This is because Edmund’s birth was complicated and messy, and the doctor didn’t know how to properly tend to Mary, so he gave her morphine. He goes out to the lawn to lie in the shade while the other two men work, and Mary is left alone. The four main characters are the semi-autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents. He recalls the summer he spent with her twenty years ago. Jamie is thirty-four, but he has not taken good care of himself. The Irish patriarch James Tyrone is a cheap and alcoholic man and former successful actor. Jamie comes in and sneaks a drink; Mary has been upstairs all morning, and Jamie fears that Mary is taking morphine. Resigned to this reality, James tells her to go right ahead. But we see here also a clear love and loyalty for his brother. James Tyrone—an aging matinee star—is spending time with his wife, Mary, who has recently returned from a sanatorium. After so many years playing the same part, he lost the talent he'd once had. Plot Keywords Parents Guide. The talk turns to Jamie's aimless lifestyle. Struggling with distance learning? cinema (maybe one or two exceptions, I'm not worried). Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. From his manner when he returns, we know that it is not good news. Eventually, James and Edmund come home, and Mary speaks disparagingly about Jamie, who’s out drinking because Edmund gave him some money. Mary is clearly concerned. Can't you think anything but—? Jamie's jealousy of Edmund is the darkest element of his character, and will figure prominently later in the play. Read a Plot Overview of the entire play or a chapter by chapter Summary and Analysis. Long Day's Journey into Night is a play written by Eugene O'Neill that was first performed in 1956. Long Day's Journey Into Night Summary and Analysis of Act I, Scene One. Then Jamie passes out, dead drunk. Jamie and Edmund have their own conversation, and Jamie confesses something: although he loves Edmund more than anyone else in the world, he wants Edmund to fail. After a moment, she exits, and James finally comes in, has a drink of whiskey (along with his sons), and claims whiskey in “moderation” is healthy, even for a sick person like Edmund. She doesn't like to think about her previous problems with addiction, but Edmund thinks that confronting the past will help her to stay off the stuff. That evening, Mary sits in the parlor with Cathleen, a housekeeper. Edmund and Jamie enter. These are old fights that never get resolved. The treatment of the characters is balanced. She was tired out. The living room is handsome and full of books; the collection is impressive, and all the more so because the books have the look of having been read. Communication's breakdown is a constant theme. The play is set in the summer home of the Tyrone family, August 1912. Sick of the abuse, Edmund goes upstairs in a fit of coughing. Strangely, the men have decided to keep the probable diagnosis of consumption a secret from Mary; in an amazing feat of denial, the men stick to the idea that keeping it a secret longer will soften the blow when Mary inevitably learns the truth. The setting is the seaside Connecticut home of the Tyrones, Monte Cristo Cottage. Be the first to contribute! She had decided to become a nun, she explains, but then she went to one of James’s shows and was star-struck by him. The year is 1912, the time is one August morning, and Mary and James enter after breakfast. 1 LongDay'sJourneyintoNightbyEugeneO’Neill CHARACTERS: JAMESTYRONE MARYCAVANTYRONE,hiswife JAMESTYRONE,JR.,theirelderson … In his fight with Tyrone, Jamie dances awkwardly from fighting on Jamie's behalf to letting out sneering, jealous comments, as when discussing Edmund's new job: JAMIE: (Sneeringly jealous again.) During his opening conversation with Mary, Tyrone interprets every bit of laughter from the kitchen as the boys enjoying a joke at his expense. James Tyrone is sixty-five but looks younger, handsome and healthy looking. She seems to prefer to avoid the topic. Changing the subject, she tells Edmund he should go outside because it’ll be good for his health. They talk about her problems with morphine, but talking so directly about the past hurts Mary, so they stop. Showing all 2 items Jump to: Summaries (2) Summaries. A hick town rag! About Long Day's Journey Into Night This never would have happened, Mary suggests, if James hadn’t asked her to come on the road with him and leave Jamie with her mother. 8:30 AM in the living room of the Tyrone family's summer home, August, 1912. Argument rage on, but no closure is achieved. Long Day's Journey Into Night Summary. What about it? After he leaves, Mary says that James should go easy on Edmund, since the young man has a “summer cold.” “It’s not just a cold he’s got,” Jamie interjects. Synopsis And he'll try to make Edmund fail. Tyrone and Mary discuss the weight she's gained, although Tyrone thinks she could still stand to eat more. Tyrone calls him a socialist and an anarchist, and Edmund, sick of being criticized, goes upstairs coughing. Arguably, the play is meant to be read as much as it is meant to be performed. For a moment, the two men put aside their enmity and seem to talk fairly to each other. Edmund and Tyrone come home. But it breaks down again, as Jamie accused Tyrone of being at fault. He then asks his son to accompany Edmund to the doctor’s, but to refrain from using the excursion as an excuse to get drunk. Edmund finally goes out to read in the lawn while the others work. | The two sons are very close, and Edmund has no inkling of Jamie's jealousy. The Great American Family at its worst. Finally, even Edmund can no longer deny that Mary has slipped back into use of the drug. He’s extremely drunk and playing cards with himself when Edmund, also thoroughly intoxicated, enters. At one point, Jamie insults Mary’s honor by talking about her addiction, and Edmund punches him in the face. Everyone has something painful and offensive to say, and their silence is even worse. She exits to supervise Bridget, their servant. At the same time, she tells him she understands why he doesn’t believe her. As his father refutes this point, though, they quickly change the subject because Mary enters the room. Plot Keywords Both of the boys seem awkward around their mother: eager to compliment, and afraid they might offend. Long Day's Journey Into Night study guide contains a biography of Eugene O'Neill, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. He and Tyrone go out to work on the lawn. At this point, Mary announces she must go upstairs, and it’s obvious that she wants to take more morphine. Alone, Mary tries to relax but finds herself seized by terrible anxiety, which shows in her constantly moving hands. Money, however, is a constant source of conflict. As she says these terrible things, Eugene and James come in and out of the room, wanting to avoid her words. Jamie looks at his mother, and his gaze causes her to be seized by a fit of nervousness. Read the Study Guide for Long Day’s Journey Into Night…, Ephiphanies in "Long Day's Journey into Night", Fog and the Foghorn in Long Day’s Journey into Night, Introductory Acts of Othello and Long Day's Journey Into Night, View our essays for Long Day’s Journey Into Night…, View Wikipedia Entries for Long Day’s Journey Into Night…. He also doesn't approve of Edmund's angle on the story, and he repeatedly tells the boy to keep his "anarchist" and "socialist" comments to himself. And though she shames him for suspecting, she also admits she understands why he thinks she might relapse. One day in the early twentieth century in the life of the outwardly "loving" yet dysfunctional Tyrone family - parents James and Mary, and their two surviving adult sons Jamie and Edmund - at their Connecticut seaside summer home is presented. The first act sets up all of the central conflicts of the play. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Jamie aggressively picks at Tyrone for his stinginess. “The Kid is damned sick.” Spinning to face him, Mary responds, “Why do you say that? Some of the poems and parodies he's written are damned good. Indeed, she speaks as if she’s still in the convent, and says she’s looking for something, though she can’t remember what. Shortly thereafter, James admits he feels like a “fool” for having believed in Mary, and though she pretends to not understand what he’s talking about, she eventually says, “I tried so hard!” In response, James simply says, “Never mind. Half past six in the evening, same day. Mary has recently been released from a sanatorium for addiction to morphine. In any discussion of Long Day’s Journey into Night, it’s worth considering the fact that addiction was—as a concept—still rather mysterious in 1912.Unlike today, doctors didn’t necessarily treat addiction as a disease, nor did they treat it with a robust understanding of mental health. Cathleen is trying to focus, but she is not terribly sharp and she has become a bit drunk. As day turns into night, guilt, anger, despair, and regret threaten to destroy the family. A man went back to Guizhou, found the tracks of a mysterious woman. The other two men talk around it, repeating, in a way that must be maddening for Mary, how good it is that she has back "her old self again." Summary: 8:30 AM in the living room of the Tyrone family's summer home, August, 1912. We soon learn that Mary has recently returned from treatment at a sanatorium for her morphine addiction. Tyrone accuses him of being lazy and without ambition, dependent on his wealthy parents and an ingrate as well. It is morning in the Tyrones’ summer home when the play begins. When Mary comes in and asks Tyrone and Jamie what they're fighting about, Jamie replies, "Same old stuff" (41). Over the course of one day in August 1912, the family of retired actor James Tyrone grapples with the morphine addiction of his wife Mary, the illness of their youngest son Edmund and the alcoholism and debauchery of their older son Jamie. She is carrying her wedding gown, lost completely in her past. Going on, she says that the cheap doctor James hired to treat her when she gave birth to Edmund is to blame for her morphine habit. In keeping with this, she suggests that James is a cheapskate who, despite his riches, fears ending up in the poorhouse. When Edmund comes downstairs, James gives him money and tells him not to share the cash with Jamie, who will only spend it on alcohol. Edmund chats with Cathleen, the hired girl. GradeSaver, 5 August 2001 Web. A summary of Part X (Section5) in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Our Teacher Edition on Long Day’s Journey into Night can help. She got hooked on it during the difficult pregnancy with Edmund. Edmund tries to tell Mary how sick he is, but she refuses to listen. Just before lunchtime. | Although the morphine is perhaps a more destructive drug, alcohol does its fair share of damage to the Tyrone men.
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