Eugene O’Neill, an Irish American playwright wrote many delightful plays that contain much detail and thought. Desire Under the Elms is a great example of a play that captures the story of a widower, Ephraim Cabot who leaves his farm in New England to his three sons. These three sons that he has just like him to share his cupidity, but other than that they don’t like him. Two of his grown sons, Peter and Simeon are tired of him and the work he gives them so they decide to head out to California for the gold rush. Even though it was a farm that people viewed with jealousy, the two brothers didn’t like it here. They don’t know what could happen next but they believe it will be much better experience for them than the place that is known as their father’s farm.
In this play, there were many quotes that had very deep meanings to it. The meaning sometimes meant something else than it seemed like it intended, and sometimes it just had a lot of different meanings behind a single line. Like in the beginning when Simeon and Peter decide to move out of their father’s farm and to California, t...
The many themes contained within the play are additional evidence that the play was constructed for a specific group of people who would find it entertaining. The role of cooperation and the formation of co-op’s in the mid-west are two of the central themes to Paper Wheat. In a scene entitled The Report in Act II, the audience listens to a monologue given by Ed Partridge in whi...
created the play as a comedy, showing how the world might be in the times of the
I noticed a few major symbols throughout the scenes in this play. For example, Mama’s plant; this plant never fails to be watered and taken care of by Mama, and this represents not only her caring and compassionate attitude towards a plant but her attitude towards her family as well. Her care for her plant is similar to her care for her children, both unconditional and unending despite the less-than-perfect “garden” that it is in(their house).
meanings along with what is going on in the plot of the play, it is
...onnects his audience to the characters and although the play is written for the Elizabethan era, it remains pertinent by invoking the notion of human nature. He implements themes of love, anger, and impulsiveness and demonstrates the influence these emotions have on human behavior. It is evident that because human nature is constant, people have and will continue to be affected by these emotions.
scene ii, ll.46-50). This quote from the play also shows the importance of night and
The characters address the audience; the fast movement from scene to scene juxtaposing past and present and prevents us from identifying with particular characters, forcing us to assess their points of view; there are few characters who fail to repel us, as they display truly human complexity and fallibility. That fallibility is usually associated with greed and a ruthless disregard for the needs of others. Emotional needs are rarely acknowledged by those most concerned with taking what they maintain is theirs, and this confusion of feeling and finance contributes to the play's ultimate bleak mood.
Another major theme in the play is that characters are reluctant to tell the truth because they are afraid of the consequences. In the play there are several occasions when one or more characters don’t want to tell the truth because they are afraid of the consequences. For example, Jocasta says, “Stop- in the name of god, if you love your own life, call of this search! M...
In this essay I will explore how significant act 3 scene 7 is to the
...n the play is shown through Parris’ frequent biblical allusions. He is aligning himself with the central values of the community, hoping that this will result in his acceptance and restore his belonging, which is constantly on shaky grounds. However in his desire to relate himself with Godliness and belong to this Christian society, he goes too far and starts to compare himself with God, saying he has “fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me”. This pride and self importance leads to his exclusion by most of the townspeople.
...of the characters’ lives as their motivation affects what they do. The play’s overall theme of manipulation for personal gain as well as general control transmits to me clearly that we are not in control, of the events that happen to us. In spite of that revelation we are in control of the way in which we react to the circumstances in our lives. Hence, no human fully grasps the capabilities to control the way we act. We simply allow certain circumstances to overpower us and dictate our actions. Ultimately, I learned that we are our actions and consequently we should acknowledge the accountability that is implied when we act a certain way. Instead of blaming others for the mistakes we make, we should understand that we have the control as much as the power to make our own decisions rather than giving that ability someone else.
This play shows the importance of the staging, gestures, and props making the atmosphere of a play. Without the development of these things through directions from the author, the whole point of the play will be missed. The dialog in this play only complements the unspoken. Words definitely do not tell the whole story.
Apparent madness pervade the play. But such a survey has another consequence which might easily be overlooked: that of highlighting the consistent lucidity of his soliloquies, despite whatever anger, disgust, and/or melancholia is expressed therein.
This soliloquy is important to the play because it shows how words that were not intended, could be intended in this play. There is a lot of that in this play. This soliloquy triggers the turning point in the play when the two lovers begin to get to know each other and make plans for the future about where to meet and such. In their previous encounter, they did not talk about the future, or even exchange names. Here, they begin the love trek that is fated to end.
In “Desire Under the Elms”, by Eugene O’Neill, many uses of both biblical and mythological allusions can be seen. These allusions help add depth to the plot of the play by linking the play to other similar, well-known stories. Three of the best allusions are seen in Cabot’s talk about how God is a strong god, his talk about God being in the stones, and his telling Eben that he is blind as a mole.