O'Neill's Presence in Long Day's Journey into Night

For several hundred years, when artists such as Raphael began subtly inserting their self-portraits into their works, art and literature have become a means of self portrayal and self- expression. From Charlotte Bronte to James Joyce, literary figures of every background masterfully project aspects of their lives’ onto those of their characters. As authors have developed such clever methods of placing autobiographical aspects in their works, they may, as in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, never actualize in the form of one single character. Rather, as O’Neill displays, authors may project certain aspects of their background or beliefs onto several characters, creating a subtle autobiography which often eludes readers at first glance. Though O’Neill never appears in his work as a specific character, elements of every character culminate in the creation of a sort of “fifth Tyrone”- the author himself (Mann).

O’Neill sets the play in 1912, the year he left home and entered a sanatorium to begin recovery from tuberculosis, as well as the year in which he began his writing career. These elements of O’Neill’s younger self manifest themselves in the character of Edmund, and though he alone fails to holistically depict aspects of O’Neill’s life, Edmund successfully represents the young O’Neill, hurt and haunted by his own family’s arguments and substance abuse. As Edmund undergoes numerous epiphanies throughout the work, he begins to understand the reasons behind his family’s guilt and anger. Yet he remains ignorant to the realization that his sufferings and the failures of his family members have prepared him for success in the future. Though Edmund mimics the feelings experienced by the young O’Neill, he is limited only to these, and as he remains ignorant and naive, the playwright turns to another presence, identified in the work as the unseen narrator, in order to depict the transition from his younger self to an older, more experienced man. 

In his dedication of the work, O’Neill reveals that he wrote the play with “deep pity and understanding and forgiveness for all the four haunted Tyrones.”  This image of O’Neill as an older, wiser, more mature, compassionate figure manifests itself in the voice of the narrator. Through this presence O’Neill allows himself to reflect on the past, now regarding his family members as victims of fate, a perspective unavailable to his younger, unforgiving self. Though the narrator remains distant and unseen throughout the work, his omnipresence allows O’Neill to see things from every point of view, ultimately realizing his family’s contributions to his success as a writer. It is in this realization that numerous parallels are drawn between the playwright’s life and the lives of his characters. In James, the sold-out failure of an actor, representative of his own father, O’Neill learns a lesson in artistic integrity and uncompromising standards. From his self-destructive brother, manifested in the character of Jamie, came O’Neill’s introduction to the writers and poets who ultimately influenced his own works. Finally, from Mary Tyrone, a portrait of O’Neill’s mother, the playwright learns the lesson on which he centers his entire play: the lonely, painful nature of our flawed humanity.  

Though O’Neill travelled through much of his life troubled and tormented, blaming and resenting his family, transitions and revelations within his work Long Day’s Journey into Night, allowed him to emerge from the past with a grateful understanding, and at least a shred of hope for the future. By injecting this positive aspect of his life into the work and ending the play on a relatively unresolved note, Eugene O’Neill hints to his readers that there quite possibly may be a light at the end of their long, hopeless journey into night. 

Mann, Bruce. “O’Neill’s ‘Presence’ in Long Day’s Journey into Night.”  Drama Criticism. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Lee County Library System. 7 Sept. 2008