Consider the dramatic impact of the opening pages of Act 3. In what ways does O'Neill here intensify his vision of the tragic fate of the Tyrone family?

Jack Hextall 08/11/02

Consider the dramatic impact of the opening pages of Act 3. In what ways does O’Neill here intensify his vision of the tragic fate of the Tyrone family?

O’Neill sets the scene for the third Act by giving us more than a page worth of introductory stage direction. The detail shown here is at such a level that it would be nearly impossible for a director and actors to do it total justice. There is even an instruction to have fog visible outside the windows. However, despite these challenges the writer has given us a very atmospheric setting, using pathetic fallacy to increase the tension. The foghorn is given an ominous description: “Moaning like a mournful whale in labour” (p.83). The depiction of the characters, Mary and Cathleen, are similarly intricate. Mary is said to have become more inebriated from her morphine than when we last saw her. O’Neill describes her as uncaring and seemingly youthful, but stuck in her own world of dreams.

As the conversation begins it becomes obvious that it is very one sided. Apart from the odd glimmer of recognition Mary never seems to respond to any of the comments that Cathleen makes, and in some parts of the dialogue she seems to not even know that her maid is there. This lack of communication is shown in other parts of the play, most notably near the end when Mary is so far from the real world that she regards her pleading family as strangers. We are given the sense that Mary is only using Cathleen as someone to talk to, but does not care about what she has to say. This is shown well when the latter is about to go away to help the cook, as Mary springs back to the real world with, “No, don’t go, Cathleen. I don’t want to be alone, yet” (p.85).

There are, however, many things that link the two women, in ways either similar or different. Both are intoxicated in some sense, although it is obvious that in Mary’s case her character has been more affected. Cathleen explains to Mary that their driver Smyth has been acting in a very abusive way. Even though Mary pays no attention to this whatsoever, we can tell that she also has been abused all her life, but in different ways. One could argue that Tyrone, her husband, put her through much hardship in the early years of her marriage. In the present she ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

There are, however, many things that link the two women, in ways either similar or different. Both are intoxicated in some sense, although it is obvious that in Mary’s case her character has been more affected. Cathleen explains to Mary that their driver Smyth has been acting in a very abusive way. Even though Mary pays no attention to this whatsoever, we can tell that she also has been abused all her life, but in different ways. One could argue that Tyrone, her husband, put her through much hardship in the early years of her marriage. In the present she is now being abused mostly by herself, by giving up her soul to a drug she has no control over.

As the conversation continues, Mary sinks fast into herself and the past. There are other monologues like this, most notably at the end of the play (from p.151). As with most of her other intoxicated speeches, in act 3 she starts by recollecting her happy memories from when she was still a convent girl. This makes her feel secure, because the main reasons she takes the drug is to blot out the troubles of past and present. There becomes a point later in the play when she talks of the past in the present tense because she is so trapped (p.151). Knowing it or not, Mary uses with the ever-present fog to symbolise this escape from reality: “It hides you from the world and the world from you. You feel that everything has changed, and nothing is what it seems to be” (p.84). She feels ashamed, lonely and helpless but the fog to her acts as a screen so that she cannot see the world, and the world cannot judge her.

This peace is always broken. After a while Mary remembers or discovers that her world is not a dream and that she has endured quite a hard life. In this scene she is always referring back to Tyrone, blaming him for many of their own, and their sons’ unforgettable problems. If the fog is a metaphor for Mary’s dreamland, then to her the foghorn is a wake-up call back to reality. She explains, “It won’t let you alone. It keeps reminding you, and warning you, and calling you back” (p.85). This is one off the reasons that the opening stage directions are so detailed, since O’Neill wanted to give the audience a vivid sense of Mary’s feelings by symbolising them in the form of the things that surround us.

At the end of the conversation Mary carries on talking to herself. It is here that we can see the full extent of the tragic loss of her faith and dreams. She says, “If I could only find the faith I lost, so I could pray again!” (p.92). She then proceeds to argue with herself after reciting the Hail Mary: “You expect the Blessed Virgin to be fooled by a lying dope fiend reciting words!” (p.92). This shows her inner torment as she has two sides of her personality battling for her soul. On the one side are her doped up false hopes and dreams, and on the other there is bleak pessimism and worry.

The passage sheds light on some of the reasons why the Tyrone marriage was never perfect. Mary contradicts herself by first celebrating their first romance and then passing it off as naïve childishness. “He was handsomer than my wildest dreams… At the same time he was simple and kind, and unassuming, not a bit stuck up or vain” (p.91), “What is so wonderful about that first meeting between a silly romantic schoolgirl and a matinée idol?” (p.92). It is clear that to Mary, her husband did not live up to her expectations, since she describes him as a drunkard, a philanderer and a miser. This is shown again when Mary, quite snobbishly, expresses her boredom and distaste of the theatre world. About this time theatre was not seen as very respectable, and Mary must have grown to detest the seediness of the idea. Their backgrounds as children were also very different. While Mary had a respectable, middle class upbringing, Tyrone helped his small family from the gutter and poverty and built himself up from there.

O’Neill has used very sharp observation to make the dialogue seem so real and atmospheric as this. In the scene he paints an arresting and compelling picture of Mary. The fact that the character is based strongly on his mother makes this only more harrowing, and tells us what the writer had to go through to produce the story. He has used metaphorical imagery and an uncompromising tone to make the passage not only realistic, but bleak. This is because it tells the reader or listener that there is little or no hope for Mary, and we are constantly forced to rethink our judgements of her as she tells us pieces of her story.

V6 Words