Perceptions of Characters in A Moon For the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neil
One of the major themes in the play, “A Moon for the Misbegotten” by Eugene O’ Neill, is the fact that people are rarely what they seem to be at first glance. We see this theme in at least three out of the six characters in the play. “A Moon for the Misbegotten” is the story of an Irish father, Phil Hogan, and his daughter Josie who live in a small shanty on a farm in Connecticut.
In the beginning of the play Phil Hogan is portrayed as a drunk, greedy farmer with absolutely no morals. In addition, he seems to be willing to sacrifice anything for a little bit of money. We also see him overindulging in alcohol but being stingy when it comes to sharing it with others. As soon as the curtain opens on the first act, we see that Mike, one of his children is leaving home because he can no longer deal with the lack of morality in the house. Mike also makes the audience aware that he is the third one of Phil Hogan’s sons that is leaving for this reason.
Josie Hogan, the only daughter of Phil Hogan, is the only one who seems to have completely followed in her father’s footsteps. She is a massive, overweight woman. We learn very early on that she is considered to be a slut by everyone in the town, and that she has a very rough way of speaking to people. She also seems to share her father’s attitude that the best way to go through life is as an immoral individual. In the very beginning of the play we find her lamenting the fact that three of her brothers have gone off to live their lives as upstanding citizens.
Another important character in this play is the Hogan’s landlord, James Tyrone, Jr. Before we even meet him, we learn from Josie that he has a reputation of “going to Broadway” to sleep with whores every night. The first time the audience is introduced to him, he is coming to visit the Hogan farm. We see him as a wealthy, upper-class landowner that has everything but still likes to impose on the less wealthy-namely the Hogans.
However, all of these perceptions that we have at first slowly begin to change as the play goes on and we come to realize the true personalities of all of the characters.
Firstly, being in an Italian in an Australian society has affected Josie in many different ways because the way people view her affects her in the start of the novel because she doesn’t know who she is because she hasn’t developed her cultural identity. Later in the novel, she accepts that she is a ‘wog’ and this affects
Each character, in some capacity, is learning something new about themselves. Whether it be new views, new feelings, newfound confidence, or a new realization of past events, each character involved in the play realizes something view-altering by the end of the play. Bonny is realizing that she is growing up and discovering how to deal with boys, and to lie to her parents; Elsie realizes that she doesn’t need her father for everything, and eventually overcomes her fear of driving on her own; Grace is discovering that she must let her children think for themselves at times, and that she must let Charlie choose what he wants to do; and Charlie, of course, is discovering that there are more ways to think than the status quo that society presents. Each character obviously goes through very different struggles throughout the play, but in the end, they all result in realizing something about themselves they didn’t at the beginning of the
Other characters are introduced throughout the play one by one; this creates a build-up of different levels of plot and character tension. The more characters the more drama and suspense as each character adds more to the storyline. For example, first the lead player, Vereen, and the other fictional players that are presumably “in” Pippin’s head are intro...
A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
Shakespeare’s plays show the complexity of human beings. Everyone is different in reactions, actions, and thought. Shakespeare explores various themes throughout his writing career. Each play is unique, and their themes are handled in a very distinct way as Shakespeare writes each work with great care. Two major themes are appearance versus reality and relationship between motive and will; Othello, Hamlet, and Henry IV, Part 1 all portray these two themes in similar and different ways.
Graham, Miss Ruddock and Susan are all presented as human beings with intrinsic weaknesses that allow Alan Bennett to inflict unhappiness on them. He made Graham a ‘mommy’s boy’ without the mental wherewithal to make it on his own in the big scary World. Miss Ruddock is presented as someone who has the shadow of mental illness hanging over her and has let the rest of society move on without her. Susan is weak of will and lacks the inner strength to do as Ramesh and “take the profit and move on.” (Bennett, 1987, p, 84) Throughout the three monologues, Alan Bennett makes you laugh out loud at times, yet there is real tragedy here too. “However, what remains with the audience is his respect for the neglected characters, and how funnily and inventively he has used the monologue form.” (Turner, 1997, p, 66)
The pointedness of the play is created through a distinct plot path. The observer is lead through the story, seeing first how greatly Amanda Wingfield influences her children. Secondly, the play-goer notes how Tom Wingfield desperately struggles and writhes emotionally in his role of provider- he wants more than just to be at home, taking care of his all-too-reminiscent mother and emotionally stunted sister. Tom wants to get out from under his mother’s wing; his distinct ambitions prevent him from being comfortable with his station in life. Lastly, Laura struggles inside herself; doing battle against her shyness, Laura begins to unfurl a bit with Jim, but collapses once again after Jim announces his engagement and leaves her, again. Each character struggles and thrashes against their places in life, but none of them achieve true freedom. This plot attests to the fact that true change and freedom can only come through the saving power of God Almighty and Jesus Christ, and by letting go of the past.
As I reflected more and more on Wilson's masterpiece, my anger turned to curiosity instead of my curiosity waning, it grew. I felt like I was unraveling a huge ball of yarn. In a play about family, a million different issues are lived. I was astounded at the number of issues that Wilson touched upon, issues ranging from family relationships, to problems in the workplace, racial tensions, and infidelity. And under each one of these was another, underlying issue, the reason, or the catalyst that enabled these to prevail.
changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the
The façades that the individual characters assume are all essential to the complex deception and insanity that follow. Shakespeare's characters, it would seem, all have `multi-faceted' personalities (with the exception of Horatio). The true thoughts of these characters are seen only as asides, soliloquies or, in Hamlet's case, through the manipulation of language.
O’Neill, Eugene. “Memorandum on Masks” in O’Neill and His Plays. Oscar Cargill et. al. eds. NY: New York University Press, 1963.
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Upon examining Shakespeare's characters in this play, Hamlet proves to be a very complex character, and functions as the key element to the development of the play. Throughout the play we see the many different aspects of Hamlet's personality by observing his actions and responses to certain situations. Hamlet takes on the role of a strong character, but through his internal weaknesses we witness his destruction.
A dynamic character is a dramatic character who undergoes an important inner change. This change can be a change in the character’s personality or attitude. From the beginning to the end of the memoir The Disaster Artist, the character Tommy Wiseau changes significantly as more information about him is revealed. Without reading closely, it is easy for audiences to misunderstand that Tommy is the dynamic character. In fact, Tommy’s inner change is observed and described by Greg Sestero during the time Greg spends with Tommy, which means Tommy’s shift in character is shaped by Greg’s shift in his opinion about Tommy. Therefore, the true
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