Juno and the Paycock: Form, structure and language test questions - CCEA

1

Juno and the Paycock is a tragicomedy, but what does that mean?

2

The play is structured into three acts, one in which we meet the characters and hear about the inheritance coming to them, a second in which they celebrate but the serious elements of death and increasing debt are introduced, and a third in which the consequences of events are discovered in tragic scenes.

The play becomes darker as it progresses. Which of these examples is referenced throughout and in the end leads to Johnny’s death?

3

How does the playwright - Sean O’Casey - use language to make his characters feel more real?

4

What imagery does O’Casey employ to give emphasis to the character traits of Captain Jack Boyle?

5

How does O’Casey use the stage setting to say something about the Boyle family?

6

Read this extract:

[A frightened scream is heard from Johnny inside.]
Mrs. Boyle
Mother of God, what’s that?
[He rushes out again, his face pale, his lips twitching, his limbs trembling.]
Johnny
Shut the door, shut the door, quick, for God’s sake! Great God, have mercy on me! Blessed Mother o’ God, shelter me, shelther your son!
Mrs. Boyle
[catching him in her arms]. What’s wrong with you? What ails you? Sit down, sit down, here, on the bed … there now … there now.
Mary
Johnny, Johnny, what ails you?
Johnny
I seen him, I seen him … kneelin’ in front o’ the statue … merciful Jesus, have pity on me!
Mrs. Boyle
[to Boyle]. Get him a glass o’ whisky … quick, man, an’ don’t stand gawkin’.
[Boyle gets the whisky.]
Johnny
Sit here, sit here, mother … between me an’ the door.
Mrs. Boyle
I’ll sit beside you as long as you like, only tell me what was it came across you at all?
Johnny
[after taking some drink]. I seen him … I seen Robbie Tancred kneelin’ down before the statue … an’ the red light shinin’ on him … an’ when I went in … he turned an’ looked at me … an’ I seen the woun’s bleedin’ in his breast … Oh, why did he look at me like that? … it wasn’t my fault that he was done in … Mother o’ God, keep him away from me!
Mrs. Boyle
There, there, child, you’ve imagined it all. There was nothing’ there at all – it was the red light you seen, an’ the talk we had put all the rest into your head. Here, dhrink more o’ this – it’ll do you good … An’, now, stretch yourself down on the bed for a little. [To BOYLE] Go in, Jack, an’ show him it was only in his own head it was.
Boyle
[making no move]. E-e-e-e-eh; it’s all nonsense; it was only a shadda he saw.
Mary
Mother o’ God, he made my heart lep!
Bentham
It was simply due to an overwrought imagination – we all get that way at times.
Mrs. Boyle
There, dear, lie down in the bed, an’ I’ll put the quilt across you … e-e-e-eh, that’s it … you’ll be as right as the mail in a few minutes.
Johnny
Mother, go into the room an’ see if the light’s lightin’ before the statue.
Act Two

What symbolism is used in this scene?

7

Read this extract:

Mrs. Boyle
… Maybe I didn’t feel sorry enough for Mrs. Tancred when her poor son was found as Johnny’s been found now – because he was a Diehard! Ah, why didn’t I remember that then he wasn’t a Diehard or a Stater, but only a poor dead son! It’s well I remember all that she said – an’ it’s my turn to say it now: What was the pain I suffered, Johnny, bringin’ you into the world to carry you to your cradle, to the pains I’ll suffer carryin’ you out o’ the world to bring you to your grave! Mother o’ God, Mother o’ God, have pity on us all! Blessed Virgin, where were you when me darlin’ son was riddled with bullets, when me darlin’ son was riddled with bullets? Sacred Heart o’ Jesus, take away our hearts o’ stone, and give us hearts o’ flesh! Take away this murdherin’ hate, an’ give us Thine own eternal love!
Act Three

What technique does O’Casey use to make this speech more poignant?

8

In the extract below, what does the playwright use to tell us that the characters are drunk?

BOYLE
The counthry’ll have to steady itself … it’s goin’ … to hell … Where’r all … the chairs … gone to … steady itself, Joxer … Chairs’ll … have to … steady themselves. … No matther … what any one may … say … Irelan’ sober … is Irelan’ … free.
JOXER
[stretching himself on the bed]. Chains … an’ … slaveree … that’s a darlin’ motto … a daaarlin’ … motto!
Act 3

9

When Boyle is annoyed that his stout has been stolen, Joxer responds with the line “man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!” Why is this an example of dramatic irony?

10

Read this extract.

BOYLE
[to JOXER, who is still outside]. Come on, come on in, Joxer; she’s gone out long ago, man. If there’s nothing else to be got, we’ll furrage out a cup o’ tay, anyway. It’s the only bit I get in comfort when she’s away. ‘Tisn’t Juno should be her pet name at all, but Deirdre of the Sorras, for she’s always grousin’.
[JOXER steps cautiously into the room…]
JOXER
It’s a terrible thing to be tied to a woman that’s always grousin’. I don’t know how you stick it – it ud put years on me. It’s a good job she has to be so ofen away, for [with a shrug] when the cat’s away, the mice can play!
BOYLE
[with a commanding and complacent gesture]. Pull over to the fire, Joxer, an’ we’ll have a cup o’ tay in a minute.
JOXER
Ah, a cup o’ tay’s a darlin’ thing, a daaarlin’ thing – the cup that cheers but doesn’t …
[JOXER's rhapsody is cut short by the sight of JUNO coming forward and confronting the two cronies. Both are stupefied.]
MRS. BOYLE
[with sweet irony – poking the fire, and turning her head to glare at JOXER]. Pull over to the fire, Joxer Daly, an’ we’ll have a cup o’ tay in a minute! Are you sure, now, you wouldn’t like an egg?
JOXER
I can’t stop, Mrs. Boyle; I’m in a desperate hurry, a desperate hurry.
Act One

What makes this scene humourous?