Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock: Themes and Analysis
Nationalism in *Juno and the Paycock***
Johnny is a nationalist. We see the effect nationalism can have on people’s lives through Johnny’s injuries. When the Mobilizer comes for him, he asks if he hasn’t done enough for Ireland: he’s lost his arm and his hips are destroyed. A young man replies to him, saying that no man can do enough for Ireland! O’Casey is disillusioned with such causes. This reflects the “Irishness” of the play.
Civil Strife
As the country is in the midst of a civil war, we see the horror of civil strife through the murders of Robbie Tancred and Johnny Boyle. The police are little help, as Mrs. Madigan asserts: “For you’re the same as yous were undher the British Government – never where yous are wanted!” O’Casey draws upon his experience living through these events and presents them in such a way that we can see the senselessness of the violence.
Feminist Perspective
The strength of the female characters, juxtaposed with the male ones, reflects a feminist perspective. The tenement women demonstrate a capacity for love, altruism, and wisdom, while the men are self-centered and try to escape reality through alcohol and nationalistic dreams. Johnny’s violent slogan contrasts with Mrs. Tancred’s plea for eternal love. Mary, though vain, has passion; her suitors are self-centered and leave her in her time of need. The most contrast is between Juno and Boyle. The Roman goddess Juno’s chariot is said to be drawn by peacocks, but the “paycock” Boyle hurts more than helps Juno through his vanity and self-centeredness. He believes war is the government’s business, not theirs, and accuses his daughter of bringing shame on the family. Juno feeds the family and comforts her children.
Poverty
Poverty dominates the play. The characters barely have enough money to stay afloat; for example, Juno does not want to share tea with Joxer Daly, and Bentham leaves Mary when he finds out she has no money. Both Mary and her co-worker are unemployed. The play’s language reveals the dehumanizing effects of poverty, with allusions to animals: Boyle is a peacock, possessing pride and is useless, becoming a burden. There are also a number of animal-related verbs, such as *butchering*, *sacrificing*, and *galloping*, implying the animalistic nature of the poor. These references disappear in Act II, when the family thinks they have money.
Religious Views
Characters have a variety of religious views. Juno is a traditional Catholic; she believes Boyle should be praying novenas for a job (nine days of prayer, asking God for something specific). She believes bad things happen because of men and not because of God, and the world would be a better place if people followed their beliefs. Mary cannot understand how God lets horrible things happen, such as the murder of her brother. Her fiance, Charlie Bentham, is a Theosophist, an esoteric philosophy with shallow commitments to others. Johnny believes he will be safe as long as the candle under the picture of the Virgin Mary is lit. Boyle makes a number of humorous comments about religion. A poem he composes reflects how churchgoers do not necessarily have good morals. He also points out how the clergy have historically had too much power over the Irish people. It may be that O’Casey is expressing his own religious views through Boyle, as he left the church early in his life to become an atheist.
Fantasy vs. Reality
There is a conflict between the worlds of fantasy and reality. Boyle’s life is a lie; he invents years of his life as a captain and has fake pains in his legs when asked to work. When he thinks he will receive a legacy, he imagines being an investor on the stock exchange; he also imagines himself scholarly and sophisticated, quoting titles of books he has never read. Boyle cannot cope when confronted with reality. He refuses to face Bentham’s disappearance. Instead, he escapes into fantasy through drink, as seen in the last scene. Mary lives a fantasy life. She believes strongly in her principles and is on strike to support a co-worker, despite the fact that her family cannot afford for her to give up her salary. She tries to escape poverty through books and learning. Bentham offers an opportunity to escape, but she is blinded by her fantasies and does not realize his selfishness until reality strikes and she discovers he has abandoned her, pregnant and penniless. Only Juno seems to have a firm grasp on reality. She gets angry with Boyle for his invented stories and reminds Mary that a principle won’t pay the bills. The play suggests that nationalism and religion are both romantic illusions which permit and encourage an escape from the reality of poverty, just as alcohol does.
The Role of Women
Women are key elements in the play: Juno, Mary, some neighbors, and the mother of a soldier killed by Johnny. These women represent Mother Ireland, and this suggests that women were equal to men, but if you follow patriarchal society, you need to take care of the poor women. They are symbols of suffering, even the daughter who wants to defend her right to choose whomever she wants. She is tricked by the lawyer and gets pregnant, and when the lawyer disappears, her former boyfriend appears again, and she rejects him. She is going to become a single mother; her mother also says goodbye to her husband and loses her son. The play ends with Juno leaving the house with her pregnant daughter, a situation that reflects Ireland’s situation, reclaiming the role of women. The constitution that was written says the role of women was at home. The republic was changed/affected by ultra-conservative Catholicism, impacting Sean O’Casey’s statement, “You will have two mothers.” Why didn’t you take into account the feminist ideas, the role of women in this whole set, because the only thing we got as women is suffering, discrimination? Humanity is there in the play.
Representation of Men
Men are represented by the father, son, lawyer, the father’s friend, and Mary’s former boyfriend. They represent the conflict because they are the ones causing problems for the women, family, and society.
Religious Conflict
Religious conflict is always there. Johnny is killed; we do not see it, but we see religious things such as a Virgin Mary and a candle. When he is dead, the candle is off.
The Paycock
The Paycock (or peacock) represents the chaos that Juno endures during the play. In mythology, Juno is the Roman name for Hera, the goddess of marriage, and the peacock is her symbol. Juno, in Greek mythology, is a counselor who defends marital love and union, and her animal symbol is the peacock.
Cruel Irony and Tragedy
There is cruel irony in the play: while many people were fighting for ideals and principles, others were suffering from the debilitating effects of poverty. Four key elements of traditional tragedy are present: The change in status quo comes at the end of the first scene; self-importance, seen in the male characters, Boyle and Johnny in particular, brings their downfall; self-recognition comes in the penultimate scene where Juno realizes she should have realized her son’s problems before his death; and reconciliation, when Juno also loses her son, she comes to understand Mrs. Tancred’s grief of loss.