Long Semester's Journey Into Graduation

It's getting to be that time again, folks, and the combination of spring fever and senioritis is certainly working a number on me. So what does a giddy gal like me read to plunge back down into those undergraduate pits of despair? Eugene O'neill, of course! More specifically, his masterpiece play Long Day's Journey Into Night. (Sounds upbeat, doesn't it?)

Long Day's Journey tells only of one full day in the life of the Tyrone family in August of 1912. James Tyrone is a failed actor, his eldest son (Jamie) is a bit of a ne'er-do-well, his youngest son (Edmund) is dying of tuberculosis, and his wife Mary... *sigh* Well, there's something about Mary.

The Tyrone family's favorite way of communicating is by not communicating. In fact, the men of the family make every effort to hide family difficulties, troubles, or worries from flighty Mary Tyrone. Eventually, we learn that Mary has become addicted to morphine following Edmund's birth nearly twenty years earlier. She has been fighting the addiction, having returned from the 1912 version of rehab ("the sanatorium"), but is once more displaying signs of morphine use. The Tyrones know that worry only drives Mary to morphine even more. Meanwhile, Mary is paranoid of the men's paranoia and is convinced that they're watching and analyzing her every move (which she is right about).

When Mary is in her drug-induced state, she becomes very removed from the situation and goes on and on about all the things she could have been, if ony she hadn't married that damnable James Tyrone. As a coping mechanism, the Tyrone men drink...a lot. In fact, James Tyrone very well could be considered an alcoholic and both of his boys are headed that way.

This play is extremely autobiographical (O'neill's own mother was named Mary and was a morphine addict), so much so that O'neill forbade it from ever being publicly performed until there were no remaining O'neill family members still living. The tale is also very cyclical and lacks that satisfying finish because the Tyrone family still doesn't have closure for itself by the end of the play.

While it's probably not the best choice for entertainment purposes, Long Day's Journey is O'neill's masterpiece for good reason and is a great source of insight into the psyche of the writer, as well as into our own family relationships.

For other reviews on this classic drama, please visit the following:
Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Editorial Reviews
RTE Entertainment