A formal analysis of Riders to the Sea

Abstract

This paper is an atempt to apply some of Salomon Mateus ideas for the formal analysis of a theatrical play, using John M. Synge's, Riders to the Sea, as an example. The author follows Brainerd, Neufeldt, Gabríelescu, Mihnea, Ravzina and Ravzin in their use of mathematical measures and functions such as the character-scene frequency, the relative frequency of words the character speaks during an entire play, the weighted relative frequency of a character's appearances in scenes of a play, as well as those of mobility measure, degree of individuality, distance between characters, and affinity between characters. An analysis of Biden to the Sea is developed through the method proposed by Marcus.