Sive

Sive is a play by Irish playwright John B. Keane that depicts Irish rural life in the 1950s. The main character of the play is Sive, yet she rarely speaks in the play. This ultimately enhances the impact of the whole play on the audience. We get a clear sense of how she is being used: her voice is literally drained out by the power-hungry nature of the society in which she lives.

The drama is a clear tragedy -- a tragedy that never has any real sense of escapism amid the selfishness and greed. Money dominates almost every line of the play, which brings to light the moral -- that innocent people suffer greatly in a society that is so self absorbed and dominated by powerful authoritarian people.

Synopsis

The society is dominated by males: Sean Dota is the classic clichéd example of a man who wields power over the less fortunate in order to elope with women much younger and more attractive than himself.

Thomasheen, the local matchmaker, does not show any real love for his job. He mocks love "What do we know about love?". This illustrates the hypocrisy of the world in which Sive lives. Thomasheen has only got eyes for money and abuses his status in society as the so-called matchmaker to get what he wants.

Sive is in love with Liam Scuab -- a man who has her desires and needs at the centre of his heart. On the other hand, Thomasheen enforces that Sive should (without any kind of disagreement) marry Sean Dota (an old, haggard and decrepit man).

Sive's family is Nanna, Mike, and Mena: her mother died before Sive grew up, leaving her illegitimate child in the hands of Uncle Mike -- a caring man whose mind is hazed when money comes into play.

Mena delights in the fact that she can get rid of both Sive and Nanna with money from Sean Dota as a bonus. She is one of the many despicable characters who has a say in Sive's fate, future and choices.

In the middle of all this selfishness and greed is Sive, who lingers quietly somewhere in the background sobbing her heart out: she has no hope and no choice -- she must marry Sean Dota.

The only option she foresees is to escape all this madness. She commits suicide and in this way a beautiful desirable young woman is as it were murdered by the society of power-hungry individuals. She ultimately drowns in this world which soaked every last drop of her humanity dry.

References

• "Sive". http://www.culturevulture.net/Theater/Sive.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-26.