A Complete Guide to the Character Analysis in Long Day's Journey into Night

Long Day’s Journey into Night was written by the author, Eugene O’Neill. The play was published in 1956. This play deals with the one-day story of the Tyrone family that shows that when people remain stuck in their harsh memories related to their past, their present time is adversely affected. In today’s article, you will learn an analysis of the play’s major characters so that you can understand them properly.

Analysis of the Major Characters:

The following are the points that I attained after analysing the major characters of the play, Long Day’s Journey into Night:

James Tyrone Character Analysis:

James Tyrone is shown as a rich, stingy, haunted, drinking, and guilty person in the play. As a reader, one sees many sides of his character.

For example, he is shown as a successful theatre actor who earned large amounts of money based on his commercially successful play and heavily invested his money in buying the properties in real estate. But he is the same man who sacrificed his artistic fulfilment for financial security. He preferred to have financial security by repeatedly performing for a commercially successful role in theatres. Although he regrets the career decision in his old age, his stingy attitude is the cause behind his career decision. He made a financially safe choice because he faced poverty during his childhood and earned money as a labourer. The poverty he faced during his childhood is the outcome of his father leaving the family alone and moving abroad. His father left the family in the U.S. and moved to Ireland (their native country) where he eventually committed suicide. The abandonment made the family’s life miserable, so the whole family had to work hard in America to earn their bread and butter or to maintain their survival. The poverty during childhood made Tyrone a stingy person. These childhood memories related to his struggling days while earning money affected his acting career in his youth by making him frequently perform in theatres his single famous role.

After marriage, Tyrone still remained a stingy person. For example, he hired an incompetent doctor to end the labour pain of his wife, Mary, so she was prescribed a somewhat extra morphine dose to remove her pain after Edmund’s birth that contributed to her morphine addiction as well. Then, he also purchased cheap medical services regularly for the treatment of his son, Edmund, when he was sick at an early stage of TB.

Besides, Tyrone is also shown as a person who drinks a lot to avoid his present reality. He feels his stinginess contributed to the creation of serious issues for his family members like Mary’s frustration and Edmund’s consumption. Although he does not believe that he directly caused her drug addiction, he inwardly believes that the married life she experienced because of his acting career and stinginess, which involved frequent travelling, residing in cheap hotels, and spending much time alone in hotels, contributed to her addiction. He’s also right when he mentions in the play that her drug addiction is not mainly caused by an incompetent doctor’s morphine prescription whom he hired after her delivery. But the lifestyle that Tyrone gave to his wife, Mary, contributed a lot to her addiction. He understands this completely. So, to avoid his guilty conscience, he drinks a lot within his home.

In other words, Tyrone is a character who is complex for being a tragic character. He made some bad choices in his life due to stinginess caused by his childhood money-making efforts. But he is also the same character who intends to invest reasonably for the treatment of his son, Edmund, in a good rehabilitation centre chosen by his son. But the mention of the reasonable cost for a treatment meant to cure the serious disease of his son shows that he could not get rid of his stinginess even under the acute emotional pressure from Edmund. He is the family man who cares for his family because he loves them, but he has some tragic flaws that contributed to the tragedy for his family members and himself.

Mary Tyrone Character Analysis:

When it comes to Mary Tyrone, she is shown as a lady who is a drug addict and suffers from other issues as well like self-deception and constant guilt.

For example, she is constantly occupied by her past memories when she was learning in a convent to become a concert pianist or a nun. She feels that her past or premarital life, when she was a younger girl, was far better than her married life. Based on her belief, she speaks happily within the play about the time when she was quite young and hopeful during her convent days.

Then, regarding her drug addiction, one can understand that she takes morphine to avoid the present harsh realities of her family life. Her husband, James Tyrone, subjected her to a dull and tiring lifestyle that involved frequent travelling, residing in cheap hotels, and spending time alone in hotel rooms. The boredom and loneliness contributed in making Mary a person who sought refuge in taking morphine as an addict. Her drug addiction cannot be justified based on her bitter married life experiences because normally everyone has to be accountable for their objectionable actions whether the actions are related to themselves or not. So the point of James Tyrone is justifiable here that Mary’s addiction is not solely caused by the mistakes that he made. Also, Tyrone hired an incompetent doctor after the birth of Edmund who gave somewhat extra morphine as prescription to Mary to remove her labour pain that initiated her morphine addiction. So yes, Tyrone’s mistakes contributed to her frustration and addiction, but one point remains valid. That is Mary should also be held accountable for her consistent morphine addiction that she carried on for so many years.

Besides, the relationship that Mary has with her sons in the drama is also unstable. The relationship became unstable because of her morphine addiction and emotional instability. She is shown as a loving/caring mother. But her addiction and emotional insecurity that she experienced due to her inability to cope with her married life issues do not let her relationship with her sons become stable in the play.

For example, Mary is concerned about Edmund’s health as he is suffering from tuberculosis. She does not admit the possibility of losing him because of a serious illness and mainly retreats into her peaceful memories of the past through morphine addiction. She denies that her son is suffering from any kind of serious illness like her father who also faced tuberculosis and eventually died because of it after some time. However, she inwardly knows about her son’s consumption, so she instructs him not to drink alcohol, as her father also used to drink despite TB and died early.
Then, when it comes to the relationship between Jamie and Mary, it is also tense. As Jamie is bitter about his mother’s drug addiction, he speaks harshly about her negative habit, and she strongly criticises him for that. Jamie loves his mother but is critical of her addiction that keeps their relationship unstable. Mary also loves his son but cannot act as he requires because of her weak willpower to get rid of the addiction.

Well, Mary also feels regret for the choices she made in her life. For example, Mary feels that she is partly unhappy because of the lifestyle Tyrone subjected her to. Another reason is that she could not give up her morphine addiction. Plus, she also didn’t fulfil her dream of becoming a concert pianist or a nun that she thought of becoming as a young woman in a convent. So she feels regret for not pursuing her dream of becoming a concert pianist or a nun. And she also feels regret for not overcoming her habit of using morphine that she took as an escape from her married life issues.

Plus, Mary also suffers from self-deception when she does not accept Edmund’s illness as serious, sometimes interprets her family’s concerns as accusations against her, and denies several times using morphine as an addict in the play, etc. Her denial saves her from emotional pain temporarily, but the same denial keeps her away from solving her current familial issues.

In short, it can be said that Mary’s character is a tragic character like James Tyrone because she has some tragic flaws such as not putting in enough effort to leave drug addiction and not striving to forget her painful married life memories. So the flaws make her character tragic despite her efforts to be a good mother and wife in the Tyrone family.

Jamie Tyrone Character Analysis:

Jamie Tyrone is the son of Mary Tyrone and James Tyrone. He is a person who wasted his potential as an actor, is irresponsible by nature, is a bad influence for his younger brother (Edmund), is cynical about people in general, shows harsh behaviour towards the family, and has a self-destructive attitude.

Regarding his acting career, one has to say that Jamie wasted his potential because he didn’t want to become an actor. His father forced him into acting, and this resulted in his wasted acting career. This shows that he wanted to become something else, but Tyrone forced him to adopt a career that he didn’t feel interested in.

Then, when it comes to Jamie’s relationship with his father, the reader can understand that his relationship is obviously tense due to Tyrone’s stinginess, his wasted career, and other issues. Tyrone is right when he says in the play that Jamie should have become a good example for his younger brother and a good son for the family by having a positive attitude towards life. But he is wrong when he says that Jamie is totally responsible for his objectionable lifestyle and wasted career. Jamie was affected by his father’s stinginess and career enforcement. For example, he couldn’t have a permanent home for himself and the family where he could be taught the positive sides of life reliably. He stayed in cheap hotels during his father’s acting career with other family members and might have engaged with the kinds of people a person should stay away from. So Jamie engaged with prostitutes, drank alcoholic drinks, and became cynical towards people in general.

Besides, when it comes to Jamie’s education, one learns that he wasn’t a good student either. So Jamie didn’t study properly, nor did he become a successful actor like his father, James Tyrone. But obviously, his lack of education and professional success cannot be considered his fault alone because Tyrone’s stinginess and lifestyle affected the whole family, including Jamie.

Plus, as far as the relationship between Jamie and Edmund is concerned, they have a complex relationship as Jamie has also confessed near the end of the drama that he feels jealousy towards him because of his better learning potential and opportunities. Jamie admits in the play that he deliberately influenced his younger brother, Edmund, negatively so that he could not make more progress than himself. But Jamie is also ashamed of being a bad influence on his brother and feels guilty for distracting Edmund from the right path.

As Jamie is shown passing harsh remarks about his mother, his relationship with his mother, Mary, is also tense. Jamie feels frustrated with his life partly because of Mary, a morphine addict. He wants her to get rid of the addiction, but she is unable to give up morphine addiction because of her weak willpower and consistent attachment to her past memories whether these are harsh or sweet. She mainly relies on her younger days to get rid of the current time’s emotional pain or distress when she was learning in a convent to become a concert pianist or a nun before meeting her husband, James Tyrone.

In short, Jamie Tyrone is a self-destructive or tragic character who, because of his cynical, harsh, and irresponsible nature, remains unable to solve his problems and his familial issues in the play. Plus, he also remains deeply influenced by the bitterness of his past that makes him turn to alcohol, prostitutes, and blame games to escape his current harsh reality.

Edmund Tyrone Character Analysis:

Edmund Tyrone is the son of James Tyrone & Mary Tyrone and is a highly sensitive character in the play. Edmund suffers from consumption or TB. Basically, he is psychologically vulnerable and physically weak due to his personal and familial issues.

For example, as far as his relationship with his mother, Mary, is concerned, they have a loving but disturbed relationship. Edmund loves his mother, and his mother loves him as well. But Mary’s drug addiction affects Edmund in a highly negative way. He feels that his mother does not strive to get rid of the addiction and attachment to the past’s harsh memories. And he, as a result, gets affected by her addiction and her frustration with married life.

Similarly, Edmund’s relationship with his father, Tyrone, is tense. According to him, Tyrone’s stinginess affects the whole family and has caused several issues for them, including Mary’s addiction and his consistent illness. Edmund is right that Tyrone’s stinginess affects the whole family, but they are also responsible for their long-term issues. For example, Edmund is pessimistic towards life because of the suffering he experiences and observes in his home and society. He is interested in reading books from such writers who are not optimistic and present a raw picture of life. The pessimistic approach and the effect of reading raw literature are so negative that these make him psychologically vulnerable and physically weak. The reason is that a human mind, if affected, affects the body as well.

Then, as far as the relationship between Jamie and Edmund is concerned, they have a complex relationship because Jamie is jealous of Edmund despite his real love for his younger brother. And Edmund became influenced and spoiled by Jamie’s objectionable lifestyle that led Edmund to face several failures in life related to education and career. Jamie confesses that he deliberately distracted Edmund from the right path due to his jealousy and feels ashamed of doing that. But he loves him too, being his elder brother. So he warns him against taking any of his advice seriously.

Plus, Edmund also feels alienated from his family and society in general because of his philosophical and literary outlook towards life. His deep thinking about life makes him philosophical. Besides, he tells his father, while describing his sea experience as a sailor, that he literally felt connected with nature because of his sailing adventures. The connection with nature remains a topic of discussion in literature. Also, Edmund intends to become a great writer and wrote some poems too for a magazine. So his philosophical and literary outlook towards life makes him a highly intellectual, sensitive, and imaginative character in the play. Then, he is also somewhat fond of death as he sees no real purpose in life except suffering and oppression in the world.

In other words, Edmund’s character is tragic because of his pessimistic attitude towards life despite his intelligence. He is also preoccupied with the concept of mortality. He feels that life has no solid purpose because of the acute level of oppression and suffering in the world. Due to these tragic flaws, one can say that Edmund is also neither a pure victim nor a complete villain like other Tyrones in his family.

Conclusion:

So that is all what I have to share with you regarding the complete guide to the character analysis in Long Day’s Journey into Night. I hope you found my piece quite useful. And if you really feel that the piece is useful, then please share it with your connections. In this way, they can also read my article to have a deep understanding of the play’s major characters.

A Complete Guide to the Character Analysis in Long Day’s Journey into Night