Extended Day’s Journey Into Night is actually a 1956 drama in 4 acts written by American playwright Eugene O’Neill. The play is widely regarded as to be his masterwork. O’Neill posthumously received the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the perform.
The action covers a fateful, heart-rending day from around 8:30 am to midnight, in August 1912 at the seaside Connecticut home of the Tyrones – the semi-autobiographical representations of O’Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents at their home, Monte Cristo Cottage.
A single theme from the play is addiction and the resulting dysfunction of the family members. 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O’Neill had a sealed copy in the play placed in the document vault of publisher Random House, and instructed that it not be published until 25 years right after his death. A formal contract to that effect was drawn up in 1945. Nevertheless, O’Neill’s third wife Carlotta Monterey transferred the rights in the play to Yale University, skirting the agreement. The copyright page of Yale editions in the play states the circumstances 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 1st published in 1956, 3 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 in the play, and did share the stage with Edwin Booth, who is mentioned in the play. He achieved commercial success in the title role to Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, playing the title role about 6000 times, and he had been criticized as “selling out”.[1]
Eugene’s mother Mary did attend a Catholic school within the Midwest (Middle West), Saint Mary’s College, of Notre Dame, Indiana. Subsequent towards the date when the play is set (1912), but before 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 numerous years at sea, and suffered from depression and alcoholism, and did contribute to the nearby newspaper, the New London Telegraph, writing poetry as well as reporting. He did go to a sanatorium in 1912-13 as a result of suffering from tuberculosis (consumption), whereupon he devoted himself to playwriting. The events inside the play are thus set immediately before Eugene starting his profession in earnest.
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.
