The Tinker's Wedding / Riders to the Sea / The Shadow of the Glen

The Tinker's Wedding and Other Plays J.M. Synge's dramatic collection presents three one-act plays. *The Tinker's Wedding* depicts Michael Byrne, a tinker, fashioning a wedding ring while his companion Sarah Casey pressures him toward marriage. Sarah threatens to leave for rival suitor Jaunting Jim unless Michael secures the priest's blessing. When the priest arrives, Sarah negotiates: he initially demands a pound but accepts ten shillings plus a gallon can. Michael's drunken mother Mary arrives singing irreverent songs and offers the priest porter. *Riders to the Sea* follows (page 53), and *The Shadow of the Glen* concludes the volume (page 81). Synge's preface argues drama should nourish imagination through humor rather than didactic problems, praising the comedic traditions of Spain, England, and France while defending Irish country people's right to comic representation.