Act 1 Summary

The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play set in a small village in Ireland in the early 1900s. The plot involves the arrival of a young stranger, Christy Mahon, whose claim that he murdered his own father challenges the villagers' beliefs and social dynamics.

As the play opens, Pegeen Flaherty, a young woman of about twenty, is alone and tending the public house of her father. Pegeen is writing a letter to a merchant about the items necessary for her upcoming marriage to Shawn Keogh, who just happens to come into the public house. Pegeen is not happy about the prospect of being alone in the building all night, as her father will be gone to attend a wake.

Due to religious convictions, Shawn cannot stay all night with Pegeen until they are married, a process which has been delayed...