Themes of: “LONG Day’s JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

Presented by

Fakharh Muhabat

WELCOME

(1888-1953)

One of America's greatest playwrights

Eugene O'Neil

“Born in a hotel room-and God damn it- died in a hotel room”

One of the renowned play, was written during (1939-41)

FamilyPsychologists might say none of the Tyrone's has a good support network. The father acts childishly most of the time and the eldest son, at least, don’t look up to him. This son, Jamie, is the character who requires the least caretaking, but that's really because both he and his parents think he's a lost cause. The younger son Edmund, meanwhile, is the sickly baby of the family. He's clearly the parents' favorite and can't seem to put his adult life in order. The failure to take familial responsibility is a real problem in Long Day's Journey, as none of the characters has anyone they feel they can turn to in times of need.

Society and Class

The dad has done well financially, and he finds Socialism distasteful. As James points out, he learned the value of a dollar the hard way as a child, and his greatest fear is role people taking advantage of his wealth and cheating him. As a result, he has a hard time spending money, even on worthwhile causes, like quality healthcare for the family. 

ReligionAlthough Tyrone professes to keep his faith, his two sons have long since abandoned the Catholic religion. Tyrone's religion spills over into his taste in art. He considers Edmund's favorite writers to be morbid and degenerate. Mary's loss of faith also recurs as an issue. Although she still believes, she thinks she has fallen so far from God that she no longer has the right to pray.

The Past, as refuge and burdenAt different parts, the Past plays different roles. On one hand the past is a burden. Mary speaks with a terrible fatalism, claiming that nothing they are can be helped: past sins and mistakes have fixed their present and future irrevocably. The past also takes the form of old hurts that have gone unforgiving. The past also becomes a refuge, but not in a positive way. Mary uses an idealized recreation of her girlhood as escapist fantasy. As she sinks further and further into the fog of morphine, she relives her childhood at the Catholic girls' school. The past is used to escape dealing with the present.

Isolation

Isolation….

Although the four Tyrone's live under the same roof this summer, there is a deep sense of isolation. Family meals, a central activity of family bonding, are absent from the play. Lunch happens between acts, and dinner falls apart as everyone in the family goes his separate way

IsolationMary's isolation is particularly acute. She is isolated by her gender, as the only woman of the family, and by her morphine addiction, which pushes her farther and farther from reality.

Drug and alcohol abuseJAMESThere's nothing like the first after-breakfast cigar, if it's a good one, and this new lot have the right mellow flavor.

Cigars are certainly the least frightening drugs that come up in the play, but still, see how early in the text we're introduced to a drug habit. Not only does James have a cigar at 8:30 in the morning, but it's also his first after-breakfast cigar. That is, he has more than one cigar every morning. Not the end of the world, for sure, but we are being introduced very early on to this family's strong dependence on substances

DrugsMary's morphine addiction is balanced by the men's alcoholism. Although the morphine is perhaps a more destructive drug, alcohol does its fair share of damage to the Tyrone men. It is Tyrone's great vice, and it has contributed to Mary's unhappiness. Drunkenness has been Jamie's response to life, and it is part of why he has failed so miserably. And Edmund's alcohol use has probably contributed to ruining his health

Sufferings Long Day's Journey Into Night is a play about people who are suffering. The characters have basically nothing to do, as the adult sons aren't working, the father is in his off-season, and the mother doesn't work at all. They tend to sit around, argue, and suffer the pain of old wounds and dark prospects for the future. One son has consumption to worry about, and the mother is addicted to morphine, but these problems radiate to the father and other son as well, as they suffer from the consequences too. Everyone's bogged down in depressive thinking about the way things used to be (either good or bad) and their (probably awful) future.

Guilt and BlameThe characters in Long Day's Journey are absolutely obsessed with thinking over the past and either feeling guilty about what they've done, or blaming someone else for all the problems they face. Once one of the children dies at a young age and the mother becomes addicted to morphine, everyone keeps worrying about whether they should have had another kid, who was responsible for the baby's death, why the mother became addicted to morphine, and generally how they or others have failed as good mothers, fathers, sons, and brothers

Lies and DeceitAs the play starts, everyone except for the eldest son is terrified of bringing up taboo subjects like drugs, alcohol, careers, and the past.

When Jamie does bring them up (as he does so often), he's shot down by the rest of the family (twice with a blow to the face). Only by the end of the play, when the rules don't seem to matter anymore, do the characters actually speak their minds.

SufferingsLong Day's Journey Into Night is a play about people who are suffering. The characters have basically nothing to do, as the adult sons aren't working, the father is in his off-season, and the mother doesn't work at all. They tend to sit around, argue, and suffer the pain of old wounds and dark prospects for the future. One son has consumption to worry about, and the mother is addicted to morphine, but these problems radiate to the father and other son as well, as they suffer from the consequences too. Everyone's bogged down in depressive thinking about the way things used to be (either good or bad) and their (probably awful) future.

Breakdown of communicationBreakdown of communication is a very apparent theme. We are forced to listen to the same arguments again and again because nothing ever gets resolved. The Tyrone's fight, but often hide the most important feelings. There is a deep tendency towards denial in the family. Edmund tries to deny that his mother has returned to morphine. Mary denies Edmund's consumption. Often, avoidance is the strategy for dealing with problems.