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Following are some quotes From Don Quixote that may have similar reference to symbols and language in the play Riders to The Sea.
Odin was called by many names which seem to describe all his many
functions and activities.
About Don Quixote it says:
"He also told 'em, that he had already in a manor fitted them for the Undertaking, for he
had provided them all with the names the most pastoral in the World. The Curate being desirous to know the Names, Don Quixote
told them he would himself be call'd the Shepherd Quixote, that the Batchelor would be call'd the Shepherd Carrasco, the Curate
Pastor Curiambro, and Sancho Panza, the Shepherd."
This amazed his listeners, not for
its brilliance but for its sheer madness. However, they felt that if they indulged Don Quixote, it might be a way of
keeping him at home instead of having him wandering around the countryside in imaginary adventures. Unlike Odin, whose activities
were heralded as worthy of reknown, Don Quixote is considered a mad fool.
The History of the Renowned Don Quixote De la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A bundle of clothes to be unwrapped:
"You will be glad too," said the page, "when you see the bundle there is in this
portmanteau, for it is a suit of the finest cloth, that the governor only wore one day out hunting and now sends, all for
Senora Sanchica.
God help us," said the curate, "we don't understand you, Teresa, or know what you are talking about." from Don
Quixote.
Is the portmanteau a sideways reference to the woven garment without seams worn by Jesus when
he was stripped by the Roman guards on the day of his crucifixion? To them, Jesus was a poor deluded fool who had wandered
with his followers.
In the play, Riders to The Sea, Maura's two daughters unwrap a bundle of clothes of a poorer material. The
are opening it to see if it contains their missing brother's clothing taken from a body washed ashore but not yet identified.
Proverbs and symbolism are designed to be metaphorical in nature,
to teach a truth in an indirect way, using words and signs that the listeners and observers already understand in order to
have them come to a new realization.
In Don Quixote, the proverbs they hear from Sancho Panzo are mostly thought to
be just nonsense he spouts off.
"Hearing this, the curate said, 'I do believe that all this family of the Panzas
are born with a sackful of proverbs in their insides, every one of them.'"
Oak Trees
in particular were associated with the Druid celebration of Samhain.
"They tell me there are big acorns in your village; send me a couple of dozen
or so, and I shall value them... La Mancha! And as for the acorns, senor, I'll send her ladyship a peck...I read how a duchess
sends to beg for a couple of dozen of acorns."
A couple of dozen might constitute a
sack full.
While it is possible to eat acorns after they are toasted, they are very often bitter
when green and toasting does not always remove the bitter taste. What might the writer really be suggesting?
The long rest of Samhain:
"When they say, 'Here, here!' to thee with something good, swallow it.' Oh no!
Go to sleep, and don't answer the strokes of good fortune and the lucky chances that are knocking at the door of your house!"
In Riders
to The Sea, Maura is urged to put away her concerns and rest in the long dark nights of Samhain. She would be safer indoors
than out during Samhain.
During the festival of Samhain, mummers in costume might knock at her door asking for food in payment
for their performance. As she was so poor and upset, she would do better to not answer the knock.
There is a Female Pope or Empress in the Tarot as well as the male Pope.
In some decks she is called the High Priestess, which imparts a different meaning, one more pagan in nature.
"See that rubbish, that garlic-stuffed fellow's daughter, how she goes stretched
at her ease in a coach as if she was a she-pope!' But let them tramp through the mud..." from Don Quixote.
The Legend of Pope Joan
Rope around the neck in the guise of jewelry:
"It is all for thee, my child," said Teresa; "but
let me wear it round my neck for a few days; for verily it seems to make my heart glad."
"Teresa in reply bade them come with her
to her house and they would see the messenger, a most elegant youth, who had brought another present which was worth as much
more. The curate took the coral beads from her neck and examined them again."
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