Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
"Long Day's Journey into Night" is a poignant play by Eugene O'Neill that delves into the complexities of a dysfunctional family's dynamics over the course of a single summer day in August 1912. The narrative unfolds within the Tyrone family, consisting of the parents, James and Mary, and their two sons, Jamie and Edmund. As the day progresses, what begins as a seemingly lighthearted breakfast devolves into a series of confrontations that reveal deep-seated issues, including illness, addiction, and familial guilt.
Mary Tyrone struggles with her morphine addiction, which complicates her relationships with her husband and sons. Edmund, who is suspected to have tuberculosis, seeks understanding and support from his family, but his attempts often lead to further tension. The play explores themes of denial, regret, and the burden of family secrets, as each character grapples with their own pain and disappointment. O'Neill's work is noted for its autobiographical elements, reflecting his own family's struggles and setting it apart as a significant achievement in American theater. This profound exploration of the human condition invites audiences to reflect on the intricacies of familial bonds and the impact of past choices on present lives.
Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
First produced: 1956; first published, 1956
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of plot: August, 1912
Locale: New London, Connecticut
Principal Characters
James Tyrone , an aging actorMary Tyrone , his wifeJamie Tyrone , their elder sonEdmund Tyrone , their younger sonCathleen , their housemaid
The Story
After breakfast on a warm summer day in August, 1912, as brothers Jamie and Edmund Tyrone joke in the dining room, their mother, Mary, teases her husband, James Tyrone, about his real estate bargains and expresses concern about Edmund’s illness. Tyrone reassures her about Edmund’s health and compliments her on her own healthy appearance. After the young men join their parents in the living room, the lighthearted family conversation turns increasingly critical among them until Edmund repeats a humorous story told to him by their farm tenant Shaughnessy, who had managed to get the best of Harker, the Standard Oil millionaire, and the tension is broken.
With Edmund upstairs, the others discuss his illness. Mary claims it is only a cold, but Tyrone admits privately to his elder son, Jamie, that the doctor suspects tuberculosis. Jamie responds by accusing his father of not sending Edmund to a real doctor but to a quack. The conversation escalates into an argument that ends with both father and son feeling ashamed and guilty, and with Jamie revealing his suspicion that Mary has relapsed in her drug addiction. Tyrone and Jamie decide to go outside and clip the hedge. When Edmund tries to express to Mary his concern about her health, she accuses him of not trusting her and spying on her, and she declares that she is going to lie down before lunch.
Not long before lunchtime, restless with hedge clipping, Jamie joins Edmund for a clandestine drink and reprimands him for leaving his mother alone so long. When Mary enters, Jamie can tell with certainty that she has been unable to resist her need for drugs. Her excited and nervous ramblings lead first Edmund and then her husband, as he arrives inside for lunch, to the same sad conclusion. They all go into the dining room for lunch.
When they emerge from the dining room after the meal, Tyrone’s face shows weary resignation, Jamie’s cynicism, and Edmund’s illness. Mary is extremely nervous. The men prepare to go into town. Edmund has an appointment with Dr. Hardy (who has already informed Tyrone that Edmund has consumption and will need to go to a sanatorium). Mary insists that Edmund has only a cold, but after a brief respite upstairs, she becomes more remote, scolding and complaining, revealing her morphine addiction with each guilty speech. Edmund pleads with Mary to stop talking; she continues to deny her problem and Edmund’s illness.
The men escape into town, leaving Mary alone. While the housemaid, Cathleen, imbibes Tyrone’s liquor freely, Mary recalls her dreams of becoming a nun or a concert pianist and her first meeting with James Tyrone. Home again, Edmund and Tyrone respond differently to Mary’s reminiscences. While Tyrone seeks another bottle of whiskey, Edmund desperately attempts to communicate once again with his mother about his illness. She refuses to listen and angrily cries, “I hate you when you become gloomy and morbid.” Edmund retorts bitterly, “It’s pretty hard to take at times, having a dope fiend for a mother.” Discouraged, he leaves the house; Mary goes upstairs, and Tyrone alone remains for dinner.
When Edmund returns from a walk on the beach, colliding with furniture in the darkened hall because Tyrone will not waste money on electricity, he and his father begin to argue about Tyrone’s miserliness and about Jamie’s profligacy. By midnight they are drunk. They drink deliberately, seeking oblivion, trying to avoid any mention of Mary upstairs or Edmund’s tuberculosis. They hear movements from the floor above that trigger comments about Mary’s condition, followed by accusations and recriminations, then a moment of affection until the accusations begin again. After Edmund labels his father “a stinking old miser” who plans to save money on medical treatment because he thinks that Edmund is going to die, Tyrone relates his life story: a childhood in dire poverty and the concern for money that has wasted his talent as an actor. In response, Edmund describes his love of the sea, where he feels a wild joy and where, he says, “there is meaning.” Jamie returns, more drunk than usual, and Tyrone, annoyed, leaves the room. Jamie then entertains his brother with the story of his adventure with the prostitute Fat Violet, until his cynical question “Where’s the hophead?” provokes a punch from Edmund and immediate remorse. Another moment of affection occurs before Jamie confesses his ambivalence toward Edmund and falls into a drunken stupor, rousing himself to fight only when Tyrone returns.
As a foghorn sounds in the background, Mary descends the stairs, dragging her wedding dress, a precious object from the past. Jamie sneers, “The Mad Scene. Enter Ophelia!” Tyrone and Edmund turn on him as Jamie breaks down in heartbroken sobs. Mary, completely detached, has regressed totally into the past, murmuring about something she has lost and cannot remember. Frozen with the pain of their family situation, the three men stare at her in misery.
Bibliography
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