Playboy of the Western World by John Synge

Playboy of the Western World by John Synge depicts a rural Irish community whose social norms are challeneged and changed by the arrival of a young man named Christy. At the same time, Playboy tells the story of Christy's own transformation from coward to hero, through the lies he tells about his past to the community he stumbles into. He tells them that he killed his father in order to free himself from the alleged abuse. However, his father is not really dead nor was Christy's violent act a result of the heroic spirit he attempts to portray in himself. Because of his false identity, he wins the affections of many young women, specifically Pegeen who is supposed to be marrying another man. However, when Pegeen eventually finds out the truth about Christy when his father shows up looking for him, she abandons her love for him. In fact, she is the one to hang the noose around his neck when it is determined that he is to be hung for murder when he ACTUALLY kills his father. This indicates that she may have had control over her feelings based on the logical consequences that would perhaps befall her if she were to continue trusting Christy. By contrast, she still retains a certain degree of longing for his "bad boy"-ish actions, indicating that perhaps love is actually emotional rather than intellectual.

Big Question: Is love a matter of the intellect or a matter of the heart (emotions)?
Because Pegeen seems so capable of flipping a switch to turn her love for Christy off and on, Playboy of the Western World indicates that love is intellectual--based upon logic and costs vs. benefits scenarios--rather than the emotions and the lack of control that would necessarily accompany them.