Sketch the character of Sergeant in the one act play The Rising of The Moon by Lady Gregory. OR Discuss the character of the Sergeant.

Answer:  In the one act play the playwright Lady Gregory has fantastically portrayed the the real picture of Ireland when Ireland is under the rule of British government. In that play she has introduced two main characters and sergeant is is one of them. From the very beginning of the play to very end, sergeant remains on the stage. He is totally different from other man. By his exceptional characteristics, he arrests the audience's attention throughout the play. 

Sergeant is an Irish by nationalism. He works in Irish police when Ireland is under British rule. So he has to perform his duty against his own nation Ireland under the command of British. In spite of being a patriot in early life, he has to do that because he has to support his family. So it shows that he is a patriot as well as a man obedient and careful to his duty. In his early life he also dreamed of Ireland's freedom, but now he has been appointed to arrest a renowned patriot who leads the revolutionary movement for Ireland against British. In spite of all these, he is very much keen to perform his duty. It shows his loyalty towards duty and law. He knows very well that the whole country depends on police to keep law and order perfect and so he does not want to to break the faith of countrymen in police.

This very character begins to change when a new character appears on the stage. He is described as a ragged man. In course of conversation Sergeant begins to give importance to the ragged man. That man introduces himself as a ballad singer and he sings patriotic song very often in the play. Those songs begin to rouse patriotism in Sergeant's mind. Immeadiately Sergeant recalls his young days when once he dreamed to liberate Ireland from British rule. Now Sergeant's mind is in dilemma. On the one hand, he cannot ignore his duty to arrest the revolutionary and on the other hand he thinks that to help the Irish revolutionary to free Ireland from British is also a duty. At the very end of the play, we see that he helps the rebel who is disguised now as the rugged man, to escape though he had the Chance to get rewards of hundred pounds for arresting him. This great sacrifice makes him a genuine motherland lover.

This character has two sides-- his good side is revealed when he shows his love for country more than his profit and his bad side is revealed when he tells lie to Policeman B and X. He is a dynamic character who changes himself from a dutiful police officer to a patriot.