 The play has themes of nationalism and blood sacrifice.Colm Tóibín describes Michael as an "idealistic, inspirational" male hero in the tradition of Lady Gregory's plays The Rising of the Moon and Gaol Gate, and the Irish mythological hero Cuchulainn, because he is willing to sacrifice his life for his newfound nationalistic beliefs, unaffected by the "land-hunger" which occupies his family.Susan Cannon Harris contrasts the play's depiction of the "male patriot" who makes a blood sacrifice which "symbolically regenerates" Ireland, with the female peasant characters who face the arduous tasks of economic reality which make this regeneration possible.