Long Day's Journey into Night Writing Style
The play of Long Day's Journey into Night (a play written by O'Neill) is about the single day of Tyrone family in their summer home in August 1912. Moreover, its style consists of specific elements. The stylistic components of Long Day's Journey into Night are:
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Autobiographical elements:
An autobiography is the account of a person's life which is written by that person. There is much space for autobiographical elements in Long Day's Journey into Night. Also, the Tyrone family represents real family members of O' Neill. For example, O' Neill had the same disease as in Edmund (tuberculosis), and he was also about to enter a sanatorium but for the mild case of tuberculosis. O' Neill's father is James O' Neill, and his father was also a successful actor like James Tyrone. Besides, O' Neill's mother called Ella O' Neill suffered from morphine addiction under the similar circumstances described in the play. Further, O' Neill's elder brother was a struggling actor and an alcoholic man like Jamie. So, this play is autobiographical regarding many elements.
Allusions:
An allusion is an indirect and short reference to a person, place, thing, or an idea of literary, cultural, historical, or political importance. For example, Mr James Tyrone referred to the famous American actor, Edwin Booth, in Long Day's Journey into Night. He said that he once acted on stage with Booth. Also, Tyrone revealed his happiness for Booth's approval of Tyrone's acting skills. Then, Tyrone expressed his grief over earning less income (easy money) for his much valuable acting ability. So, this allusion is historical for its relation to American theatre history.
Foreshadowing:
Long Day's Journey into Night begins pleasantly. The day is shiny, and the initial conversational exchanges between Mary and Tyrone are lovely and playful. Still, there are tragic foreboding clues, and the writer introduces them quickly in the first act.
As an example, the behaviour of Mary signalled her return to morphine use. So, a reader learns that Mary spent a sleepless night and her appetite was still low in the morning during the first act.
Further, she appeared restless by her slightly confused and mildly hysterical behaviour. Also, Mary's fluttering hands, some obsessive concern with hair, and the inability to find her glasses are signs of her losing self-control in the play.
Therefore, the story foretells its tragic turn.
Monologue:
A monologue is a speech that is given by a single character in a story. In Long Day's Journey into Night, there are many monologues of characters. For example, Mary expresses her past thoughts about her nunnery (desire) as some semi-mad person (due to morphine use) in the final act. Also, Tyrone talks about his earlier life in the theatre industry in the fourth act. Then, he explains his sadness over earning less income for his much valuable acting skills. Therefore, the play has bits of monologues here and there.
Naturalism:
Naturalism is a literary genre and a movement in literature. According to it, the social conditions, environment, and nature of familial relationships shape human character. Therefore, naturalistic writers write such stories based on the idea of situations that control human actions or behaviour. Also, such tales involve the exposure (a painful process) of the characters' inner selves up to their unconscious levels. These tales show unpleasant and painful sides in the lives of the characters. As an instance, O' Neill is a naturalistic author, and his work, Long Day's Journey into Night, is an example of naturalism. In this story, the characters appear to get controlled by their past conditions. Their problems remain unsolved at the end of the play. For example, there is no logical outcome of Edmund's bad health (a T.B. patient) nor Mary's fate (a drug-addict) in the final part of the story. So, Long Day's Journey into Night is a naturalistic play.
Final words:
Consequently, Long Day's Journey into Night style is made of elements such as monologue, naturalism, and allusions that make the play a highly admirable work of O'Neill.