Sean O'Casey's drama Juno and the Paycock details the slow, painful decline of the Boyle family in war-torn Ireland in the early 1920s. Juno remains strong and calm throughout the play, even though she suffers from a drunkard, a good-for-nothing husband, an illegitimately pregnant daughter and a deceased son. The last of these – Johnny's death – elicits perhaps the most emotional reaction from Juno, and rightfully so. After learning of the death of her son, Juno launches into a speech that she borrows from another mother without a son, Mme. Tancrede, a relatively minor character found only in the second act. . These shared words force the reader to compare Juno and Madame Tancrède to each other, and when examined closely enough, we discover that although Madame Tancrède outwits Juno in terms of appearance and emotional makeup , she and Juno share… Say no to plagiarism. . Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When Mrs. Tancred enters the scene (121), she is described as "a very old woman, visibly shaken by the death of her son." .” She is clearly defeated by her son's untimely death and even alludes to the likelihood of her own death by saying, "I won't be long after him" (122). The death of his son seeped into his very being and took its toll; she is small and weak and no longer needs to live. Juno, on the other hand, is described as a woman who, “if circumstances were favorable, she would probably be a beautiful, active, and intelligent woman” (72). Juno is always moving and is arguably the only real example of life in the room. She is never at a loss for words and has a kind of vitality that one might easily think impossible in Mrs. Tancred. As a result, Mrs. Tancred is an extreme woman while Juno is much more balanced, controlled and calm. Madame Tancrède resembles the art of a grieving mother; one can imagine her hunched over, pale and cold, even needing a shawl from Mrs. Madigan (122). She also speaks in extremes. When a neighbor, trying to console her, assures Madame Tancrede that her son will be buried “like a king,” she insists that she will live “like a pauper” (122). Immediately afterwards, Mrs. Tancrède launches into a speech about carrying her son from the cradle and bringing him to his grave (122). There is no middle ground, no compromise zone for Madame Tancrede: her son can die like a king, but she lives poor; the only remarkable experiences of her fallen son's life are his birth and his untimely death. In a final speech, she implores the Lord, asking Him to replace their “hearts of stone” with “hearts of flesh,” to replace “murderous hatred” with “your own eternal love” (123). For Mrs. Tancred, things are black and white in a world of gray. Juno, on the other hand, is much more balanced and controlled than she appears. When Juno first expects Johnny to be in trouble, the reader is explicitly told that she is reacting calmly to the news. There is very little theatrics at this point; it seems Juno is barely moving, devoting most of her energy to consoling Mary and figuring out how to save what's left of their lives. After learning that a man had been found by the police and that they thought it might be Johnny, Mary threw her arms around her mother, moaning, "Me, poor, darling, mother!" (153). However, instead of giving in to emotion, Juno said to Mary, “Shh, hush, hush darling; you will soon have your own problem to bear” (153). Furthermore, when Mary admits to Juno that she "dreads" seeing the body of her deceased brother,, 1954. 69-157.