Drama
Juno and the Paycock concerns the Boyle family, who live in the Dublin tenements. The father, "Captain" Jack Boyle (so called because of his status as a retired merchant sailor, his propensity for telling colorful stories of the sea, and his incessant wearing of his nautical-looking hat) constantly tries to evade work by pretending to have pains in his legs, and spends all his money at the pub with his ne'er-do-well "butty", Joxer Daly. The mother, Juno, is the only member of the family working, as the daughter Mary is on strike, and the son, Johnny, lost his arm in the Irish War of Independence. Johnny betrayed Tancred, a neighbor and fellow comrade in the IRA, and is afraid that he will be executed as punishment. A distant relative dies, and an English solicitor, Mr Bentham, brings news that the family has come into an inheritance. The family buys goods on credit, and borrows money from neighbours with the intent of paying them back when the fortune arrives. They hold a party during Tancred's funeral procession, halting it only when Tancred's aged mother passes by their door.
In the third act tragedy befalls the Boyle family. Mr Bentham, who had been courting Mary, ceases all contact with the family, and it becomes apparent that no money will be forthcoming. As the goods bought with the borrowed money are being taken back, Mr and Mrs Boyle learn that Mary has been impregnated by Mr Bentham. "Captain" Boyle goes with Joxer to a pub to spend the last of his money and take his mind off of the situation. While he is gone, Mrs Boyle learns that her son, Johnny, has been killed, presumably by the IRA. ...
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In the third act tragedy befalls the Boyle family. Mr Bentham, who had been courting Mary, ceases all contact with the family, and it becomes apparent that no money will be forthcoming. As the goods bought with the borrowed money are being taken back, Mr and Mrs Boyle learn that Mary has been impregnated by Mr Bentham. "Captain" Boyle goes with Joxer to a pub to spend the last of his money and take his mind off of the situation. While he is gone, Mrs Boyle learns that her son, Johnny, has been killed, presumably by the IRA. Mary and Juno leave to live with Juno's sister. Captain Boyle and Joxer return to the stage drunk.
Quotes
"I ofen looked up at the sky an' assed meself the question - what is the moon, what is the stars?" - Captain Boyle, Act I
"Th' whole worl's in a terrible state o' chassis" - Captain Boyle, Act III
"Never tired o' lookin' for a rest" - Juno Boyle, Act I
"it's nearly time we had a little less respect for the dead, an' a little more regard for the living." - Juno Boyle, Act II
"Isn't all religions curious?-if they weren't you wouldn't get anyone to believe in them" - Captain Boyle, Act II
"It'll have what's far better- it'll have two mothers" - Juno Boyle, Act III
"A darlin' (noun), a daarlin' (repeat noun)!" (Joxer's habitual exclamation throughout the play.)
Adaptations
In 1930, a British film adaptation of the play was produced. It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and featured Edward Chapman and Sara Allgood. In the United States, it was also known by the title "The Shame of Mary Boyle."
A musical adaptation of the play, titled Juno, was created by Marc Blitzstein (music, lyrics) and Joseph Stein (book), and opened on Broadway in 1959. Shirley Booth starred as Juno Boyle, and Melvyn Douglas as the Captain. The musical version was a flop, closing after 16 performances, but Blitzstein's score was preserved on the original cast album and is today considered one of the composer's masterpieces. O'Casey gave his blessing to the project, but never saw the production.
CAPTAIN BOYLE is "Captain" by virtue of a single trip made as a seaman on a collier bound from London to Liverpool. He is usually known to his neighbors, however, as the "paycock" on account of his strutting, consequential gait. He is a worthless toper and idler, but withal, possesses a certain rough eloquence of expression. He and his crony, Joxer, spend most of their time drinking in "pubs" or playing cards in the Boyle flat, where Joxer flatters him to his face and steals from behind his back. Boyle has nicknamed his wife "Juno" because she "was born and christened in June. I met her in June; we were married in June an' Johnny was born in June."
The son, Johnny, is a cripple and practically a nervous wreck due to a bullet received in the Easter Week Rebellion of 1916. His nervousness and irritability increase almost to mania when he learns through a newspaper that one of his former "Die-hard" comrades, Bobbie Tancred, has been killed because of information that Johnny has given the authorities.
The daughter, Mary, through reading has acquired a taste for better things, and longs for a different sort of life. She has discarded one suitor, Jerry Devine, a trades-union organizer, in favor of slick young Charles Bentham, a school teacher and law student. This, she feels, may be a step toward realizing her ambitions. Bentham tells the family that they are about to inherit a legacy from a relative. There can be no doubt about it, because he himself has drawn the will.
On the strength of their expectations, the Boyle family goes on a spending spree. The borrow from their neighbors and stretch their credit with the local tradesmen to the uttermost limit. Two months later both the Boyles and their creditors learn that the legacy is uncollectible due to Bentham's clumsiness in drafting the will. Thenceforward Bentham loses his interest in Mary, although she is shortly to bear his child. As if all this were not tragedy enough, the Irregular Mobilizers learn of Johnny's part in Bobbie Tancred's death and hurry him off to his doom for betrayal of a comrade. An hour later Mrs. Boyle is summoned by police to identify her son's body.
Through it all the Paycock and his friend Joxer remain gloriously drunk, and it is the Paycock who speaks the final words of the play: "The whole world's in a terrible state of chaos."