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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The past is the present, isn't it? It's the future, too.",
By
This review is from: Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (Paperback)
When Eugene O'Neill wrote this play in 1940, it was so autobiographical that O'Neill requested it not be published until twenty-five years after his death. When he died in 1953, all the other characters in the play had also died, however, and his wife allowed the play's publication in 1956. Despite O'Neill's three previous Pulitzer Prizes and his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936, it is this play (also a Pulitzer winner) that he regarded as his most important work, an assessment with which historians and theatre-goers universally agree. Many (and I am one) also believe it is the greatest American play ever written.Long Day's Journey Into Night is a complete theatrical experience, satisfying on every level. Recreating his own family and its interactions, O'Neill's emotional connection with the characters is obvious in the roundness of their characterizations: there are no villains or heroes here. James Tyrone, modeled on his father, is an actor who found the "perfect play," resulting in years of travel performing the same role. Permanently typecast and by now bored, James has earned a substantial salary but is considered a tightwad, unable to escape his memories of poverty. Mary Tyrone, his wife, to whom he is devoted, traveled with him when he performed, often leaving the children with family members. When her youngest child died in her absence, she blamed everyone for this accident. Edmund, modeled on O'Neill himself, was born after this, but Mary never recovered, and when an incompetent doctor prescribed drugs, she became blissfully addicted. The two sons, Jamie and Edmund, observe the interactions of their parents, their father losing himself in alcohol, their mother constantly re-addicting herself so she can live in a world without hurt, and they interact both with both parents and with each other. Jamie, considerably older than Edmund, regards himself as Edmund's protector, both from the outside world and from the sometimes hurtful relationships both have with their parents, who regard Jamie as a failure because of his drinking, and Edmund as a baby. Edmund, however, has traveled the world before returning home recently with a "bad summer cold," obviously the early stages of tuberculosis, a reality his mother refuses to recognize. As he awaits an official diagnosis from a cut-rate doctor, Edmund tries to channel his feelings and his fears into the poems he writes. Though many gifted dramatists can make one or two characters come alive in a play, O'Neill does it here for all four characters, each of whom rings completely true. Their actions and conflicts arise from within, and the viewer becomes completely caught up in the dialogue and events on stage because they are so natural, so life-like. Though the play is about three and a half hours long, these are hours that fly by, the intensity of the family's internal conflicts totally involving, as the love underlying these conflicts and the hidden resentments which ignite them emerge at odd moments and create poignant scenes. Ironic humor, much more obvious in the hands of outstanding stage actors than in the written script, provides relief from the powerful tensions and keeps the play from ever appearing sentimental or melodramatic. The most moving theatrical experience I have ever had, this play is breathtaking, heart-rending, and utterly overwhelming. Mary Whipple
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spiritual Nightfall,
By A Customer
This review is from: Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (Paperback)
From the opening curtain, O'Neill's play relentlessly examines the disintegration of the lives of four people. It is a disturbing drama where love and hate co-exist in such close proximity that it is sometimes difficult to separate one from the other. The story unfolds in the course of a single day, which begins with an emergence from the fog, both literally and figuratively and ends with the descent of the fog yet again, deeper, more profound, more isolating than ever. The youngest son, Edmund is the pivot point for the story. The other members of his family revolve around the drama of his failing health. He is represented by his family as both the cause and the victim of his mother's return to her addiction, his jealous brother's attempts to destroy his chances for success and his father's dissatisfaction with his life. And he accepts the responsibility thrust on him, all the while recognizing, acknowledging that it is merely an excuse for failures and bad choices. The family, despite their best efforts, is bound together, caught in a web of their own creation, unable to escape eventual destruction. It is a sad commentary of life, poignant and fascinating. In spite of some dated references, it still provides an insightful look at the human condition.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's indeed a long journey taken by each Tyrone,
By A Customer
This review is from: Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (Paperback)
It's a long,foggy voyage taken in Edmond's deep ocean and its very sad. Through the blurry minds of the four members of the Tyrone's we travel back into their pasts and follow their tragic flaw. Especially Mary's choice has destroyed her whole life. Even though she loves James , its obvious that she has wasted her life by following his ambitions of becoming an actor and also has become a victim of his misery. James Tyrone is an old man now who unfortunately has not been able to get rid of his childhood's fears. The poverty that he suffered along with his three brothers has turned him into a vicious man.Who can blame him?He has suffered a lot when he was only 10 years old. How can we deny the fact that only the ones who experience real poverty, do know it closely and are afraid of it. He does not dare spend a bit more of his money for his own son's health. Money is more important than anything for him. Thus we see the couple lead their children into an unsober life .Its almost as if the father is like a Tyrant instead of a Tyrone. Thus, Jamie escapes them as a sailor and returns suffering of consumption without a penny in the till. The fog is even more depressing now. Edmond who critics believe to be Eugene O'Neill ,helps the narration by drinking with his father, where each one gives a long speech about their disillusions. They have no one else to blame but their past lives and what do we do with our wrong doings of past ? Don't we all have some long past wrong doings , haven't our parents taken the wrong choices sometimes? What are we supposed to do with them? Does the past hold in hand the right to ruin our present ? And if we allow it to happen , what will become of our future?
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