In his Long Day’s Journey, Mary Tyrone appears to possess the dual
Kleinian role in a marked way. This could be observed differently in her
thoughts, mental disposition towards the sons, and verbal expressions. The
good breast role is to be found in her deep motherly affection and caring attitude for the younger son Edmund in the play. She shows deep sense of
concern on his ill health and possible tuberculosis. It makes her develop open
and direct confrontation with her husband and accuses him of miserliness
and saving money at the cost of Edmund’s health. It also makes her develop
antipathy towards Dr. Hardy who has been advising medical treatment to
Edmund. She charges him as a third degree cheap doctor, “I wouldn’t believe
a thing he said, if he swore on a stack of bibles!”
. Edmund, as the play
opens, seems to be suffering from some disturbing health problem that has
taken away his appetite and affected his physical appearance. He seems to be
growing thin with sallow complexion that distinguishes him from strong and
sturdy elder brother Jamie. Mary’s motherliness is evident in her deep desire
to see him healthy and fully recovered from the trouble. It even makes her
behave bizarrely in building illusions about his health and returning to
terrible morphine addiction. Having lost a son earlier through infected
measles, she cannot bear the very idea of losing another son through another
disease. Therefore she consoles herself verbally that what troubles Edmund
is just a common cold that has taken away his appetite, and a bit of care will
do him perfectly well, “James, it’s Edmund you ought to scold for not eating
enough. . . I keep telling him that but he simply has no appetite. Of course
there’s noting takes away your appetite like a bad summer cold” . And in
response to James assurance that “it’s natural and don’t let yourself get
worried”, Mary retorts “Oh I’m not. I know he’ll be all right in a few days if
he takes care of himself” . These verbal expressions however, are
contradicted by her thoughts and mental disposition. In fact, one of the
strong reasons for her recent return to morphine lies in her deep concern
about Edmund’s health and possible tuberculosis. Her genuine motherliness
is evident in her infrequent verbal expression to Edmund himself. For
instance, the mere sound of his coughing for instance alarms her to a
disproportionate level. Warm motherly affections are evident when she finds
Edmund coughing nervously: Mary. “(Goes worriedly to Edmund and puts
her arm around him). You mustn’t cough like that it’s bad for your throat.
You don’t want to get a sore throat on top of your cold” with James and
Jamie very early in play. It is her concern for his well being that makes her
deny Edmund having any serious problem, and for her “It’s just a cold!”
, and to James remarks that “doctor hardy thinks it might be a bit of
malarial fever he caught when he was in the tropics” Mary retorts with
contemptuous expressions, “Doctor Hardy! I wouldn’t believe a thing he
said, if he swore on a stack of Bibles!”
But the bad breast role is equally evident and in fact more vocal, but
annihilating than of nurturance, motherliness and affection. It is evident in
her failure to act responsibly in leaving young Eugene to die of infected
measles at home. As a mother, she should have taken it her first responsibility to look after the baby or take proper measure in that direction
if she had to leave. She becomes directly responsible for his immediate death
through measles. It is equally evident in her whole attitude after Eugene
death. It fills her with deep sense of guilt for the whole life that is evident in
the following pathetic expressions:
I blame myself. I swore after Eugene died I would never have another
baby. I was to blame for his death. If I hadn’t left him with my mother
to join you on the road, because you wrote telling me you missed me
and were lonely, Jamie would never have been allowed, when he still
had measles, to go in the baby’s room .
Secondly, it compels her to behave unnaturally and un-motherly in her
avoidance to procreate another baby (Edmund in this case). Hinden
terms her attitude to Edmund birth as one of denial of his identity, something
that is “clouded in refusal” and if it is procreated at all, it is necessitated
by the desire to blot out the guilt of personal responsibility in the death of
Eugene earlier. Mary tells Tyrone plaintively,
“Above all I should not have let you insist I have other baby to take
Eugene’s place, because you thought that would make me forget his
death. I knew something terrible would happen. I knew I’d proved by the
way I’d left Eugene that I wasn’t worthy to have another baby, and that
God would punish me if I did, I never should have born Edmund”.
Here the bad breast role emerges strongly in her character. Procreation is
essential to motherhood as is evident in Nina Leeds’ strong desire to
procreate in Strange Interlude. On the other hand, a woman who refuses to
procreate without any valid reason that could be biological in fact denies her
natural motherly self and attempts to annihilate the possibility of a child
being born. In Mary’s case, the refusal was based on certain unfounded fears
rather than on her inability to play a role of nurturance and care that resulted
in death of the helpless baby. Then, her attitude to Edmund, when he is born,
is indicative of her negative self on several occasions in the play. In the first
place, his birth coincided with his miserable lonely existence in dirty hotels,
morphine injections to relieve her of birth pain for which he could not be
blamed. In fact, it was Edmund’s birth that put her on the lifelong morphine
addiction. These particular memories make her respond aggressively,
irritably and negatively to Edmund, which contrasts with her motherliness to
him and reveal the deep fragmentation in her personality. Her attitude to
Jamie, the elder one, is marred by hostility, neglect, annihilation and denial
of her duty. Jamie — “the jealous elder brother, the cynical tempter of
innocent youth, pans, Mephistopheles Can . . .” is a miserable failure in
life. Drunkenness, prostitution and jealousy dominate his depraved
personality that he deliberately and persistently pursued as a self-destructive
strategy for evasion from the initial brought up in the family. Mary blames the past for making him so, “It’s wrong to blame your brother. He can’t help
being what the past has made him any more than your father can or you or I”
. In fact, his ruined state and personality is largely so because of his
mother’s inability to play a constructive part in nurturing his personality
along healthy lines. Mary’s conduct has ingrained in him a deep-seated
jealousy and a self-destructive attitude that is related strongly to Jamie’s need
of caring/nurturing mother. A positive motherly attitude would have
developed his personality and rescued him from such negative traits as
despair and extreme jealousy.
Work Citation
EduSoft, Academia. “MOTHERS IN EUGENE O'NEILL'S STRANGE INTERLUDE AND LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT.” LiBRI. Linguistic and Literary Broad Research and Innovation, www.academia.edu/35876334/MOTHERS_IN_EUGENE_ONEILLS_STRANGE_INTERLUDE_AND_LONG_DAYS_JOURNEY_INTO_NIGHT.
Kleinian role in a marked way. This could be observed differently in her
thoughts, mental disposition towards the sons, and verbal expressions. The
good breast role is to be found in her deep motherly affection and caring attitude for the younger son Edmund in the play. She shows deep sense of
concern on his ill health and possible tuberculosis. It makes her develop open
and direct confrontation with her husband and accuses him of miserliness
and saving money at the cost of Edmund’s health. It also makes her develop
antipathy towards Dr. Hardy who has been advising medical treatment to
Edmund. She charges him as a third degree cheap doctor, “I wouldn’t believe
a thing he said, if he swore on a stack of bibles!”
. Edmund, as the play
opens, seems to be suffering from some disturbing health problem that has
taken away his appetite and affected his physical appearance. He seems to be
growing thin with sallow complexion that distinguishes him from strong and
sturdy elder brother Jamie. Mary’s motherliness is evident in her deep desire
to see him healthy and fully recovered from the trouble. It even makes her
behave bizarrely in building illusions about his health and returning to
terrible morphine addiction. Having lost a son earlier through infected
measles, she cannot bear the very idea of losing another son through another
disease. Therefore she consoles herself verbally that what troubles Edmund
is just a common cold that has taken away his appetite, and a bit of care will
do him perfectly well, “James, it’s Edmund you ought to scold for not eating
enough. . . I keep telling him that but he simply has no appetite. Of course
there’s noting takes away your appetite like a bad summer cold” . And in
response to James assurance that “it’s natural and don’t let yourself get
worried”, Mary retorts “Oh I’m not. I know he’ll be all right in a few days if
he takes care of himself” . These verbal expressions however, are
contradicted by her thoughts and mental disposition. In fact, one of the
strong reasons for her recent return to morphine lies in her deep concern
about Edmund’s health and possible tuberculosis. Her genuine motherliness
is evident in her infrequent verbal expression to Edmund himself. For
instance, the mere sound of his coughing for instance alarms her to a
disproportionate level. Warm motherly affections are evident when she finds
Edmund coughing nervously: Mary. “(Goes worriedly to Edmund and puts
her arm around him). You mustn’t cough like that it’s bad for your throat.
You don’t want to get a sore throat on top of your cold” with James and
Jamie very early in play. It is her concern for his well being that makes her
deny Edmund having any serious problem, and for her “It’s just a cold!”
, and to James remarks that “doctor hardy thinks it might be a bit of
malarial fever he caught when he was in the tropics” Mary retorts with
contemptuous expressions, “Doctor Hardy! I wouldn’t believe a thing he
said, if he swore on a stack of Bibles!”
But the bad breast role is equally evident and in fact more vocal, but
annihilating than of nurturance, motherliness and affection. It is evident in
her failure to act responsibly in leaving young Eugene to die of infected
measles at home. As a mother, she should have taken it her first responsibility to look after the baby or take proper measure in that direction
if she had to leave. She becomes directly responsible for his immediate death
through measles. It is equally evident in her whole attitude after Eugene
death. It fills her with deep sense of guilt for the whole life that is evident in
the following pathetic expressions:
I blame myself. I swore after Eugene died I would never have another
baby. I was to blame for his death. If I hadn’t left him with my mother
to join you on the road, because you wrote telling me you missed me
and were lonely, Jamie would never have been allowed, when he still
had measles, to go in the baby’s room .
Secondly, it compels her to behave unnaturally and un-motherly in her
avoidance to procreate another baby (Edmund in this case). Hinden
terms her attitude to Edmund birth as one of denial of his identity, something
that is “clouded in refusal” and if it is procreated at all, it is necessitated
by the desire to blot out the guilt of personal responsibility in the death of
Eugene earlier. Mary tells Tyrone plaintively,
“Above all I should not have let you insist I have other baby to take
Eugene’s place, because you thought that would make me forget his
death. I knew something terrible would happen. I knew I’d proved by the
way I’d left Eugene that I wasn’t worthy to have another baby, and that
God would punish me if I did, I never should have born Edmund”.
Here the bad breast role emerges strongly in her character. Procreation is
essential to motherhood as is evident in Nina Leeds’ strong desire to
procreate in Strange Interlude. On the other hand, a woman who refuses to
procreate without any valid reason that could be biological in fact denies her
natural motherly self and attempts to annihilate the possibility of a child
being born. In Mary’s case, the refusal was based on certain unfounded fears
rather than on her inability to play a role of nurturance and care that resulted
in death of the helpless baby. Then, her attitude to Edmund, when he is born,
is indicative of her negative self on several occasions in the play. In the first
place, his birth coincided with his miserable lonely existence in dirty hotels,
morphine injections to relieve her of birth pain for which he could not be
blamed. In fact, it was Edmund’s birth that put her on the lifelong morphine
addiction. These particular memories make her respond aggressively,
irritably and negatively to Edmund, which contrasts with her motherliness to
him and reveal the deep fragmentation in her personality. Her attitude to
Jamie, the elder one, is marred by hostility, neglect, annihilation and denial
of her duty. Jamie — “the jealous elder brother, the cynical tempter of
innocent youth, pans, Mephistopheles Can . . .” is a miserable failure in
life. Drunkenness, prostitution and jealousy dominate his depraved
personality that he deliberately and persistently pursued as a self-destructive
strategy for evasion from the initial brought up in the family. Mary blames the past for making him so, “It’s wrong to blame your brother. He can’t help
being what the past has made him any more than your father can or you or I”
. In fact, his ruined state and personality is largely so because of his
mother’s inability to play a constructive part in nurturing his personality
along healthy lines. Mary’s conduct has ingrained in him a deep-seated
jealousy and a self-destructive attitude that is related strongly to Jamie’s need
of caring/nurturing mother. A positive motherly attitude would have
developed his personality and rescued him from such negative traits as
despair and extreme jealousy.
Work Citation
EduSoft, Academia. “MOTHERS IN EUGENE O'NEILL'S STRANGE INTERLUDE AND LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT.” LiBRI. Linguistic and Literary Broad Research and Innovation, www.academia.edu/35876334/MOTHERS_IN_EUGENE_ONEILLS_STRANGE_INTERLUDE_AND_LONG_DAYS_JOURNEY_INTO_NIGHT.
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