Edmund berates Jamie for being suspicious. Jamie berates Edmund for leaving their mother unsupervised. Jamie and Edmund taunt each other about stealing their father's alcohol and watering it down so he won't notice. He asks her to "promise not to worry yourself sick and to take care of yourself." "Of course I promise you," she protests, but then adds ('with a sad bitterness'), "But I suppose you're remembering I've promised before on my word of honor."Īct II The same, around 12:45 pm and about a half-hour later Once again, he indirectly speaks to his mother about her addiction. The constant possibility that she might relapse worries him still further. Edmund is more concerned about the effect a positive diagnosis might have on his mother than on himself. In addition to Mary's problems, the family is worried about Edmund's coughing they fear that he might have tuberculosis, and are anxiously awaiting a doctor's diagnosis. She reassures him that she just went there to get away from her husband's snoring. When Edmund, her younger son, hears her moving around at night and entering the spare bedroom, he becomes alarmed, because this is the room where, in the past, she would satisfy her addiction. She also suffers from insomnia, which is not made any easier by her husband and children's loud snoring. As a recovering addict, she is restless and anxious. However, she still retains the haggard facial features of a long-time addict. She is looking much healthier than the family has been accustomed to, and they remark frequently on her improved appearance. His wife Mary has recently returned from treatment for morphine addiction and has put on some much-needed weight as a result. His dress and appearance are showing signs of his strained financial circumstances, but he retains many of the mixed affectations of a classical actor in spite of his shabby attire. His money is all tied up in property which he hangs onto in spite of impending financial hardship. He is a wealthy though somewhat miserly man. Although that "vehicle" had served him well financially, he is now resentful that his having become so identified with this character has limited his scope and opportunities as a classical actor. James Tyrone is a 65-year-old actor who had long ago bought a "vehicle" play for himself and had established his reputation based on this one role in which he had toured for years. Synopsis Act I Living-room of the Tyrones' summer home, 8:30 am on a day in August, 1912 The story deals with the mother's psychosis due to an addiction to morphine, the father's miserliness and sense of deep regret, the older brother's licentiousness, and younger brother's bleak optimism through illness. The family's enduring emotional and psychic stress is fueled by their depth of self-understanding and self-analysis, combined with a frank honesty, and an ability to boldly express themselves articulately. The parents and two sons express accusations of blame, resentment, bitterness and jealousy as proxy for what ends up being self-defeating attempts at affection, encouragement, tenderness, and compassion, in spite of disillusionment with their lives. The play portrays a family struggling to grapple with the realities and consequences of the failings of other family members in relation to their own. The four main characters are the semi-autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents. The setting is the seaside Connecticut home of the Tyrones, Monte Cristo Cottage. The play takes place on a single day in August 1912, from around 8:30 a.m. O’Neill wrote A Moon for the Misbegotten (1952) as a sequel, charting the subsequent life of Jamie Tyrone. The "Long Day" refers to the setting of the play, which takes place during one day. The work concerns the Tyrone family, consisting of parents James and Mary and their sons Edmund and Jamie. O'Neill posthumously received the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Long Day's Journey into Night. It premiered in Sweden in February 1956 and then opened on Broadway in November 1956, winning the Tony Award for Best Play. The play is widely considered to be his magnum opus and one of the finest American plays of the 20th century. Long Day's Journey into Night is a play in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939–41, first published posthumously in 1956. The summer home of the Tyrones, August 1912 An autobiographical account of an explosive home life with a morphine-addicted mother and alcoholic father.
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