Long Day's Journey Into Night: Critical Perspectives

Introduction

Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night has been critically described in many ways: as an autobiographical work, as a tragedy with universal appeal, and as a manuscript informed by Taoist philosophy, among other readings. It might indeed be described as the autobiographical work of one of the most well-known American dramatists — one who incorporated aspects of everyday living and the nature of human instinct and despair into his writing. O'Neill clearly attempts to describe the longing and tragedy that are inherently part of the human psyche, and what better way to do this than to draw from true-life experience. The critics who support or refute these various interpretations are examined in detail below.

Winther (1961), one of O'Neill's earlier critics, suggests that O'Neill approaches tragedy from a universally appealing standpoint. According to Winther, O'Neill deals with the fall of man from prosperity into adversity in a manner "that is shocking and through causes that lie within man himself in relation to the outward forces of his world" (p. 298). In Long Day's Journey Into Night, O'Neill displays man as brought to disaster by "forces that are stronger than he is" (p. 298). Mary, for example, struggles for years in a state of inescapable despair, fighting forces of life she cannot control. Winther (1961) points out that each character has a flaw or failure and is also a combination of his inner self and the circumstances of an uncontrollable world.

S.K. Winther: Universal Tragedy and the Human Condition

Winther argues that O'Neill appeals to the idea that man is powerless to deal with life in any universally good way; rather, man goes through life in a state of fog — which in Long Day's Journey Into Night is the "dominant atmosphere." This is an accurate perception, as the characters seem to be struggling to find a path or golden road that does not exist in the midst of the fog.

Among the emotions presented in the play are sentiment, sorrow, and pathos, present in both characters and action (Winther, 1961, p. 300). Winther's critique focuses on observation of characters who suffer a variety of conditions, including Edmund, who suffers from tuberculosis. These characters elicit a sense of pathos and sympathy from the reader, and their emotional appeal, according to Winther, is virtually irresistible.

Winther's main purpose is to argue that O'Neill is a successful builder of irresolvable conflicts that are both modern and truly inevitable. He aims to show that O'Neill does an exceptional job of building tragedies that the audience can relate to on a personal level and that O'Neill is able to successfully elicit emotions and sympathy through his characters.

Winther clearly communicates the idea that O'Neill depicts characters who are, at best, lost wanderers seeking their yellow brick road — a path of escape from the fog toward the "Garden of Eden" — while all the time knowing their quest is futile and that no such garden exists (p. 306). Pfister (1995) supports Winther's premise that O'Neill understood the human condition and sought to create a work that included depth, passion, and the oppressive roles some individuals are subjected to within culture and society.

Winther supports his argument by comparing Long Day's Journey Into Night with other plays by O'Neill. He points out that the tragedy The Moon for the Misbegotten picks up the story of James Tyrone, presented in Long Day's Journey Into Night, approximately nine years after the ending of that work. In this follow-up play, Winther notes that the character is forced to see the faults of people formerly idealized, and to recognize the worth of the man driven to "disaster by the fates" which are "relentless in their determination" (p. 311).

Winther attempts to critically describe the work of a man who writes of haunting tragedies — perhaps the results of hardships experienced in O'Neill's own life, since the best dramatic works are often those derived from true-to-life experiences. Winther's arguments are grounded in sound principle and factual basis, drawing on specific examples from the text. For instance, when discussing the tragedy of Mary, he quotes her statement: "It's wrong to blame your brother. He can't help being what the past has made him…Or you. Or I…If I could only find the faith I lost, so I could pray again" (p. 298). He uses such quotes to illustrate a character's realization that her will — nor the will of any other — is able to conquer the forces of life that imprison her.

On a similar note, critic Harold Bloom (1987) suggests that O'Neill may be described as a dramatist who "is not exactly to be regarded as a celebrator of the possibilities of American life." Rather, Bloom suggests that O'Neill is the complete opposite of many popular authors, including Emerson. Bloom attempts to prove that O'Neill followed a "spiritual quest" of sorts to undermine Emerson's "American religion of self-reliance," supporting this argument through several different critiques of O'Neill's work included in his book.

Harold Bloom: Negativity and the American Ideal

Bloom's argument related to negativity is more powerful than some of the other critiques he includes. He points out that O'Neill's identifications — particularly that of Edmund — are "astonishingly negative, particularly in the American context." Bloom also compares O'Neill to Whitman. Though Whitman might also be seen as anti-Emerson, the primary characters in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night are different. They do not "long for death" in the "mode of Whitman and his descendants," according to Bloom (p. 2). Bloom supports this argument by comparing O'Neill to Wallace Stevens, T.S. Eliot, Hart Crane, and Theodore Roethke — writers who also incorporate imagery of despair and death, but who portray death as desired and attainable. By contrast, Edmund Tyrone and Larry Slade in O'Neill's work, though desiring of death, find that it is unavailable, at least as a respite from the tragedies of the world.

Bloom further attempts to prove that O'Neill's work runs counter to American universal idealism and spiritual traditions because its main preoccupation is "an everlasting game of trying to possess your own soul by the possession of something outside it" (O'Neill, cited in Bloom, 1987, p. 3). Bloom suggests that O'Neill depicts the nightmare realities "that can afflict American family life, indeed family life in the twentieth century" (p. 7) better than any dramatist of his time. However, Bloom too often goes off on tangents, discussing numerous other matters including his perceived observations of O'Neill's "genius." The criticism at times reads as confusing at best and unconvincing at worst.

Doris V. Falk is cited in Bloom's work, making several claims without initial support from the literature. For example, Falk describes Long Day's Journey as "excruciatingly powerful because it is so painfully and consistently realistic" (Bloom, 1987, p. 10). What exactly is realistic about the work, however, is not made clear. She goes on to discuss the moment when the elder Tyrone tells his son he has the "makings of a poet" and Edmund replies that he does not — that he "just stammers." Falk attempts to draw a comparison between an inarticulate child speaking with eloquence and reality, but the argument is not as powerful as it could be.

Bloom does successfully point out that symbols are key to O'Neill's depiction of man's inability to know himself or his destiny. Citing Falk, Bloom notes that the fog in the work is the first and last symbol O'Neill uses to depict man's inability to know himself, other men, or his destiny (Bloom, 1987, p. 10). This argument echoes Winther's (1961) observations about the symbolism of disparity and fog.

Bloom also cites Raymond Williams, who suggests that O'Neill's play has a "haunting effect" — a point similar to Winther's commentary. Williams argues that men are dramatized as being "lost, frustrated, and isolated, in a world of illusion and self-deception, a world they have distorted" (Bloom, 1987, p. 36). Williams takes the standpoint that life is not a static condition, and that O'Neill successfully captures this idea. The extent to which this is "haunting," however, is left to interpretation.

James Robinson's (1982) examination of Long Day's Journey Into Night is markedly different from the majority of other studies. Rather than exploring the negativity and despair of man's plight as so many other authors do, Robinson attempts to compare the "dynamic polarities that correspond to the ideas of Taoism" (Robinson, 1982, p. 8). Like many classical critiques, Robinson suggests that man's hopes and beliefs are addressed in the work, but compares them with a "veil of maya that obscures the void at the center of reality" (p. 8). He supports this by discussing characters who seek peace in passive transcendence of the "desires and struggles of existence" (p. 9).

Conclusion

There are many ways to interpret O'Neill's dramatic work Long Day's Journey Into Night. The critics examined here all make important statements regarding O'Neill's literary influences and intentions. There is strong supporting evidence from authors such as Atkinson and Shaughnessy suggesting that Long Day's Journey, as well as O'Neill's subsequent plays, were autobiographical in nature — at least to the extent that they depicted the hardships Americans faced growing up in a changing society.