Long Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork. O'Neill posthumously received the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work.
The action covers a fateful, heart-rending day from around 8:30 am to midnight, in August 1912 at the seaside Connecticut house with the Tyrones - the semi-autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents at their house, Monte Cristo Cottage.
One theme of the play is addiction and the resulting dysfunction of the family. All three males are alcoholics and Mary is addicted to morphine. In the play the characters conceal, blame, resent, regret, accuse and deny in an escalating cycle of conflict with occasional desperate and half-sincere attempts at affection, encouragement and consolation.
Upon its completion in 1942, O'Neill had a sealed copy of the play placed in the document vault of publisher Random House, and instructed that it not be published until 25 years after his death. A formal contract to that effect was drawn up in 1945. However, O'Neill's third wife Carlotta Monterey transferred the rights of the play to Yale University, skirting the agreement. The copyright page of Yale editions of the play states the conditions of Carlotta's gift:
All royalties from the sale of the Yale editions of this book visit Yale University for the benefit in the Eugene O'Neill Collection, for the purchase of books within the field of drama, and for the establishment of Eugene O'Neill Scholarships within the Yale School of Drama.
The play was very first published in 1956, three years right after its author's death.
In important elements, the play closely parallels Eugene O'Neill's own life. The location, a summer property in Connecticut, corresponds to the household residence, Monte Cristo Cottage, in New London, Connecticut (the modest town with the play), and in true life the cottage is these days created up because it may possibly have appeared inside the play. The household corresponds for the O'Neill household, which was Irish-American, with 3 name alterations: the household name "O'Neill" is altered to "Tyrone," the name in the earldom granted to Conn O'Neill by Henry VIII; the names from the second and third sons are reversed ("Eugene" with "Edmund" - in real life, Eugene was the third (youngest) youngster, who corresponds to the character of "Edmund" in the play); and O'Neill's mother, in real life Mary Ellen "Ella" Quinlan, is renamed to Mary Cavan. The ages are all the actual ages in the O'Neill family members in August 1912.
In real life, Eugene O'Neill's father, James O'Neill, was a promising young actor in his youth, as was the father inside the play, and did share the stage with Edwin Booth, who is mentioned inside the play. He accomplished commercial achievement inside the title role to Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, playing the title role about 6000 occasions, and he had been criticized as "selling out".[1]
Eugene's mother Mary did attend a Catholic school in the Midwest (Middle West), Saint Mary's College, of Notre Dame, Indiana. Subsequent to the date when the play is set (1912), but prior to the play's writing (1941-42), Eugene's older brother Jamie did drink himself to death (c. 1923).
As to Eugene himself, by 1912 he had attended a renowned university (Princeton), spent several years at sea, and suffered from depression and alcoholism, and did contribute to the local newspaper, the New London Telegraph, writing poetry as well as reporting. He did go to a sanatorium in 1912-13 due to suffering from tuberculosis (consumption), whereupon he devoted himself to playwriting. The events in the play are thus set immediately prior to Eugene beginning his career in earnest.
The action covers a fateful, heart-rending day from around 8:30 am to midnight, in August 1912 at the seaside Connecticut house with the Tyrones - the semi-autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents at their house, Monte Cristo Cottage.
One theme of the play is addiction and the resulting dysfunction of the family. All three males are alcoholics and Mary is addicted to morphine. In the play the characters conceal, blame, resent, regret, accuse and deny in an escalating cycle of conflict with occasional desperate and half-sincere attempts at affection, encouragement and consolation.
Upon its completion in 1942, O'Neill had a sealed copy of the play placed in the document vault of publisher Random House, and instructed that it not be published until 25 years after his death. A formal contract to that effect was drawn up in 1945. However, O'Neill's third wife Carlotta Monterey transferred the rights of the play to Yale University, skirting the agreement. The copyright page of Yale editions of the play states the conditions of Carlotta's gift:
All royalties from the sale of the Yale editions of this book visit Yale University for the benefit in the Eugene O'Neill Collection, for the purchase of books within the field of drama, and for the establishment of Eugene O'Neill Scholarships within the Yale School of Drama.
The play was very first published in 1956, three years right after its author's death.
In important elements, the play closely parallels Eugene O'Neill's own life. The location, a summer property in Connecticut, corresponds to the household residence, Monte Cristo Cottage, in New London, Connecticut (the modest town with the play), and in true life the cottage is these days created up because it may possibly have appeared inside the play. The household corresponds for the O'Neill household, which was Irish-American, with 3 name alterations: the household name "O'Neill" is altered to "Tyrone," the name in the earldom granted to Conn O'Neill by Henry VIII; the names from the second and third sons are reversed ("Eugene" with "Edmund" - in real life, Eugene was the third (youngest) youngster, who corresponds to the character of "Edmund" in the play); and O'Neill's mother, in real life Mary Ellen "Ella" Quinlan, is renamed to Mary Cavan. The ages are all the actual ages in the O'Neill family members in August 1912.
In real life, Eugene O'Neill's father, James O'Neill, was a promising young actor in his youth, as was the father inside the play, and did share the stage with Edwin Booth, who is mentioned inside the play. He accomplished commercial achievement inside the title role to Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, playing the title role about 6000 occasions, and he had been criticized as "selling out".[1]
Eugene's mother Mary did attend a Catholic school in the Midwest (Middle West), Saint Mary's College, of Notre Dame, Indiana. Subsequent to the date when the play is set (1912), but prior to the play's writing (1941-42), Eugene's older brother Jamie did drink himself to death (c. 1923).
As to Eugene himself, by 1912 he had attended a renowned university (Princeton), spent several years at sea, and suffered from depression and alcoholism, and did contribute to the local newspaper, the New London Telegraph, writing poetry as well as reporting. He did go to a sanatorium in 1912-13 due to suffering from tuberculosis (consumption), whereupon he devoted himself to playwriting. The events in the play are thus set immediately prior to Eugene beginning his career in earnest.
About the Author:
Visiting London then buy London West End theatre tickets for a super night out. You could go and see Eugene O'Neill's play and buyTickets for Long Days Journey Into Night at the Apollo Theatre.
|
0 nhận xét: