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.