A Brief Analysis of the Main Characters in The Rising of the Moon

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 Harbin Normal University/YU Hongbing

【Abstract】 The Rising of the Moon is a patriotic play writtenby Lady Augusta Gregory in 1907. It accounts for a time in Irishhistory prior to independence from Britain. The main characters’

monologues have changed this play into a decisive result. Thispaper will analyze the features of the main characters in this play,the Sergeant and the Ragged Man. By analyzing the features ofcharacters, this paper will provide a profound understanding forreaders to study about the play.

【Key words】 characters; sergeant; ragged man; Lady Gregory;The Rising of the Moon

【摘要】 《月出》是由格雷戈里夫人于1907年写的一部爱国题材戏剧。它以爱尔兰独立于英国前的一段历史时期为背景。主要人物军士和衣衫褴褛的人之间的对话决定性地改变了戏剧的结局。本文通过分析主要人物军士和衣衫褴褛人的性格特点，意为读者研究《月出》时提供一个深层次的视角。

【关键词】 人物 军士 衣衫褴褛的人 格雷戈里夫人 《月出》

1. Introduction

The patriotic play accounts for a time in Irish history priorto independence from Britain. The main characters the sergeantand the ragged man’s monologues have changed this playinto a decisive result. This paper will analyze the features of thecharacters in this play, including the Sergeant and the RaggedMan. The two main characters run through the whole play, whichfulfills the plot structure of the play. To analyze the characteristicswill offer a good understanding of this play.

2. Characterization

2.1 Sergeant

As one of the main characters, Sergeant has plenty ofcharacteristics. Firstly, he is a man full of bossy attitude. Thiscould be found from the whole play, for example, when the twopolicemen ask him for advice where to put the notice up. Healways says in a mandatory voice: “It might; you can put itthere” (Gregory). Sergeant also orders the two policemen whatto do next, “Well, hurry on, you have plenty of other placesto placard yet, and come back here then to me” (Gregory).

From these words, we can see Sergeant has commandingattitude towards his two subordinates. Secondly, he shows greatresponsibility for his family and helplessness for his duty. Hethinks it is hard for a man to be in the force, because he has togo out to work day and night. Nobody would like to give manythanks for them. They are the ones who are easily to be neglected.

They have no choice but a family to support. Just like he thinks,a hundred pounds and promotion sure are such great profits forhis family. And he says “there must be a great deal of spendingin a hundred pounds” . Thirdly, the Sergeant is a very patrioticperson. We can see this kind of characteristic throughout thewhole play. When talking with the two policemen, he replies“we have to do our duty in the force. Haven’t we the wholecountry depending on us to keep law and order?” His rhetoricalquestion to the two policemen reveals that he takes up greatresponsibility for his country. He thinks it is his duty to arrestthis man. He almost pictures this “wonder” in his own mind,even though he is pity for not seeing him in personal before hebreaks out of the jail. The last characteristic of the Sergeant ishis contradictory psychology towards the ragged man. He holdsan important position in the force to arrest the runaway. He is sopatriotic that he neglects his Irish blood. When the ragged mansings Irish ballad, sergeant orders him to stop singing. Because hethinks it is not proper to sing Irish songs at that time. So he says“Stop that; that’s no song to be singing in these times.” Onthe other hand, when the ragged man sings Irish songs, he correctshis false lyrics, reminding of his past time. At the end of the play,he claims that he will not let the ragged man pass, but actuallyhides the ragged man behind the barrel and helps him flee away.

2.2 The Ragged man

The ragged man in The Rising of the Moon is the other maincharacter. He is the person who escapes from the jail and fleesaway under the help of the Sergeant. As a criminal who can runaway from the jail, he has his own outstanding character features.

Firstly, he is clever enough to disguise himself to be a Walsh ballad-singer. He sings the Sergeant several ballads which makethe Sergeant get involved in what he sings. Furthermore, theSergeant even corrects his false lyrics. All these can reveal theragged man is clever to make him simulate in front of the others.

Besides, when he looks at the notice, he pretends to know theman on the notice whom the Sergeant is looking for. In this way,he would let the Sergeant become interested in the personalitiesfrom his description and ignores his appearance. Secondly, heis an eloquent speaker. From his description of the man on thenotice to the Sergeant, we would infer he must be a bad manlived in a terrible country. He may have a weapon and full ofstrength. “His muscles are as hard as that board” . The raggedman described a terrible man who lives in a terrible county. Thismay let the sergeant be afraid of the runaway. Besides, the raggedman always reminds the sergeant of his past and makes himbelieve things would be different if he weren’t in the force. Butwhat the most thing we need to recognize that what he says hasmade the Sergeant confused. “…and it might be myself wouldbe creeping up trying to make my escape from himself, and itmight be himself would be keeping the law, and myself would bebreaking it, and myself would be trying to put a bullet in his head,…” (Lady Gregory).

At last, the ragged man succeeds in fleeing away with thehelp of the Sergeant. He has such typical characteristics that wecould spare no effort to demonstrate him to be not only a cleverbut an eloquent man, who runs throughout the main line of thisplay.

3. Conclusion

In The Rising of the Moon, both Sergeant and the raggedman occupy important place respectively. Lady Gregory capturesthe way people speak, and she manages to draw the charactersof the sergeant and the ballad singer so as to gain our sympathiesfor them. Sergeant’s responsibilities for family and his countryleave us remarkable impressions. At the same time, the raggedman’s intelligence and eloquent power also enable us to plungein deep thought what reasons have caused this ambiguity anddeadlock. By analyzing the characteristics of the main characters,we can gain a deeper understanding of this remarkable play.

References:

[1]E.A.Kopper,JR.“Gregory’s The Rising of the Moon” [J].

The Explicator,(1989);29-31.

[2]Coxhead,Elizabeth.Lady Gregory:A Literary Portrait[M].

London:Macmillan&Co Ltd,1961.

[3]刘光玥.《三江好》 对奥古斯塔格雷戈里夫人之《月亮上升的时候》 的“创造性叛逆” [D].上海师范大学,2012.3.