The Playboy of the Western World

Christy, the titular “playboy,” is the protagonist of The Playboy of the Western World. He enters Michael James’s bar as an unassuming, slight man, one that none of the other characters takes too seriously. At first, Pegeen Mike and the others refuse to believe that Christy is capable of patricide. Pegeen Mike laughs at him and says, “You’re only saying it. […] A soft lad like you wouldn’t slit the windpipe of a screeching sow” (17). Although Christy doesn’t physically align with the villagers’ idea of a masculine man, he is eventually able to convince them with his smooth lies that he is brave.

Even when he wins over Pegeen Mike and the others at the bar, new characters, when introduced to Christy, make remarks about his physical attributes not quite matching with his story. Widow Quin, upon meeting Christy for the first time, says, “Well, aren’t you a little smiling fellow? It should have been great and bitter torments did rouse your spirits to a deed of blood” (27). Not only does Christy not appear large and muscular, but his face is kind and innocent, unlike what one would expect of a murderer.

One of the most defining attributes of Christy is his vanity.