Long Day's Journey into Night

A detailed Summary of Long Day's Journey into Night

In the later part of the 19th century a new movement swept over the American literature. Naturalism was a theory that believed that composition should be based on objective human beings. Naturalists concentrated on the harsh aspects of life, believing that life rarely works out, as people want it to. Authors viewed life and human behavior as an experiment controlled by instinct, emotions, and social conditions. In "Long Day's Journey into Night", Eugene O'Neill describes a journey that a person takes in life in order to find his or her self. This piece describes a family consisting of James Tyrone, Mary his wife, and their two sons James and Edmund. As the play unfolds, the relationship between the characters becomes pellucid and their disunities are shown. By describing the struggle that each character goes through, O'Neill illustrates that as each person loses control of their life, they lose their identity.

Tyrone fought his entire life to overcome his difficult youth. His father abandoned him when he was young and he had to work hard to support his family. Tyrone was an incredible actor with potential to get even better. Once he

discovered his talent, he realized that he did not have to work hard to become a success. Tyrone had a chance at easy money, and he took it. By doing so he ensured the security for himself and his family, but also he lost control of the direction of his life. "I'd lost the great talent I once had through years of easy repetition...never really working hard... Yet before I bought [into temptation] I was considered one of three or four young actors with the greatest artistic promise (2025-2026). Tyrone had given up his love of the theater for a large sum of money. In losing this love he lost himself.

Mary was a dreamer with high goals and was willing to work hard to achieve them. She gave up her life partly when she married Tyrone. Mary went form a self-sufficient individual to a housewife whose primary goal was to take care of her husband, but she continued her struggle to create the life she thought she deserved. However when her second born baby died, the spirit inside her died too. Mary was so consumed by guilt and grief that she lost control, fell apart, and turned to drugs to avoid reality. She blames Tyrone: "Above all, I shouldn't have let you insist I have

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tyrone Mary, James Edmund, Journey Night, Eugene O'Neill, Tyrones O'Neill, tyrone mary, journey night, Day's Journey, day's journey night, day's journey, dead son, o'neill illustrates, guilt grief, edmund born, lost control,

Approximate Word count = 797
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.

Long Day's Journey into Night

Related Essays

Professional Essays

Saved Paper

Newest Essays

Testimonials