Act 2, Scene 1-Nanna pleads with Mike

When Liam leaves, Mena tells Mike that he has to go see the priest. Sive enters after hearing the commotion and asks if Liam Scuab has been there. Mena tells her that he was and that he came to wish Sive well. Sive is astonished at this and Mena tells her that ‘he’s going away altogether to foreign places.’ Sive is almost in tears as she says, ‘Oh! Liam could never do a thing like that.’ Sive leaves the scene heartbroken.

Mena tells Mike that it is all sorted now. We see Mike’s reluctance to agree to the marriage but he is pressurised continuously by Mena, as she compares her own match to him. Mike says that, ‘I’ll shave if I’m to see the priest,’ highlighting the importance of the clergy in the lives of the characters. Mena leaves to go get a bucket of water and Nanna enters silently.

Nanna questions the fact that Mike is shaving this late in the evening and he replies, ‘must I answer for everything?’ She replies with a tone of menace and warning, ‘you will answer for enough in your own time.’ Nanna pleads with Mike and says that he will be cursed if he goes ahead with this plan. ‘Your dead sister and my dead daughter will curse it from the grave.’

Nanna tells Mike that nothing good has ever happened since Mena came to the house and she says that she is evil. Mike sticks up for Mena but Nanna pleads with him to think of her, who cared for him all his life. ‘Surely you will listen to your own mother who loved you as no one ever will.’

Mike asks Nanna what is annoying her and she replies, ‘Sive, Mike, Sive! Poor Sive!’ Mike replies, ‘‘Tis for the best,’ but his head is ‘averted’ showing that he does not believe what he is saying. Nanna sees this and tells him, ‘Mike, you will not look me in the face and say ’tis for the best.’ He tries to justify the match by saying that he is keeping Sive away from Liam Scuab but Nanna says that he is a nice boy and would make a good husband.

Mike gets angry with Nanna and asks her a series of questions about Sive’s mother and how her life was ruined by him reneging on his promise to marry her. He justifies the match by saying that Sive is lucky. Nanna replies reflectively, ‘How is it all men will find words to save themselves?’ She then tells her son, ‘my own grandchild is for sale like an animal.‘

Mike is fed up listening to Nanna and goes to the stable to shave. Nanna’s words have clearly not had the desired effect.

Questions:

1. Is Mike in favour of the match when speaking to Mena? Use quotes to back up your answer.
2. How does Sive react when she is told Liam is leaving forever? What does this show about Mena?
3. How does Mike’s attitude towards the match change when speaking to Nanna?
4. How does Nanna try to get Mike to change his mind about the match?