Assignment:108 Family Conflict in Long Day's Journey into Night

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This blog is part of Assignment writing for the paper 108: American Literature 

      Family Conflict in Long Day' Journey into        Night

Table of contents:-

Personal Information

Assignment Details

Abstract 

Keywords 

Introduction

About the Author 

Overview of the Play

Family Conflict in Long Day's Journey into Night

Conclusion 

References

Personal Information:-

Name:- Divya Bharatbhai Jadav

Batch :- M.A.sem 2 ( 2023- 2025)

Email Address:- divyajadav5563@gmail. com

Roll number:- 7

Assignment Details:-

Topic:-  Family Conflict in Long Day's Journey into Night

Paper:-108: American Literature 

Subject code:- 22401

Submitted to:- Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar

Date of Submission:- 26 April 2024

About Assignment:- In this assignment I will try to define The Family Conflict in Long Day's Journey into Night

Abstract:-

Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night can be depressing and emotionally exhausting. Demonstrates many important elements of family relationship theory, including interpersonal relationships between children, spouses, and their lives over time; Combined, these conversations paint a picture of the family. The play advances the theme that in the context of the family, the past of the past plays into the present. The play also shows that families are often the centre of struggle and contradiction. "Mark Poster wrote his critical theory or family at a time when contradictions between capitalism and the family present themselves everywhere aspect of daily life" 1. The family is being thoroughly investigated by the Orthodox. liberal and leftist theorist because it assumes a position of centrality capitalist society. It is the major social unit in which the organisation of consumption, production of labour force, socialisation of children, and regulation of social control as well as the fulfilment of mental and emotional needs are probably located. Yet the forces of capitalism are essentially making family life impossible. As long as capitalism lasts there will be imbalance in the family. In addition, capitalist Ideology will keep hiding the realities hidden in the root of the family fancy.

Keywords:-

Struggle, family relationships, contradiction, conflict between past and present 

Introduction:-

Throughout the three plays, family complexities are exemplified through extreme psychological elements such as depression, repression, love, and hatred. Each character in the Author's plays, however introspective, is connected in some way to his own personal plight.

Plays by O'Neill expose human beings to their bare psychology; Consequently, in most of the dramas, the author has depicted intense family-related turmoil among its members. These turmoil offer the opportunity for larger conflicts which illustrate the rift between conscious intellect and subconscious desires. The present paper focuses on his three plays, Desire under the Elms, Mourning Becomes Electra, and Long Day's Journey into Nightwhich demonstrates that conflict between love and hate is evident in all his characters, revolving around a family. According to O'Neill's interpretation of the character, love cannot be in any way characterised as unconditional or pure. The workings of a bate human mind consciously or unconsciously depict the lecherous nature of human traits. Likewise, several parameters of O'Neill's life are evaluated and their juxtaposition with his own character is attempted.

About the Author:-

        

As the only American playwright to have won a Nobel Prize for literature and four Pulitzer Prize for drama, O'Neill is regarded as the father of American literature. His work introduced psychological realism and social realism to American theatre, he was one of the earliest American- language artists and one of the first to emphasise on characters who were perceived by society as undesirable.

 O'Neill is notable as the first US playwright to portray American drama in an aesthetic and intellectual form, a far cry from the melodrama and farce that characterised Western theatre prior to his arrival. He was away from superficiality and shallowness. Of more than 50 completed plays, O'Neill wrote just one notable comedy, Ah, Wilderness! (1933), which also centres around drunkenness, prostitution, revenge, and repressed desire. 

Overview of the Play:-

     

"Long Day's Journey into Night" is a play by Eugene O'Neill that delves into the complexities of family dynamics, addiction, and the human condition. Set in 1912, the story follows the Tyrone family over the course of one fateful day at their summer home. The family consists of James Tyrone, a retired actor; his wife Mary, who struggles with morphine addiction; and their sons, Jamie and Edmund, both dealing with their own demons. Throughout the play, tensions rise as long-held resentments, secrets, and regrets surface, ultimately revealing the deep-rooted dysfunction within the family. O'Neill's masterful exploration of themes such as guilt, regret, and the search for meaning in life makes "Long Day's Journey into Night" a timeless classic of American drama.

Family Conflict in Long Day's Journey into Night

Struggle:

This play is based on endless struggle. Father, James Tyrone, is a miser who seems Everyone in the family failed, including his wife Mary. After giving birth to her son Edmund, Mary is in great pain, and James sends her to "a cheap hotel doctor's ignorant quack" because he's cheap. Mary is prescribed morphine, and she eventually becomes addicted to it. James also fails to marry Mary because he is always away from home and drinks a lot. 

Furthermore, James fails to send his young son, Edmund. When she is diagnosed with TB, she is moved to a cheaper, second-rate hospital instead of a more expensive one. Edmund Rails against Your Father, "But To think that when it comes to your son's consumption, you can show yourself" such a stinking old tightrope in front of the whole city" 6. He also fails his eldest son, Jamie; by turning him into the drunkenness becomes apparent when Mary tells him "Ever since he first opened his eyes, he's always seen you drinking. She says, you always use bottles in cheap hotel rooms. And if he had a bad dream when he was small or a stomach ache, then your solution was to give him a spoonful of whiskey to pacify him".

family relationships:-

1)Conflict Caused by Jealousy between Siblings:

From a different perspective, James faults Jamie for corrupting Edmund in being "the worst influence on him" . Jamie admits to Edmund, "Mom and Pop are right. I've been a rotten influence. And the worst of it is, 1 did it on purpose...to make a bum of you.... Never wanted you to succeed and make me look even worse by comparison. I Want you to fail. Always jealous of you" .

2)Conflict Caused by Jealousy between Parents :

Finally, this conflict develops into a jealous rivalry between Mary and James with regard to their children. Mary says "I know why he wants to send you to a sanatorium...to take you away from me! He's always tried to do that. He's been jealous of every one of my babies! He kept finding ways to make me leave them. That's what caused Eugene's death. He's been jealous of you most of all. He knew I loved you best" .

3)Conflict within the Mother (Interior Monologue)

The conflicting nature of the family members is also evident in the mother's self-monologue and resignation to her drug addiction. When James and her sons leave the house, she calls out, "Goodbye. She thinks it's so lonely here.... You're lying to yourself again in a bitter soft contempt. You wanted to get rid of them. Their contempt and disgust aren't pleasant company. You're glad they're gone. She laughs "Then, Mother of God, why do I feel so lonely?" . In a sense, this is characteristic of family life, but it is hidden. A motif of fog persists

contradiction:-

The conflict involves all the characters in the play, sometimes between the character and their environment or within the characters themselves. The conflict stems from their memories throughout the play. The play is founded upon endless conflicts between all the characters. James Tyrone who is the father and the husband of Mary Tyrone lives in misery. He failed in his marriage to Mary because he does not have a house and he is always away from her since he drinks too much. In addition, James fails his younger son. He compromised Edmund's recovery from illness by sending him to a cheap, second rate sanatorium rather than to a more expensive venue when he was diagnosed with TB. Edmund rails against his father, "but to think when it's a question of your son having consumption, you can show yourself before the whole town as such a stinking old. tightwad" 

Furthermore, James converts his older son, Jamie, into a drunkard. This becomes obvious when Mary tells him "Since he first opened his eyes, he's seen you drinking, always a bottle on the bureau in the cheap hotel rooms. And if he had a nightmare when he was little or a stomach ache, your remedy was to give him a teaspoonful of whisky to quiet him ``.He seems to have failed. everyone in the family. On the other hand, Mary lives in pain of losing her second child to measles and also the challenges that accompanied the pregnancy period of Edmund which eventually pushed her to morphine addiction. James sends her to "an ignorant quack of a cheap hotel doctor" to prescribe her morphine because he is cheap

conflict between past and present:-

The play dramatises one day of the Tyrone family's life.. Memories are beautiful, if you don't have to deal with the past. The play's characters are revealed through their memories as well as their disputes with one another. The play showed the psychological well-being of all four members. The family is haunted by the past.

All of the characters' lives are impacted by a lack of affection and care. They try to compensate for that by drinking alcohol, using morphine. They are hunted by the future that they had envisioned for themselves that never materialised. They are unable to manage their lives because they are entangled in a web of ideology which they imposedon themselves in various ways. Consequently, the members of the family try to escape from the unbearable reality of their life which pushes them into addiction with morphine, alcohol or whores to experience a comfort that had eluded them

Conclusion :-

A clear conflict between the articulation of all family characters is apparent in the three plays. As it turned out, every family character presented by the author was an allegory of the author's own plight to some degree. Since O'Neill grew up in a turbulent household and his own family members suffered a lot of pain, this plays into his story. Dramatically, he tried to capture the same. It is apparent that O'Neill exposes the harsh and tragic truths of every family, as well as the hidden truths behind their reputations.

References :-

https://www.academia.edu/35547967/Family_Dynamics_in_ONeills_Drama_The_Diseased_Body_in_Long_Days_Journey_into_Night

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41154777

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232936390_A_Discussion_of_Development_and_Stagnation_Based_on_Eugene_O'Neill's_Play_Long_Day's_Journey_into_Night

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