The critical appreciation of Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning becomes Electra.

Name :  Maru Riddhi

Paper : 10

Roll No : 21

Class ; M.A.Sem.3

Year : 2016-2018

Email Id : riddhimaru27@gmail.com

Submitted To : M.K.Bhavnagar Universuty,

                         Department of English

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Topic : The Critical appreciation of Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra.

O. Introduction

           “ None of us can help the things life has done to us. They’re done

            Before you realize it, and once they’re done they make you do

           Other things until at last everything comes between you and what

          you’d like to be, and you’ve lost your true self forever”.

     O. Eugene O'Neill

                                                  Class, race, gender - Eugene O'Neill never shied away from difficult, controversial topics. With evocative expressionism, devastating realism and brutal honesty, O'Neill rocked the American Theater throughout the early 20th century. There's so much to cover, let's jump right in.

O.   Early Life

                                                     Eugene O'Neill was born in a hotel room in 1888 in what is now New York City's Times Square. Alas, the site is now a Starbucks. But in 1888, it was a hotel. His parents were James O'Neill, an Irish immigrant and actor, and Mary Ellen Quinlan, who suffered from a morphine addiction. Because of his father's profession, O'Neill spent his youth on the road, in hotels, backstage at theaters, and in a generally transient state. But he was also very much born into the theater.

                                           He did attend a few different boarding schools. He also went to Princeton University, though he only lasted a year there. There's a rumor that he had to leave because he threw a beer bottle through the window of a professor and future president named Woodrow Wilson, but it might just be a good story.

                                                       As a young man, he mirrored his childhood vagabond lifestyle by setting out to sea, hitching rides to everywhere, from England to Argentina. He even went gold prospecting in Honduras. Rather than striking it rich, he got malaria. But while at sea, he saw the world, as well as the bottle. He battled alcoholism and depression, and never held a job for very long. He got married in 1909, but that only lasted a few years.

                                                      In 1912, he contracted tuberculosis. While recovering in a sanitarium, he decided he wanted to be a playwright. I mean, why not, right? He knew the theater from his childhood and he had amazing life experiences to draw from. Plus, the odds of getting malaria are much lower in the theater.

O. mourning becomes Electra Introduction

“ Mourning Becomes Electra” , a trilogy by o”Neil, is the recreation of Greek tragic play “Oresteia”, The play, giving rise to the grave Psychological debates over human nature and sexual urges, was then written by the legend Playwright Aeschylus. In the lines of Sigmund Freud’s “ Oedipus Complex”, the play features murder, incest and revenge. “ Mourning Becomes Electra” can be called a modern tragedy of “ Oresteia” were Neil has not only changed the story but also altered the prime Greek belief that human actions and destiny are Modeled and Molded by fate. Though they are influenced by fate to a certain extent , yet O’Neil’s characters are to be held responsible personally for their Psychological problems and immoral sexual impudence. “Home Coming” is the first part of the trilogy of “Mourning Becomes Electra”………….

O. mourning becomes Electra  Title

                        The title of the play suggests its relation to the Greek drama. The story of the house of Atreus was set down by Homer, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and diverse other Greek writers whose works are not extant. From this house shadowed by an ancient curse, Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, goes forth to the war atTroy.

                             His wife, Clytemnestra, the sister of Helen, during: her husband’s absence takes for her paramour Aegisthus and shares the government of Argos with him. In due time Agamemnon, having at the God’s behest sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia and bringing with him Cassandra, Priam’s daughter, returns and is murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover. Electra, her daughter, is shamed and degraded and prays for the return of her brother Orestes, long ago sent out of the country by his mother and now become a man. Orestes returns, kills Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Hey is pursued by the Erinyes, and only after wandering and agony and a vindication of himself before the tribunal of Athena’s Areophagus is he cleansed of his sin.

O. Characters

Lavinia Mannon : Daughter of mannon

Christine Mannon : wife of Ezra Mannon

Orin Mannon : Son of Mannon

Brigadier General Ezra Mannon: Father of Lavinia and Orin

Captain Adam Brant : lover of Christine

Hazel Niles : Friend of Mannon

 Captain Peter Niles : Brother of Hazel

Seth Backwith : Aged gardener of Mannon

O. The Critical appreciation of Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra.

                     As above we have seen that how O’Neill has described Oedipus and Electra complex into the play Mourning becomes Electra.

                   The Electra complex is derived from the 5^th century. Sigmund Freud  developed the female aspect of   the sexual development theory described the psycho dynamics of a girl’s sexual possession of father as the feminine Oedipus attitude and the Oedipus complex, yet it was his collaborator Carl Jung who coined the term Electra complex in 1923.

                        O’ Neill has used expressionistic techniques into the play. His play were very longer like epic- dimensions he has also used poetic devices like soliloquy, mask etc, to convey the sense of overhang fate deriving men to their doom. I think O’ Neill has used different symbolism to communicate with the people and readers. It is also gives a broad and universal significance to his theme. Which also related with the religion perspective and also hatred towards relationships which were related with own blood relations. (O'Neill)

O. Oedipus Complex and it’s use into the play.

                        “The sexual wishes in regard to the Mother become more intense and the

                       Father is perceived as an obstacle to the : this gives rise to the

                       Oedipus Complex”     by ……Sigmund Freud

Oedipus Complex is a term used by Sigmund Freud in his theory of Paychosexual stage of development to his father. A boy fills like he is in competition with his father for possession of his mother because he has some attention and affection to wards his Mother.

                                ( Orin  +  Christine )

Oedipus complex is related with the psychology but it is also known as the myth which is O’ Neill has described in his play Mourning becomes Electra’.

                                   Freud was a psychologist he did many experiments on the human psychology. His psychoanalytical work has been of great value. He gave the concept of Oedipus complex.

                                   Oedipus is a king who unknowingly marries his own mother. It is a play by a Greek playwright Sophocles. Oedipus as a child was sent by his parents to kill because of the misunderstanding that the child would marry to his mother. To avoid this incident this child was to be killed but the child reached somehow to the other king. The child was brought up by the king. The child was not known about his original parents. When he became young he went to his real father’s place, and kills his father and marries to his mother.

                            So Freud analyses and    as a result he concluded that father is close to his daughter where as mother is close to the son.

“You're so like your mother in some ways. Your face is the dead image of hers. And look at your hair. You won't meet hair like yours and hers again in a month of Sundays. I only know of one other woman who had it. You'll think it strange when I tell you. It was my mother.”

In India we will find that father loves daughter more that the mother and mother love more than the daughter to her son. But here we can’t use the Oedipus and Electra complex because it is the love which we will found between the family which lives together.

                                  O’Neill’s symbolism also quiet near to realism

                        “Not masks for all plays conceived in purely realistic terms.”

                             In this play the playwright has use the Electra legend to achieve an appointment to the Greek sense of fate such as would appeal so that it would appear to modern audience.

                      “Before O’Neill, the united states had theatre: after O’Neill it would had drama.”

                       In Greek drama struggle use as a weapon and it related struggle between men and god. But in the play of O’Neill we will found struggle between “men’s own past and future” and also himself.  For him fate,   all is the concept of sub conscious. And through it he gave a new concept of tra

                                         “Pride is responsible for their tragedy.” 

                        O’Neill’s tragic heroes are modern equivalent of the Gods.

                        In this play we will also found the trilogy of three parts.

                               The play starts with above lines.  The singer, Seth Beckwith, finishes the last line as he enters from around the corner of the house.  Closely following him are Amos Ames, his wife Louisa, and her cousin Minnie. Seth tells her that the war is certainly over and her father coming home. The first part starts with home coming it is late afternoon in front of the Mannon house. The house is in the style of a Greek temple style, featuring a white, columned portico that stands like an "incongruous white mask."  Darkness, associated with death, pervades the plays: Homecoming, for instance, begins with the sunset, moves into twilight, and ends in the dark of night; 

                           The play ,  Manon  family of New England , Ezra Menon the brigadier General and  an ex- judge  has gone  to participate in civil war  and the mother    Christine and the daughter Lavinia  waits for the return of Ezra Manon. Ezra Manon is to return as the war ended on surrender of Lee’s forces. But when Ezra Manon returns  the  family members were becomes happy but if we minutely observe the happy moment for the return we will found that the family members only does show ups  they in real sense not looking happy because the familiar love is prevalent between them was  not  real but was an illusion.

                           Levinia is the daughter of Ezra Manon and she falls into the love of Adam Brant who was the son of Lavonia’s Grand uncle who had seduced the Canadian maid servant. Lavonia’s father was ill and so she went to New York and then she met with Brant again it shows irresponsible daughter who gives important to her boyfriend rather than her ill father. Lavinia was very dear to her father. Brant was very close to his mother. The first part ends here and here we will found Oedipus and Electra complex into the play. So the first part ends with the analysis of Oedipus and Electra complex. O’ Neill broods over death and there is in his, and there is in him a susceptibility to extremes of passion, will and affliction, that one discerns in the Jacobean. So we can say that O’Neill vision of life as something terryifying and magnificent and often quite horrible that makes tragedies so powerful moving.

                            The second part of the play is The Haunted in this part Orin returns from the war.  And was got injury. Levinia gives minute detail of Christin’s room   where her father’s dead body was lying. Manon realize that her treachery and calls Lavinia for help. Lavinia rushes to her father. With his dying effort, Ezra indicates his wife: “She’s guilty not medicine.” He asps and then dies. Her strength gone, Christine collapse in a faint. So we will find that hoe O’Neill‘s preoccupation with death and gloom makes him a kin of Webster and Ford, the prominent Jacobean dramatists. Orin also shots Brant and next day Christine commits suicide. When Christine commits suicide thereafter O’Neill makes use of device in his oeuvre, one that appears in the Iceman Commeth and elsewhere a period of terrible suspense between a major player’s decisions to suicide plays vital role which turns into taking the revenge. So at the end of the play Lavinia stammers: “It is Justice.” So we can also say that in haunted O’ Neill has appear in his play repeatedly and in various things were leads us towards the human illusions. 

                           Into the third part we will found that in to the third part Lavinia has grown more beautiful like her mother and he brother has incestuous love for her. Lavinia wanted to marry Orin but his wish will never fulfill. Orin shoots himself and so Lavinia loves Peter but breaks relations with him. In this part Orin and Lavinia are back after visiting the China and various other Islands. O’Neill has used many symbols he has used sea symbol and developed south Island motives which appear as peace, security, beauty, freedom of conscience, soundlessness etc.

o. Theme of Mourning becomes Electra.

Theme of Hatred:

                          The whole family is ruined just because of the hatred of Christine towards her husband and then on its turn to her own children. Under such a deep emotion of hatred, she drives her daughter away from her. Lavinia "was born of" her mother's "disgust" of her father, the man she hated. Lavinia explains the horrors of her childhood: "ever since I was little--when I used to come to you--with love--but you would always push me away! I've felt it ever since I can remember--your disgust!" Christine also admits that she is the wife of a man she badly hates. Christine blames Lavinia of play treachery on her own mother: "I've watched you ever since you were little, trying to do exactly what you're doing now! You've tried to become the wife of your father and the mother of Orin! You've always schemed to steal my place!". 

Theme of Incest: 

                          "Mourning Becomes Electra" is a tale of incest and sexual encounters between different characters of the play with no regard to age or gender. Lavinia is having a sexual relationship with Adam while she is in a near incestuous relationship with her son Orin. On the other hand, Lavinia is seeking an incestuous relationship with her father and cannot allow her brother, Orin, to escape from under her influence over to Hazel. 

Theme of War:

                          Lost under the overwhelming stories of incestuous love and jealousy, probably war is an important theme in the play. People consider war as a tale of pride and national integrity but the playwright has made fun of those thoughts criticizing the idea of war: "Our folks at home take death so solemnly! You would have soon learned at the front that it's only a joke!" To him war is a mockery of the very concept of human civilization: "Let them batter each other's brains out with rifle butts and rip each other's guts with bayonets! After that, maybe they'd stop waving handkerchiefs and gabbing about heroes! "

Conclusion

                                        The playwright has given us an opportunity to peep into the characters inner conflict. The play also satisfies some of the codes of tragedy laid by Aristotle. It’s interesting that the length of the play doesn't deviate our attention. So we can say that Lavinia turns defiantly from what Orin described earlier as the “Jungian eye” of the sun to live out her days in darkness which we will found as the fear of ghost that will hound and haunt her forever. So the play is full of complexities because this play is related with the familiar relations or we can say broken relationships of the family members. And so this play gives psychological image and a vast scope of deep thinking of this play.

Works Cited

O'Neill, Eugene. The plays of Eugene o' Neill Volume - 2. New Delhi: Affiliated East- West Pressn Pvt Ltd, n.d. 



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