ ( 30). She loses Christy Òbecause, at the crucial moment, her beliefin the image collapse[s]Ó ( 32). Bigley stresses ChristyÕs Òtransformation and tran- NTHEANGUAGEANDOLESIN LAYBOYOFTHE scendenceÓ which stems from Òhis acceptance as actual of what the others were will-ing to accept as tall taleÓ (Bigley, 1977: 92), and calls the play a Ò BildungsdramaÓ ( 98). King, to take another example, says that Pegeen Òprepares her ultimateown termsÓ (King, 1985: 155). She continues, Part of ChristyÕs dramatic development has been concerned with freeing himself from fearof confronting the father Ð a fear which is widely shared by the society which sought to makeof him the father- slayer . Christy, henceforth, will lay down the law. The elder shall serve theyounger in his new world (É). ( This characterization of ChristyÕs final words and actions, however, must be recon-sidered. If we accept his assumption of the masterÕs role, we participate in his error,which is to create a new Òviolent hierarchyÓ when, in fact, the only satisfactory endingmust be a decentering of all hierarchy. Such a utopian ideal exists in ChristyÕs linguis-tically created gap, but is most tragically absent from his final speech.Parker is almost alone in his characterization of ChristyÕs ÒtransformationÓ at theend: ÒSeen in relation to the rest of the play, however, the playboyÕs self-proclaimedtriumph seems decidedly suspiciousÓ. In a withering summary, he declares, Apart from his alleged success at racing and ÔleppingÕ at a village competition, ChristyÕsmost noteworthy deeds are giving his already injured and somewhat crazed father yet anotherclout on the head with a loy, and biting the leg of his rival. It is important, of course, thatChristy is able to stand up to his father, but his transition seems to be from abused child torebellious punk. (Parker, 1985: 76)Parker, however, admits that, despite Òthe unheroic cast of most of ChristyÕs actions(É) it is clearly ChristyÕs triumph that we want to participate inÓ ( 77). He goeson to explain that this is SyngeÕs strategy because by Òcatching us off-guard, he turnsthe brunt of his irony on the audience (É)Ó, robbing us of expectations that have beencreated throughout the play ( Nevertheless, Parker is quite clear that Christyis not the self-made hero at the end of the play that the audience desires to believe in.He cannot be, for the gap that created him has closed.SyngeÕs overall strategy, then, has often led to a mistaken approval of Christy at theend and belief that his words are indicative of a real transformation. Scholarly fascina-tion with the merger of rhetoric and reality in the play has likewise contributed to thiserror. In their enthrallment with the interactions inside the liminal gap, scholars haveoften made the same mistake Christy makes by failing to recognize the tremendous shiftthat occurs when the gap closes, disregarding the crucial distinction between eventsinside and outside the gap. Spacks, for example, says that Christy is created Òby thepower of his metaphorsÓ and that at the end there is a Òfusion of joy and realityÓ. Theplay Òpresents essentially the vision of a man constructing himself before our eyesÓ(Spacks, 1961: 16). Gerstenberger argues that he Òcreates himself to match the imageheld up for himÓ (Gerstenberger, 1990: 70) and closes the Ògap between the realized 73). Even Chaudhuri, taking a Lacanian perspective, argues, ÒThe M The issue of audience reaction, especially the riots at the playÕs opening in 1907, has been exten-sively studied and would require another article to adequately treat this complex subject. ject into what Jacques Lacan calls the Ôsymbolic order,Õ that is, the realm of languageand of other symbolic systemsÓ (Chaudhuri, 1989: 381). In this play, Òit is not so mucha question of Christy a story as of his being told by story-telling itself (É)Ó( 383). ChaudhuriÕs point holds for action within the gallous story but not outsideof it. What scholars have tended to forget is the great difference between what Christyis inside the Ògallous storyÓ, when his reality is the product of language, and what heis outside of it, when he becomes a tyrant who like all slaveholders, is capable of ÒdirtyKiberd implies this distinction, because although he discusses how Christy ÒbecomesÔa mighty man Éby the power of a lieÕÓ (Kiberd, 1997: 287), or rather, how words areactions, he also notes the limitation of those utterances by pointing to the Òmassiveamount of talk and little real action, (É) gestures struck rather than deeds doneÓ ( 288). Christy truly is a mighty man inside the gap, but his talk and action are divorcedfrom each other when it disappears. In ÒThe Decay of LyingÓ Vivian understands whathappens when the gap closes and life get the upper hand. This is why he so persist-ently urges that a barrier between life and art remain in order to provide a space whererhetoric and reality can, paradoxically, merge. The loss of this space is the passing awayof a utopia, and in insisting on the inevitability of this loss, Synge is describing thehuman tragedy. WildeÕs character Vivian, a ÒTired HedonistÓ (Wilde, 1999:1073) whohas seen it all before, knows this sorry ÒfactÓ, and it is exactly this that makes him pre-fer to stay in the gap, behind the impenetrable barrier that separates art and life. NTHEANGUAGEANDOLESIN LAYBOYOFTHE BIGLEY, Bruce M. (1977), Ò The Playboy as AntidramaÓ, (1988) John Millington SyngeÕsThe Playboy of the Western World ,Ed.Harold Bloom, New York, Chelsea House,pp. 89-99.CHAUDHURI, Una (1989), ÒThe Dramaturgy of the Other: Diegetic Patterns in SyngeÕs The Playboy of the Western WorldÓ,Modern Drama ,vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 374-86. John Millington Synge ,Revised Edition, Boston,Twayne. Inventing Ireland:The Literature of the Modern Nation ,Lon-don, Vintage._____ (1997), ÒOscar Wilde: the resurgence of lyingÓ, (1997) The Cambridge Compan-ion to Oscar Wilde ,Ed.Peter Raby, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp.KING, Mary C. (1985), The Drama of J.M.Synge PARKER, Randolph (1985), ÒGaming in the Gap: Language and Liminality in Playboy ofthe Western World Theatre Journal 37, Vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 65-85.PRICE, Alan (1961), ÒThe Dramatic Imagination: The Playboy Ó, (1988) John MillingtonSyngeÕs The Playboy of the Western World ,Ed.Harold Bloom, New York, ChelseaHouse, pp. 19-37.SPACKS, Patricia Meyer (1961), ÒThe Making of the PlayboyÓ, (1988) John MillingtonSyngeÕs The Playboy of the Western World ,Ed.Harold Bloom, New York, ChelseaHouse, pp. 7-17.SYNGE, J. M. (1974), The Playboy of the Western World ,Cork and Dublin, MercierCork and Dublin, MercierTRAUGOTT, Elizabeth Closs/ PRATT, Mary Louise (1980), Linguistics for Students ofLiterature ,San Diego, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde:Centenary Edition ,Glas-gow, HarperCollins. M