"For Carlotta...from Gene" -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 20:10:52 03/25/08 Tue
Author: CS Holden
Subject: "For Carlotta...from Gene"

I'm interested in O'Neill's dedication of this play to his wife, specifically because of the language he uses to introduce "Long Day's Journey into Night." It seems he's speaking the language of catharsis, of expiation and relief, but there is little of that in the play itself. I wonder, then, if the play was a vehicle for the author's catharsis. That also makes me think about the similarity between the conception of God the Creator and authors-the-creators, and that perhaps the suffering of the characters appeases their creator. It is O'Neill, after all, who has placed them in this mimetic cycle and deprived them of release. (I write that and doubt it at the same time.)

Anyways, O'Neill calls the play a "play of old sorrow, written in tears and blood. A sadly inappropriate gift, it would seem, for a day celebrating happiness." He then says it was his wife's "love and tenderness which gave me the faith in love that enabled me to face my dead at last and write this play--write it with deep pity and understanding and forgiveness for ALL the four haunted Tyrones."

Playing on the title, he calls his marriage "a Journey into Light--into love."

What's all this about pity, understanding, forgiveness, and happiness, and how do they relate in the play to tears, blood, and old sorrow? Is the author's catharsis into light the result of the play's journey into night?

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Replies:

Re: "For Carlotta...from Gene" -- Katelyn R., 20:58:56 03/26/08 Wed