Long Day's Journey into Night

Long Day's Journey into Night
Original window card, 1956
Written by	Eugene O'Neill
Characters	Mary Cavan Tyrone James Tyrone Edmund Tyrone James Tyrone, Jr. Cathleen
Date premiered	2 February 1956
Place premiered	Royal Dramatic Theatre , Sweden
Original language	English
Subject	An autobiographical account of his explosive home life with a drug-addicted mother.
Genre	Drama
Setting	The summer home of the Tyrones, August 1912

Long Day's Journey into Night is a drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1941–42 but first published in 1956. The play is widely considered to be his magnum opus. The play premiered in Sweden in February 1956 and then opened on Broadway in November 1956, winning the Tony Award for Best Play.

O'Neill posthumously received the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. Long Day's Journey into Night is often regarded to be one of the finest American plays of the 20th century. The play concerns the Tyrone family – including parents James and Mary and their sons Edmund and Jamie. Mary is addicted to drugs and Edmund is ill with tuberculosis. The "Long Day" refers to the setting of the play, which takes place during one day. The play is semi-autobiographical.

The play takes place on a single day in August 1912, from around 8:30 a.m. to midnight. The setting is the seaside Connecticut home of the Tyrones' Monte Cristo Cottage. The four main characters are the semi-autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents.

This play portrays a family in a ferociously negative light as the parents and two sons express accusations, blame, and resentments – qualities which are often paired with pathetic and self-defeating attempts at affection, encouragement, tenderness, and yearnings for things to be otherwise. The pain of this family is made worse by their depth of self-understanding and self-analysis, combined with a brutal honesty, as they see it, and an ability to boldly express themselves. The story deals with the mother’s addiction to morphine, the family’s addiction to whiskey, the father’s miserliness, the older brother’s licentiousness, and younger brother’s illness.

James Tyrone is a 65-year-old actor who had long ago bought a "vehicle" play for himself and had established his reputation based on this one role with which he had toured for years. Although that "vehicle" had served him well financially, he is now resentful that his having become so identified with this character has limited his scope and opportunities as a classical actor. He is a wealthy though somewhat miserly man. His money is all tied up in property which he hangs on to in spite of impending financial hardship. His dress and appearance are showing signs of his strained financial circumstances, but he retains many of the mixed affectations of a classical actor in spite of his shabby attire.