Group Members

Thando M.
Christopher C.
Gillian M.

Characters

James Tyrone (Gillian)    

    Husband and father, James Tyrone, is a sixty-five year old Broadway actor of Irish descent. He is 5’8” with a deep chest, grey hair and light brown eyes that make him appear ten years younger. James Tyrone is the provider of the family. At home, he is a stingy alcoholic who spends more money buying real estate investments than paying for a good doctor to treat his youngest son. However, he sincerely loves his wife and cares for both of his sons. Tyrone’s character shows the audience/reader the cycle of drug abuse him and his wife suffer. O'Neill's stage directions in Act IV pg 127 describes Tyrone as trapped and defeated. “But despite all the whiskey in him, he has not escaped, and he looks as he appeared at the close of the preceding act, a sad, defeated old man, possessed by hopeless resignation.” His strength of acting is taken over by his two main weaknesses, money and alcohol. Gabriel Byrne from The Usual Suspectsmatches James Tyrone’s character as they are both of Irish descent and look fairly ‘young’.

Mary Tyrone (Thando)

Mary is a fifty four year old Irish woman, about medium height. She has a healthy figure, but her face is thin and pale, and her bone structure is permanent. She struggles with a morphine addiction that has lasted over twenty years. Mary is on morphine throughout the entirety of the play. Although she has periodically stopped using morphine, she always goes back to it. Mary was full of regret because she let go of her dreams to marry James. Meryl Streep would be a good fit for Mary Tyrone because she matches some of the description of Mary, and in the movie Mamma Mia, she had similar personality traits as Mary, like nervousness.

Edmund Tyrone (Chris)

Edmund has been depicted as a smart, handsome young man with a tall, skinny figure. He has big, dark, eyes and brushed, straight, brown hair. Edmund is also depicted as very smart from referencing many sources of literature. “They never come back! Everything is in the bag! It’s all a frame-up! We’re all fall guys and suckers and we can’t beat the game!... Nietzsche. You don’t know what you are talking about. You haven’t read him.” Edmund also seems to be the most innocent out of all the cast with all his issues like tuberculosis and Jamie’s jealousy coming from outside sources, making nothing truly his fault. He is clearly the most likeable and relatable character in the play. A great match to represent Edmund in any future plays can be Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory. He matches the description of Edmund’s looks fairly well and plays an intelligent, likable character in the show. The only thing that doesn't match as well is that his character in the show is unreasonable and stubborn, however he would be able to change his acting for this role.

Theme

Regret (Chris)

A recurring theme in within the play has to be regret. From the mother’s regret of marrying to the father’s failed acting career to Jamie not living up to his potential. The past haunts them like a DUI accident resulting in a child’s death and the cast show no signs of ever going through any resolve. Jamie’s regret of not living to his potential has resulted in him sabotaging Edmund to have the same fate. “ I’ll do my damnedest to make you fail. Can’t help it. I hate myself. Got to take revenge. On everyone else. Especially you.” Tyrone’s regret causes him to always be bitter and angry because of his thoughts on what could have been if he didn't play it safe in his acting career. This also leaves him to be stingy just out of stubbornness which led to his wife becoming a drug addict. Mary regrets everything in her life from having Edmund to not becoming a pianist or a nun. This is especially evident after her drug use since her delusions and rants tell us what she is hiding under all her denial. “I had a talk with Mother Elizabeth… I told her i wanted to be a nun. I explained how sure I was of my vocation, that I had prayed to the Blessed Virgin to make me sure, and to find me worthy.” The only one that isn’t as regretful as the others is Edmund, which is ironic since his problems are worse than the others.

Drugs and Alcohol (Gillian)

Drugs and Alcohol abuse is a recurring theme in the play. The Tyrone family uses drugs and alcohol to escape their past and present. Mary's addition to Morphine has resulted in her zoning out every so often. Tyrone's addiction to alcohol has negatively influenced himself and his sons. Both parents are stuck in a cycle of drug or alcohol abuse. Tyrone and Mary try to break the cycle and move on but they are bound by the past. They turn to drugs and alcohol as a relief yet they scold one another about it. Tyrone admits he used to allow his sons to drink a shot as a sort of "medicine". Tyrone at one point says to Edmund, "Come along, then. It's before a meal and I've always found that good whiskey, taken in moderation as an appetizer, is the best of tonics." Jamie and Edmund drink frequently, for Edmund it's a way to enjoy himself before he goes to a sanitarium or before he dies of his illness. Jamie, drinks just to drink. However, none of the boys are addicted to drugs, out of fear that they will end up delusional like their mother.

Family (Thando)

"I knew from experience by then that children should have homes to be born in, if they are to be good children, and women need homes, if they are to be good mothers."

Vocabulary

(Chris)

Quack: A fraud pretending to be a medical physician

Pg:74- “He understands nothing! and yet it was exactly the type of cheap quack that gave you the medicine in the first place”

Bunk: Nonsense

Pg:77- “Enough to know it’s a load of bunk.”

Consumption: The old name for tuberculosis

Pg:79- “It’s what you thought. He’s got consumption.”

Sanatorium: A hospital for the treatment of chronic diseases and mental disorders

Pg:79- “He’ll have to go to a sanatorium.”

Over-the-hills-to-the-poorhouse: a movie in the 1920’s about a woman who can not enjoy life due to her many children. In the context of the book it is used to emphasize how stingy tyrone is by saying he will tell tragic stories of his financial situation to save money.

Pg:79- “Well, don’t give hardy your old over-the-hills-to-the-poorhouse song about taxes and mortgages.

Old Sod: A person’s home country

Pg:80- “Then before his father can react to this insult to the Old Sod, he adds dryly, shrugging his shoulders.”

Cynicism: A distrust for other’s motives

Pg:97- “She has hidden deeper within herself and found refuge and release in a dream where present reality is but an appearance to be accepted and dismissed unfeelingly-even with a hard cynicism-or entirely ignored.”

Gay: Light-hearted and carefree

Pg:97- “There is at times an uncanny gay, free youthfulness in her manner, as if in spirit she were released to become again, simply and without self-consciousness, the naive, happy, chattering schoolgirl of her convent days.”

Rheumatism: Any one of the painful disorders involving muscles, joints, or connective tissue.

Pg:99- “The damp is in Bridget’s rheumatism and she’s like a raging devil.

Coquette: a flirtatious woman.

Pg:105- “Coquettishly”

(Gillian)

Automaton: a mechanical device, operated electronically, that functions automatically, without continuous input from an operator

Pg: 123- "Goes slowly to the windows at right like an automaton - looking out, a blank, far-off quality in her voice."

Goad: something that encourages, urges, or drives; a stimulus

Pg: 130- Tyrone: “Forgive me, lad. I forgot- You shouldn't goad me into losing my temper.”

Soused: drunk; intoxicated

Pg: 130- Edmund: “Forget it, Papa. I apologize, too. I had no right being nasty about nothing. I am a bit soused, I guess.”

Wallop: to strike with a vigorous blow; belt; sock

Pg: 134- Edmund: “It did pack a wallop, all right. On you, too. Even if you’ve never missed a performance!”

Rogue: a dishonest, knavish person; scoundrel

Pg 141- Tyrone: “She was a bit of a rogue and a coquette, God bless her, behind all her shyness and blushes.”

Tightwad: a close-fisted or stingy person

Pg: 148- Edmund: “But to think when it’s a question of you son having consumption, you can show yourself up before the whole town as such a stinking old tightwad!”

Miser: a person who lives in wretched circumstances in order to save and hoard money

Pg: 151- Tyrone: “It was in those old days I learned to be a miser.”

Ossified: drunk

Pg: 159- Jamie: “What’s the matter with the Old Man tonight? Must be ossified to forget he left this out.”

Mauldin: William Henry ("Bill") 1921–2003, U.S. political cartoonist

Pg 164- “He pauses - then with maudlin humor, in a harm-actor tone.”

Bunk: humbug; nonsense

Pg 166- Jamie: “Yet I’ll bet you’ve heard Mama and old Gaspard spill so much bunk about my hoping for the worst .."

(Thando)

Rheumatism: A medical problem that affects the joints and/or connective tissue.

Pg 12- “Her hands are never still. They were once beautiful hands, with long, tapering fingers, but rheumatism has knotted the joints and warped the fingers, so now they have an ugly crippled look.”

Confab: An informal private conversation or discussion

Pg 15- “It’s a secret confab they don’t want me to hear, I suppose.”

Huffy: Annoyed or irritated and quick to take offense at petty things.

Pg 15- “Huffily”

Dissipation: Complete disintegration

Pg 19- “His [Jamie] face is still good looking, despite marks of dissipation, but it has never been handsome like Tyrone’s, although Jamie resembles him rather than his mother.”

Scathingly: Harshly critical

Pg 21

Scathingly

“If it takes my snoring so make you remember Shakespeare instead of the dope sheet on the ponies, I hope I’ll keep on with it.”

Shanty Mick: poor or disreputable person of Irish descent

Pg 22- “He’s a wily Shanty Mick, that one.”

Plutocrat: a person whose power derives from their wealth.

Pg 24- “A very bonehead play! If I needed any further proof that our ruling plutocrats, especially the one who inherited their boodle, are not mental giants, that would clinch it.”

Scoundrel: A dishonest or unscrupulous person; a rogue

Pg 25- “That damned old scoundrel! By God, you can’t beat him!”

Flurriedly: Sudden commotion, excitement, or confusion; nervous hurry

Pg 42- “Suddenly she is self-consciously aware that they are both staring fixedly at her-- flurriedly, raising her hands.”

Vehemently: An extremely strong, powerful, or intense emotion or force

Pg 48 “Too vehemently I didn’t think anything!”

Scene

 

Pg:100-107 (Chris)
During this point of the story, Mary just had the maid, Cathleen, go on a run to get more prescription morphine for her. She takes it, then goes on a rant about why she has to take it for her pains. She goes on a long tangent on how she used to strive to play the piano and how her life used to be great without Tyrone after just reminiscing about how he used to make her feel special. “I haven’t touched a piano in so many years. I couldn’t play with such crippled fingers… See, Cathleen, how ugly they are!... you were much happier before you knew he existed, in the convent when you used to pray to the Blessed Virgin.”  Through her words we finally see her talking about her true despair and how badly it is destroying her psychologically. She is completely dependent on Morphine but is too ashamed to admit it to anyone except Cathleen. Her embarrassment has her get Cathleen to get the morphine so Mary can keep the little pride she has left in her family.

Pg: 116- 121 (Gillian)
In this scene, the boys are back from town and Mary is talking about her wedding dress.

She tells them, "I used to take it out from time to time when I was lonely, but it always made me cry, so finally a long while ago-", she pauses and changes topic. From the previous acts we know that Mary is unhappy about her marriage, this confirms it. Desperately Tyrone attempts to change the subject by asking "Isn't it dinner time, dear? You're forever scolding me for being late, but now I'm on time for once, it's dinner that's late." Mary does not hear this and Tyrone continues, finally noticing his watered down whiskey. He questions Mary and this is where we see the lack of trust there is in the family whether it's due to an addiction or illness. With angry disgust he says "I hope to God you haven't taken to drink on top of-" and is cut off by Edmund. Mary attempts to defend herself by saying she gave some to the kitchen workers. Their conversation continues to the point where Mary blames Edmund for the rheumatism in her hands. At this point, everyone is tired of her delusions and rants, Tyrone goes to fetch whiskey and once again the audience sees his way of relief. Edmund asks her miserably "You're not so far gone yet you've forgotten everything. You haven't asked me what I found out this afternoon. Don't you care a damn?" Towards the end of this scene the family is holding on to their last strings of hope for Mary to get better.

Pg 26-30 (Thando)
A lot happens in this scene. Mary excuses her son’s behavior by saying, “You mustn't mind Edmund, James. Remember, he isn’t well. A summer cold makes anyone irritable.” Then Jamie tries to tell her it’s more than she thinks, and that upsets the father because he does not want to make her condition any worse. While Mary is still there, James stays calm, but once she leaves, James yells at his son for what he says. He defends himself by saying it is better not to hide the truth so that she is not shocked when they have to actually face the truth. He is being more realistic and open about his brother’s illness, while the rest of the family is having a difficult time accepting the truth of the matter.

Quote

Pg:87 (Chris)

Tyrone: “Mary! For God’s sake, forget the past!”

Mary: “Why? How can I? The past is the present, isn’t it? It’s the future, too. We all try to lie out of that but life won’t let us.”

Within this quote is an expression of lament towards the past. We can clearly see that Mary harbors on her mistake and truly can not let it go, wishing things can change. This desire adds on to the reasons why she wants morphine and helps to constantly cause her to snap. However this quote can be expanded upon all the characters and the play as a whole; the illustration of regret for each character becomes more and more evident as the day goes on only to climax at midnight. Everyone has regrets but the main issue with the characters is that none of them can let the past go. This all leads to a tragic cycle of regretting and regretting and regretting to no avail.

Pg: 123 (Gillian)

Mary: "I must go upstairs. I haven't taken enough. I hope, sometime, without meaning it, I will take an overdose. I could never do it deliberately. The Blessed Virgin would never forgive me, then."

    In the scene this quote is taken from, Mary is alone talking to herself again and she is close to giving up. The audience/reader sees her thoughts on suicide. Mary feels trapped by her addiction to Morphine and part of her hopes that it will soon take her away completely. She does not intend to commit suicide but the idea has crossed her mind. We can tell that she is tired of tricking herself into believing that everything is okay. Mary knows that the only way to calm her down is to take more doses of morphine. This time, she wishes the doses will be the last ones she takes.

Pg 29 (Thando)

James Tyrone: “You’re a fine lunkhead! Haven’t you any sense? The one thing to avoid is saying anything that would get her more upset over Edmund.”

    This comment by the husband/father sparks an intense argument between he and his son. It seems as though he is trying to protect his wife, Mary, from being even further hurt about her son’s summer sickness. The quote demonstrates Mary’s denial, because she is trying to avoid the truth. It also shows the concern Tyrone has for his family.

Social Concern

Family (Chris)

It is clear that the play’s characters all have internal issues. However the family still tries to brush it off and live their normal lives instead of seeking real help. “The search for happiness will leave you unhappy” -paraphrased Buddhist quote. The family tries its best to be a normal family in regards to the american dream but ultimately fails because the american dream is unrealistic. The constant denial that they can never be normal ends up internally destroying each and every one of them with sorrow, regrets, drugs, blame, and inner turmoil. This fruitless search deeply shows how we are as a society today attempting to keep a norm we can not uphold. We ostracize those that try better themselves and we never seek help ourselves. We stay safe because actually accomplishing something is too much to ask from the common man. All we can do is keep our image and forever reminisce on what could have been because doing something risky jeopardizes are precious “American Dream”.  

Women (Gillian)

    There are only three women in the play, Bridget the cook, the second girl Cathleen and Mary Cavan Tyrone, the head woman in the house (the wife of James Tyrone). During the time the play was written and published in, a woman's role (in the 1950s to 60s) was to be a caring mother, a diligent homemaker and an obedient wife. Although Mary is a housewife, her servants Cathleen and Bridget did the majority of the housework. On top of that her sons are both grown adults that she can no longer baby. With nothing to do, Mary is left to sit alone at the hotel room or the summer home. Mary is also suffering the death of her second child Eugene Tyrone. O’Neill leaves no room for Mary to be a proper mother and so her anxiety, etc. leads to her morphine downfall as well as the downfall of her role as a woman.

Substance Abuse (Thando)

    Drugs and alcohol significantly contribute to the plot of the play because of the frequent use and references. Mary is a morphine addict, and her husband is an alcoholic. In one scene, Cathleen says, “I'd never suggest a man or a woman touch drink, Mister Edmund. Sure, didn't it kill an uncle of mine in the old country. Still, a drop now and then is no harm when you're in low spirits, or have a bad cold.” People relied on substances to keep them up. The characters know they are abusing alcohol and drugs, yet they find excuses to rationalize their substance abuse. In this quote, Cathleen acknowledges her uncle’s death, which was a result of drinking too much, but she ignores that and suggests drinking.