Migratory movements: evolutionary theory in the works of J.M. Synge

Synge's interest in evolutionary theory is well-documented, and his plays are often viewed as representations of an Irish culture in decline. In response, this article argues that Synge's tramps, tinkers, and outcasts function as figures for species migration and cultural renewal. To demonstrate that Synge's drama has a footing in the science of speciation, the article details the extent to which Synge was directly familiar with works of evolutionary theory. Although he read Darwin and Herbert Spencer at about the same time, their respective influences show up at much different stages of his literary career. While Synge's earliest prose is most strongly influenced by Spencer's progressivist interpretation of evolution, Synge's Spencerianism soon gives way to a Darwinian interest in the bizarre affinities between the human and animal worlds, as well as to an appreciation of difference rather than a fetishisation of fitness.