This was an interesting story to say the least. It was not my favorite piece of literature we have read this Spring. On a positive note, it was funny to hear the Tyrone family go back and forth in their ridiculous, repetitive conversations. On another note though I did not like this play because everyone is dependent upon someone or something. I had a hard time relating to the characters and not getting frustrated. There is not a happy ending, yes I know life doesn't always end like Hollywood's perfect endings but this story just ends in pain caused upon by each other.
Maybe Mary's dependency upon Morphine is related to her dependency of her husband, Tyrone.
Tyrone: "You're a fine armful now. Mary with those twenty pounds you've gained"
Mary: "I've gotten too fat, you mean, my dear. I really ought to reduce."
Tyrone: "You didn't. Not as much as I'd like to see, anyway."
You can tell how much she values her husbands opinion of herself over he own opinion. At this point in their relationship, I don't think she has a voice anymore. Whenever, I read characters I envision myself as that character to understand them better. I had a very hard time putting myself in Mary's shoes. Maybe its the fact that I'm strong-willed and don't rely on other people's opinion that made me cringe the entire time reading Mary's character. Needless to say, I think the reason why she is addicted to Morphine is because she relies solely on her husband to support her mentally and physically. Since she can't support herself mentally with her own free will then she relies on a drug to stimulate her.
Another reason I was not a fan of this story is the repetitive pattern of their lives. They wake up everyday and do the same events. It's like Groundhog day, everyday for the Tyrone family. They are all slowly dying due to their addictions. Edmund has Tuberculosis and is dying. All of the men have serious drinking problems, where they drink till they pass out. While Mary has her Morphine addiction. Its just a sad sad family with no hope, literally dying in a living room. Their all just wasting away....
Your comments about Mary's weight are interesting. When I started reading the play, I thought that her concerns about her weight was just O'Neill hinting at problems with her self-esteem (which I think is still true). Having realized later in the text that she is a morphine addict, however, I think the dialogue between Mary and Tyrone also hints at something deeper- that at one point she was wasting away from a morphine addiction and that she hasn't gained "as much [weight] as [Tyrone would] like to see" because she is still, in fact, addicted.
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