Deep in Eugene O’Neill’s play “A Long Day’s Journey into Night,” the past strongly affects Tyrone’s family, as long as embracing a terrible shroud cast on life. The play is a lamentation of a hostile network of unsolved problems, resentment, and even graves over the events as relentless propagation effects. The previous life is not just a landscape in this play, but it is an all-pervasive power that precisely influences the being of situations (O’Neill). The Tyrone family is in a wheel of despair their sorrow cannot release them from those past burdens. Tracing money back to James Tyrone, whose willingness to accept loans is haunted by the past financial decisions that led him from banker status, and Mary, who suffers a loss of her dreams due to illness along with addiction, shows how each mistake reflects the cumulative consequences of mishaps.
In relative terms, Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” also reveals the strength of the past though different characters are concerned. Contrasting this, “Streetcar” may focus on the characters consumed by past histories; however, it draws attention to the significant changes resulting from current events and social norms (Williams). As Blanche DuBois is fighting her demons, she also fights the transforming world of fading Southern aristocracy where the past and future are reflected oppositely; this new civilized reality then gains society’s power that inevitably becomes stronger than Blanche.
The presence of alcohol and drug abuse, which becomes a significant feature in the play, are the two things possessed by the protagonists that include coping mechanisms and expressions on what has been left unattended. These forces creeping toward a human being only satisfy the need for escape, thus convincing the Tyrone family to succumb and become intoxicated by them; this perpetuates a vicious cycle of trapping the entire family in the hands of their past. These substances represent the fact that they are unable to face their pasts directly but rather suffer and cope. Their suffering shows a downward spiral.
Substance abuse is complex in the play, for it does not only appear as a consequence of a troubled past but also as what sustains that past. The use of alcohol and drugs by the characters is a symbolic representation of their internal troubles, which masks pain for just some time before it worsens the initial problems (O’Neill). The complex game between the past and substance abuse deepens this story, as it portrays a family imprisoned by their history, unable to free themselves from cycles of familiarity. The depiction determines the torn picture of Tyrone’s family and shows the complexity of internal conflicts within their makeup and the inevitable grip of a shared past.
The Brothers and Parental Dynamics in “A Long Day’s Journey into Night”
In Eugene O’Neill’s “A Long Day’s Journey into Night,” the relations between family members are revealed from the parents’ perspective with a pessimistic vision, defining the brothers’ destinies, Edmund Tyrone and Jamie Tyrone. The parents, Mary and James, saddled with their challenges and frustrations, form one aspect of a compressed interpersonal infrastructure. The younger brother, Edmund, does not share the indulgence and sprightliness of Jamie (O’Neill). Portrayed to be wiser and reflective, Edmund desires an existence not as regular as the one set by the amassed vitality of family history. On the other hand, Jamie is turned into a symbol of weaknesses in his family and tends to fall into vices or self-destructive life. This inherent difference is vital in how Mary and James raise their sons.
Edmund is in the eye of Mary Tyrone, who is struggling with her demons and trying to stay clear of a morphine addiction that she cannot detach. Mary, in turn, feels the same sensitivity and vulnerability Edmund has conveyed, so much so that she even craves to protect him from all the evils she has experienced. However, when Jamie misbehaves irresponsibly, his behavior disappoints and scares her, as well as increases the trauma she finds herself sinking into, leaving him alone and more lost than ever (O’Neill). James Tyrone, as the father figure, is, on the one hand, gently disappointed with Jamie and, on the other hand, utterly frustrated with him. James analyzes Jamie’s failure as a reflection of himself and his own missed chances, rendering him unable to relate to his older son. Even Edmund, who bears some affinity to Mary’s temperament, is afforded a slightly fuller interpretation by James that does not discount his subservience to the father’s overpowering quest for financial achievement.
These subtle differences in paternal behavior certainly play a significant role in these brothers’ different choices and destinies. Mary shields Edmund, who, although he does not go into much detail about it, faces his desires for another type of life. As a result, Jamie becomes a tragedy for the Tyrone family because he is paralyzed by the weight of those filial expectations and his vicious inclinations. The play “A Long Day’s Journey into Night” is crafted to convey magnificently the legacy of the intergenerational impact of the past, as perceptions and actions on the part of parents are precedents that give rise to brothers’ varied comrades. Thus, the play becomes a portrayal of the family dynamic set by the features of the past and continues for generations, leaving its indelible mark on the destiny of its members.
Works Cited
O’Neill, Eugene. “Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962). Full Movie.” YouTube, 26 June 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkZ-3hBPQwQ. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. 1947. Prakash Book Depot, 2017.
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