Modern Japanese Theater Book

The Well of the Saints by J.M. Synge is a satiric play that points out how superficial humans are and how much they enjoy watching others suffer.
Marry and Martin Doul are a blind couple, who were lied on and deceived by the village people who convince them that they are the most beautiful couple of the village. One day, a saint shows up and offers a "Cure" to their blindness. Finally, they are able to see each other, only to realize how ugly they are, and they are anything but beautiful.
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The play criticizes human's devilish nature of mocking others, and deceiving those who are unable to combat us. And above all, the play shows how humans emphasizes the importance of appearance over the purity of soul and heart.
For instance, Molly apparently has a horrible character but she is forgiven for her pretty face.
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The play also deals with the theme of blindness. Since the days of "Oedipus Rex", blindness has been very symbolic of the "insight" blindness rather than the "sight" blindness.
Although the couple are the blind ones, the villagers are the one with insight blindness as they have caused the couple's main problems. They convinced them with lies and made them prioritize the importance of outer appearance.
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Synge also denounces the community as a whole including the saint, despite being a religious man, the saint doesn't seem to understand. He trusts the girls for being pretty, he doesn't criticize the villagers, he doesn't even see nor understand Marry and Martin's wish at the end and considers them as sinners.
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Synge actually believes that the world is filled with human's sins and flaws and therefore, we have all turned into blinds; blinds from seeing the realities.
"The way sin has brought blindness to the world"

3 stars.
Good read, but not the best I have read of this concept.