A Look at a Long Day's Journey Into Night
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
BY
EUGENE ONEILL
Act I, S 1
Summary:
8:30 AM in the living room of the Tyrone family's summer home, August, 1912. The room is adjacent to the kitchen and dining room, and there are stairs leading up to the upstairs bedrooms. 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. The Tyrone family has just finished having breakfast, and Mary and James Tyrone Tyrone enter. Mary is fifty-four, striking, but with a worn look. Her hands are knotted from rheumatism, and she continuously wrings them nervously. James Tyrone is sixty-five but looks younger, handsome and healthy looking. He has a fine voice, a sign of his trade as an actor.
Tyrone and Mary discuss the weight she's gained, although Tyrone thinks she could still stand to eat more. They end up talking about a friend of Tyrone's who helps him with real estate investments, and Mary and Tyrone have a light argument about his unwise investments. Their talk is interrupted by the sound of Edmund's cough in the kitchen. Mary is clearly concerned. Tyrone tells Mary that she needs to take care of herself, and that it's good to have her "old self again" since she "came back." Repeatedly throughout their conversation, we see that Mary teases Tyrone lightly and he does not take it well; we also see that he is convinced his sons don't respect him, as every time he hears them laughing in the kitchen he's sure they're making fun of him.
Edmund and Jamie enter. Jamie is thirty-four, but he has not taken good care of himself. He is charming, but his face and body show signs of heavy drinking. Edmund is in very poor health. He is frail and sensitive looking.
Both of the boys seem awkward around their mother: eager to compliment, and afraid they might offend. The conversation turns to teasing Tyrone about his snoring, and Tyrone becomes angry. He begins picking on Jamie's lack of direction in
BY
EUGENE ONEILL
Act I, S 1
Summary:
8:30 AM in the living room of the Tyrone family's summer home, August, 1912. The room is adjacent to the kitchen and dining room, and there are stairs leading up to the upstairs bedrooms. 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. The Tyrone family has just finished having breakfast, and Mary and James Tyrone Tyrone enter. Mary is fifty-four, striking, but with a worn look. Her hands are knotted from rheumatism, and she continuously wrings them nervously. James Tyrone is sixty-five but looks younger, handsome and healthy looking. He has a fine voice, a sign of his trade as an actor.
Tyrone and Mary discuss the weight she's gained, although Tyrone thinks she could still stand to eat more. They end up talking about a friend of Tyrone's who helps him with real estate investments, and Mary and Tyrone have a light argument about his unwise investments. Their talk is interrupted by the sound of Edmund's cough in the kitchen. Mary is clearly concerned. Tyrone tells Mary that she needs to take care of herself, and that it's good to have her "old self again" since she "came back." Repeatedly throughout their conversation, we see that Mary teases Tyrone lightly and he does not take it well; we also see that he is convinced his sons don't respect him, as every time he hears them laughing in the kitchen he's sure they're making fun of him.
Edmund and Jamie enter. Jamie is thirty-four, but he has not taken good care of himself. He is charming, but his face and body show signs of heavy drinking. Edmund is in very poor health. He is frail and sensitive looking.
Both of the boys seem awkward around their mother: eager to compliment, and afraid they might offend. The conversation turns to teasing Tyrone about his snoring, and Tyrone becomes angry. He begins picking on Jamie's lack of direction in