Structure
The structure of a text refers to the way in which events are organised inside the play as a whole.
While Juno and the Paycock does have a loose plot - in that it is about a poor family who are promised an inheritance which fails to materialise - it is more a series of emotional scenes than an ordered performance.
The events of the play are organised into three acts. O'Casey notes, "A few days elapse between Acts I and II, and two months between Acts II and III."
The first act introduces the characters and we find out about their relationships. It concludes with the news that the Boyles are to receive a significant amount of money in an inheritance.
The next act opens a few days later, which shows how quickly they have changed their surroundings due to the promise of this windfall. All their new furnishings are purchased on borrowed money. They have not received a penny yet.
While the first act included humour in the dialogue between Boyle and Joxer, the mood changes in the second act. A neighbour - Mrs Tancred - appears and tells them the details of her son鈥檚 murder.
The play becomes darker as the action progresses.
In the final act we see the full horror of the consequences as:
- Johnny is executed
- a pregnant Mary is abandoned by Charlie Bentham
- Juno leaves the feckless Captain Boyle who has returned to drinking with Joxer
The structure therefore helps build tension throughout. The clues are there from the beginning, foreshadowing what will come as the acts move between humour and tragedy.
The play is set in one apartment, giving it a claustrophobic feel. It is difficult to forget how impoverished these people are because of the small cramped stage.
As the focus is on the domestic space of a family home, it makes us view the overarching themes of poverty, religion and war from a domestic point of view. We look at how these things had an impact on real people.