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In O"Casey's "Juno and the Pay

 

            
             How is the tragedy developed and presented?.
             At first sight "Juno and the Paycock" looks rather the conventional "naturalist" family drama of drunkenness and defeat. At a second look it is indeed this but in a sinister, tragic and comic way. "An unwillingness to face reality and grapple with it ". This is really what leads to the tragic consequences. .
             In terms of tragedy, this play is built up just as one should be. It has the five key specifications for a traditional tragedy: - Firstly The change in Status Quo comes at the end of the first scene where the family thinks that they are going to receive a large amount of money through inheritance which changes there lives and the way they live. Secondly Hubris, which can be predominantly seen in the male characters, Boyle and Johnny in particular. Thirdly self-recognition, which comes late in the play in the penultimate scene where Juno realises that she, should have realised her son's problems before his death. "Why didn't I remember that then he wasn't a Diehard or a Stater, but only my poor dead son". Unfortunately for Johnny and Juno, Juno realises too late. Fourthly reconciliation, which also comes in the penultimate scene but this time it is shown by Mary to Juno where Mary she wraps her arms around her mother on pg 70. In the way of Catharsis, we are left with the feeling that a lot of wrong has gone on but the play ends in the best possible way given the circumstances. This is that Juno and Mary go off and leave Boyle to raise the baby with "What's better than a mother and a father- Two Mothers".
             Many have commented that it is the men in the play that bring about the tragedy. I believe this is true. "Throughout the play Boyle thinks of nothing but himself". This is typical of Boyle's character. It is through Boyle's naivety, stubbornness, laziness and drunkenness (most of the time) that the Irish family is in the state that they are. It would seem that he is content to stop the family from having any money, and his laziness stops him from going and getting a job.


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