1a. What are the police doing as the play opens? What do they discuss as they work?
2a. Who appears as the Sergeant is keeping watch? What does he claim to be? How does the Ragged Man convince the Sergeant to let him stay?
3a. What does the Ragged Man say about the Sergeant's and his own past and present lives?
4a. What is the source of the play's title? What other references to the moon are made in the play? What other meanings might the moonlight have?
5a. Evaluate the Sergeant's decision to let the man go. With what conflicting feelings does the Sergeant struggle? On what basis does he decide to let him go? Was he right to do so? Why, or why not?
1b. Why is the man on the placard wanted? Do the police want to catch the man? Why, or why not?
2b. Why is the man posing as a ballad singer? What do his songs reveal?
3b. What does the Sergeant think his life might have been like? How does this thinking affect the Sergeant's actions at the end of the play?
4b. Why is this an appropriate title for the play? Why does the Sergeant refuse the lantern offered by Policeman B at the end of the play?
5b. Both this play and the ballad "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" deal with outlaws who struggle against an authority they see as unjust. The literature of our own country, too, is full of tales of an underdog who triumphs over those in power. Why do you think stories of underdogs who win, or who get away, are popular?
Stage Directions. What purpose do stage directions serve for a reader? Look at the stage notes at the beginning of the play. What purpose do these stage directions serve?
Monologue. What revelation does the Sergeant come to in his monologue?
Sound Effects. What does the audience of this play immediately know when they hear the whistle on page 58? How does a reader of a play know what the sound effects would be?
Properties. In addition to the wig and the hat, what significant property is used in this play?
1. Imagine that you are the police officer responsible for writing wanted posters in this seaport town. Write a wanted poster for the fugitive man. You will have to imagine what the charge against him might be, given what you know about his role in the nationalist movement. How will you describe him? What will you say to impress upon those who read the poster, the importance of his capture?
2. When this play was first staged, Ireland was still under British rule. Advertising it may have been a tricky affair. You would want to attract those sympathetic to the cause without arousing the anger of the officials. Imagine that you are the manager of the Abbey Theatre, and write a playbill to announce the upcoming production.
3. What might have happened if the two policemen had, in fact, seen the Ragged Man and noticed that the Sergeant was trying to hide the wig and hat? If the two policemen had reported their sergeant's attempt to aid the fugitive, he would have been called upon to explain his actions. Imagine that you are the Sergeant, and write a brief report to your superior, defending your actions that night on the quay.
Researching the Irish Nationalist Movement.Research the Irish Nationalist movement up through today. When did it begin? What was the impetus for it? What were the circumstances behind the establishment of the free Republic of Ireland and the retention of Northern Ireland by the United Kingdom? What is the nature of the continuing conflict there today? Do you think Northern Ireland should be returned to Irish rule or remain a part of the UK? Why?
Origins of Irish Nationalist Movement:
Summary of Continuing Conflict and Issues:
Sources Used:
