Chapter One: The novel begins with a personal note by the narrator, Nick
Carraway. He relates that he has a tendency to reserve all judgments
against people and that he has been conditioned to be understanding toward
those who haven't had his advantages. Carraway came from a prominent family
from the Midwest, graduated from Yale and fought in the Great War. After
the war and a period of restlessness, he decided to go East to learn the
bond business. At the book's beginning, Carraway has just arrived in New
York, living in West Egg village. He was going to have dinner with Tom
Buchanan and his wife Daisy. Tom was an enormously wealthy man and a noted
football player at Yale, and Daisy was Carraway's second cousin. Jordan
mentions that, since Carraway lives in West Egg, he must know Gatsby.
Another woman, Jordan Baker, is also there. She tells Nick that Tom is
having an affair with some woman in New York. Tom discusses the book "The
Rise of the Colored Empires," which claims that the colored races will
submerge the white race eventually. Daisy talks to Carraway alone, and
claims that she has become terribly cynical and sophisticated. After
visiting with the Buchanans, Carraway goes home to West Egg, where he sees
Gatsby come from his mansion alone, looking at the sea. He stretches out
his arms toward the water, looking at a faraway green light.
Chapter Two: Fitzgerald begins this second chapter with the description of
a road running between West Egg and New York City. A large, decaying
billboard showing two eyes (advertising an optometrist's practice)
overlooks the desolate area. It is here, at a gas station, where Tom
Buchanan introduces Nick Carraway to Myrtle Wilson, the woman with whom he
is having an affair. Myrtle herself is married to George B. Wilson, an auto
mechanic. Tom has Myrtle meet them in the city, where Tom buys her a dog.
They go to visit Myrtle's sister and also visit her neighbors, Catherine
McKee and her husband, who is an artist. They gossip about Gatsby, and
Myrtle discusses her husband, claiming that she was crazy to marry him, and
how she met Tom. Later, Myrtle and Tom argue about whether or not she has a
right to say Daisy's name, and he breaks Myrtle's nose.
Chapter Three: Nick Carraway describes the customs of Gatsby's weekly
parties: the arrival of crates of oranges and lemons, a corps of caterers
and a large orchestra. On the first night that Carraway visits Gatsby's
house, he was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. When he
arrives, he sees Jordan Baker, who had recently lost a golf tournament.
They hear more gossip about Jay Gatsby he supposedly killed a man, or was
a German spy. Jordan and Nick look through Gatsby's library, where she
thinks that his books are not real. Later in the party, a man who
recognized Nick from the war talks to him Nick does not know that it is
Gatsby. Suddenly, after he identifies himself, Gatsby gets a phone call
from Chicago. Afterwards, Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan Baker alone. When
she finishes talking to Gatsby, she tells Nick that she heard the most
amazing thing and says that she wishes to see him. Guests leaving the party
have a car wreck in Gatsby's driveway. This was merely one event in a
crowded summer. Carraway, who spent most of his time working, began to like
New York. For a while he lost sight of Jordan Baker. He was not in love
with her, but had some curiosity toward her.
Chapter Four: At a Sunday morning party at Gatsby's, young women gossip
about Gatsby (he's a bootlegger who killed a man who found out that he was
a nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil). One morning
Gatsby comes to take Nick for lunch. He shows off his car: it had a rich
cream color and was filled with boxes from Gatsby's purchases. Gatsby asks
Nick what his opinion of him is, and Nick is evasive. Gatsby gives his
story: he is the son of wealthy people in the Middle West, brought up in
America and educated at Oxford. Carraway does not believe him, for he
chokes on his words. Gatsby continues: he lived in the capitals of Europe,
then enlisted in the war effort, where he was promoted to major and given a
number of declarations (from every Allied government, even Montenegro).
Gatsby admits that he usually finds himself among strangers because he
drifts from here to there, and that something happened to him that Jordan
Baker will tell Nick at lunch. They drive out past the valley of ashes and
Nick even glimpses Myrtle Wilson. When Gatsby is stopped for speeding, he
flashes a card to the policeman, who then does not give him a ticket.
At lunch, Gatsby introduces Carraway to Meyer Wolfsheim, a small, flat-
nosed Jew. He talks of the days at the Metropole when they shot Rosy
Rosenthal, and proudly mentions his cufflinks, which are made from human
molars. Wolfsheim is a gambler, the man who fixed the 1919 World Series.
Tom Buchanan is also there, and Nick introduces him to Gatsby, who appears
quite uncomfortable and then suddenly disappears. Jordan Baker tells the
story about Gatsby: Back in 1917, Daisy was eighteen and Jordan sixteen.
They were volunteering with the Red Cross, making bandages, and Daisy asked
Jordan to cover for her that day. She was meeting with Jay Gatsby, and
there were wild rumors that she was going to run off to New York with him.
On Daisy's wedding day to Tom, she nearly changes her mind, and goes into
hysterics. According to Jordan, Gatsby bought his house just to be across
the bay from Daisy. Nick becomes more drawn to Jordan, with her scornful
and cynical manner. Jordan tells Nick that he is supposed to arrange a
meeting between Gatsby and Daisy.
Chapter Five: Nick speaks with Gatsby about arranging a meeting with Daisy,
and tries to make it as convenient for Nick as possible. Gatsby even offers
him a job, a "confidential sort of thing," although he assures Nick that he
would not have to work with Wolfsheim. On the day that Gatsby and Daisy are
to meet, Gatsby has arranged everything to perfection. They start at Nick's
home, where the conversation between the three (Nick, Gatsby, Daisy) is
stilted and awkward. They are all embarrassed, and Nick tells Gatsby that
he's behaving like a little boy. They go over to Gatsby's house, where
Gatsby gives a tour. Nick asks Gatsby more questions about his business,
and he snaps back "that's my affair," before giving a half-hearted
explanation. Gatsby shows Daisy newspaper clippings about his exploits, and
has Ewing Klipspringer, a boarder, play the piano for them. One of the
notable mementos that Gatsby shows Daisy is a photograph of him with Dan
Cody, his closest friend, on a yacht. As they leave, Carraway realizes that
there must have been moments when Daisy disappointed Gatsby during the
afternoon, for his dreams and illusions had been built up to such grandiose
levels.
Chapter Six: On a vague hunch, a reporter comes to Gatsby's home asking him
if he had a statement to give out. The actual story of Gatsby is revealed:
he was born James Gatz in North Dakota. He had his named legally changed at
the age of seventeen. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm
people, and the young man was consumed by fancies of what he might achieve.
His life changed when he rowed out to Dan Cody's yacht on Lake Superior.
Cody was then fifty, a product of the Nevada silver fields and of the Yukon
gold rush. Cody took Gatsby in and brought him to the West Indies and the
Barbary Coast as a personal assistant. When Cody died, Gatsby inherited
$25,000, but didn't get it because Cody's mistress, Ella Kaye, claimed all
of it. Gatsby told Nick this much later.
Nick had not seen Gatsby for several weeks when he went over to his house.
Tom Buchanan arrived there. He had been horseback riding with a woman and a
Mr. Sloane. Gatsby invites the group to supper, but the lady counters with
an offer of supper at her home. Mr. Sloane seems quite opposed to the idea,
so Nick turns down the offer, but Gatsby accepts. Tom complains about the
crazy people that Daisy meets, presumably meaning Gatsby. On the following
Saturday Tom accompanies Daisy to Gatsby's party. Tom is unpleasant and
rude during the evening. Tom suspects that Gatsby is a bootlegger, since he
is one of the new rich. After the Buchanans leave, Gatsby is disappointed,
thinking that Daisy surely did not enjoy herself. Nick realizes that Gatsby
wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should tell Tom that she never
loved him. Nick tells Gatsby that he can't ask too much of Daisy, and that
"you can't repeat the past," to which Gatsby replies: "Of course you can!"
Chapter Seven: It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that
he failed to give a Saturday night party. Nick goes over to see if Gatsby
is sick, and learns that Gatsby had dismissed every servant in his house
and replaced them with a half dozen others who would not gossip, for Daisy
had been visiting in the afternoons. Daisy invites Gatsby, Nick and Jordan
to lunch. At the lunch, Tom is supposedly on the telephone with Myrtle
Wilson. Daisy shows of her daughter, who is dressed in white, to her
guests. Tom claims that he read that the sun is getting hotter and soon the
earth will fall into it or rather that the sun is getting colder. Daisy
makes an offhand remark that she loves Gatsby, which Tom overhears. When
Tom goes inside to get a drink, Nick remarks that Daisy has an indiscreet
voice. Gatsby says that her voice is "full of money." They all go to town:
Nick and Jordan in Tom's car, Daisy in Gatsby's. On the way, Tom tells Nick
that he has investigated Gatsby, who is certainly no Oxford man, as is
rumored. They stop to get gas at Wilson's garage. Mr. Wilson wants to buy
Tom's car, for he has financial troubles and he and Myrtle want to go west.
Wilson tells Tom that he "just got wised up" to something recently, the
reason why he and Myrtle want to get away.
While leaving the garage, they see Myrtle peering down at the car from her
window. Her expression was one of jealous terror toward Jordan Baker, whom
she took to be his wife.
Feeling that both his wife and mistress are slipping away from him, Tom
feels panicked and impatient. To escape from the summer heat, they go to a
suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom begins to confront Gatsby, irritated at his
constant use of the term "old sport." Tom attempts to expose Gatsby as a
liar concerning Gatsby's experience at Oxford. Tom rambles on about the
decline of civilization, and how there may even be intermarriage between
races. Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy doesn't love him, and never loved him
the only reason why she married him was because Gatsby was poor and Daisy
was tired of waiting. Daisy hints that there has been trouble in her and
Tom's past, and then tells Tom that she never loved him. However, she does
concede that she did love Tom once. Gatsby tells Tom that he is not going
to take care of Daisy anymore and that Daisy is leaving him. Tom calls
Gatsby a "common swindler" and a bootlegger involved with Meyer Wolfsheim.
Nick realizes that today is his thirtieth birthday.
The young Greek, Michaelis, who ran the coffee joint next to Wilson's
garage was the principal witness at the inquest. While Wilson and his wife
were fighting, she ran out in the road and was hit by a light green car.
She was killed. Tom and Nick learn this when they drive past on their way
back from the city. Tom realizes that it was Gatsby who hit Myrtle. When
Nick returns home, he sees Gatsby, who explains what happened. Daisy was
driving the car when they hit Myrtle.
Chapter Eight: Nick cannot sleep that night. Toward dawn he hears a taxi go
up Gatsby's drive, and he immediately feels that he has something to warn
Gatsby about. Gatsby is still there, watching Daisy's mansion across the
bay. Nick warns him to get away for a week, since his car will inevitably
be traced, but he refuses to consider it. He cannot leave Daisy until he
knew what she would do. It was then when Gatsby told his entire history to
Nick. Gatsby still refuses to believe that Daisy ever loved Tom. After the
war Gatsby searched for Daisy, only to find that she had married Tom. Nick
leaves reluctantly, having to go to work that morning. Before he leaves,
Nick tells Gatsby that he's "worth the whole damn bunch put together." At
work, Nick gets a call from Jordan, and they have a tense conversation.
That day Michaelis goes to comfort Wilson, who is convinced that his wife
was murdered. He had found the dog collar that Tom had bought Myrtle hidden
the day before, which prompted their sudden decision to move west. Wilson
looks out at the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg and tells Michaelis that "God sees
everything." Wilson left, "acting crazy" (according to witnesses), and
found his way to Gatsby's house. Gatsby had gone out to the pool for one
last swim before draining it for the fall. Wilson shot him, and then shot
himself.
Chapter Nine: Most of the reports of the murder were grotesque and untrue.
Nick finds himself alone on Gatsby's side. Tom and Daisy suddenly left
town. Meyer Wolfsheim is difficult to contact, and offers assistance, but
cannot become too involved because of current entanglements. Nick tracks
down Gatsby's father, Henry C. Gatz, a solemn old man, helpless and
dismayed by news of the murder. Gatz says that his son would have "helped
build up the country." Klipspringer, the boarder, leaves suddenly and only
returns to get his tennis shoes. Nick goes to see Wolfsheim, who claims
that he made Gatsby. He tells Nick "let he learn to show our friendship for
a man when he is alive and not after he is dead," and politely refuses to
attend the funeral. Gatz shows Nick his son's daily schedule, in which he
has practically every minute of his day planned. He had a continual
interest in self-improvement. At the funeral, one of the few attendees is
the Owl-Eyed man from Gatsby's first party. Nick thinks about the
differences between the west and the east, and realizes that he, the
Buchanans, Gatsby and Jordan are all Westerners who came east, perhaps
possessing some deficiency which made them unadaptable to Eastern life.
After Gatsby's death the East was haunted and distorted. He meets with
Jordan Baker, who recalls their conversation about how bad drivers are
dangerous only when two of them meet. She tells Nick that the two of them
are both 'bad drivers.' Months later Nick saw Tom Buchanan, and Nick scorns
him, knowing that he pointed Wilson toward Gatsby. Nick realizes that all
of Tom's actions were, to him, justified. Nick leaves New York to return
West.
Fitzgerald concludes the novel with a final note on Gatsby's beliefs.
It is this particular aspect of his character his optimistic belief in
achievement and the ability to attain one's dreams that defines Gatsby, in
contrast to the compromising cynicism of his peers. Yet the final symbol
contradicts and deflates the grand optimism that Gatsby held. Fitzgerald
ends the book with the sentence "So we beat on, boats against the current,
borne ceaselessly into the past," which contradicts Gatsby's fervent belief
that one can escape his origins and rewrite his past.
Long Day's Journey Into the Night
Act I, Part One The play begins in August, 1912, at the summer home of
the Tyrone family. The setting for all four acts is the family's living
room, which is adjacent to the kitchen and dining room. There is also a
staircase just off stage, which leads to the upper-level bedrooms. It is
8:30 am, and the family has just finished breakfast in the dining room.
While Jamie and Edmund,Tyrone enter and embrace, and Mary comments on being
pleased with her recent weight gain even though she is eating less food.
Tyrone and Mary make conversation, which leads to a brief argument
about Tyrone's tendency to spend money on real estate investing. They are
interrupted by the sound of Edmund, who is having a coughing fit in the
next room. Although Mary remarks that he merely has a bad cold, Tyrone's
body language indicates that he may know more about Edmund's sickness than
Mary. Nevertheless, Tyrone tells Mary that she must take care of herself
and focus on getting better rather than getting upset about Edmund. Mary
immediately becomes defensive, saying, "There's nothing to be upset about.
What makes you think I'm upset?" Tyrone drops the subject and tells Mary
that he is glad to have her "dear old self" back again.
Edmund and Jamie are heard laughing in the next room, and Tyrone
immediately grows bitter, assuming they are making jokes about him. Edmund
and Jamie enter, and we see that, even though he is just 23 years old,
Edmund is "plainly in bad health" and nervous. Upon entering, Jamie begins
to stare at his mother, thinking that she is looking much better. The
conversation turns spiteful, however, when the sons begin to make fun of
Tyrone's loud snoring, a subject about which he is sensitive, driving him
to anger. Edmund tells him to calm down, leading to an argument between the
two. Tyrone then turns on Jamie, attacking him for his lack of ambition and
laziness. To calm things down, Edmund tells a funny story about a tenant
named Shaughnessy on the Tyrone family land in Ireland, where the family's
origins lie. Tyrone is not amused by the anecdote, however, because he
could be the subject of a lawsuit related to ownership of the land. He
attacks Edmund again, calling his comments socialist. Edmund gets upsets
and exits in a fit of coughing. Jamie points out that Edmund is really
sick, a comment which Tyrone responds to with a "shut up" look, as though
trying to prevent Mary from finding out something. Mary tells them that,
despite what any doctor may say, she believes that Edmund has nothing more
than a bad cold. Mary has a deep distrust for doctors. Tyrone and Jamie
begin to stare at her again, making her self-conscious. Mary reflects on
her faded beauty, recognizing that she is in the stages of decline.
As Mary exits, Tyrone chastises Jamie for suggesting that Edmund really
may be ill in front of Mary, who is not supposed to worry during her
recovery from her addiction to morphine. Jamie and Tyrone both suspect that
Edmund has consumption (better known today as tuberculosis), and Jamie
thinks it unwise to allow Mary to keep fooling herself. Jamie and Tyrone
argue over Edmund's doctor, Doc Hardy, who charges very little for his
services. Jamie accuses Tyrone of getting the cheapest doctor, without
regard to quality, simply because he is a penny-pincher. Tyrone retorts
that Jamie always thinks the worst of everyone, and that Jamie does not
understand the value of a dollar because he has always been able to take
comfortable living for granted. Tyrone, by contrast, had to work his own
way up from the streets. Jamie only squanders loads of money on whores and
liquor in town. Jamie argues back that Tyrone squanders money on real
estate speculation, although Tyrone points out that most of his holdings
are mortgaged. Tyrone accuses Jamie of laziness and criticizes his failure
to succeed at anything. Jamie was expelled from several colleges in his
younger years, and he never shows any gratitude towards his father; Tyrone
thinks that he is a bad influence on Edmund. Jamie counters that he has
always tried to teach Edmund to lead a life different from that which Jamie
leads.
Act I, Part Two Tyrone and Jamie continue their discussion about
Edmund, who works for a local newspaper. Tyrone and Jamie have heard that
some editors dislike Edmund, but they both acknowledge that he has a strong
creative impulse that drives much of his plans. Tyrone and Jamie agree also
that they are glad to have Mary back. They resolve to help her in any way
possible, and they decide to keep the truth about Edmund's sickness from
her, although they realize that they will not be able to do so if Edmund
has to be committed to a sanatorium, a place where tuberculosis patients
are treated. Tyrone and Jamie discuss Mary's health, and Tyrone seems to be
fooling himself into thinking that Mary is healthier than she really is.
Jamie mentions that he heard her walking around the spare bedroom the night
before, which may be a sign that she is taking morphine again. Tyrone says
that it was simply his snoring that induced her to leave; he accuses Jamie
once again of always trying to find the worst in any given situation.
Between the lines, we begin to learn that Mary first became addicted to
morphine 23 years earlier, just after giving birth to Edmund. The birth was
particularly painful for her, and Tyrone hired a very cheap doctor to help
ease her pain. The economical but incompetent doctor prescribed morphine to
Mary, recognizing that it would solve her immediate pain but ignoring
potential future side effects, such as addiction. Thus we see that Tyrone's
stinginess (or prudence, as he would call it), has come up in the past, and
it will be referred to many more times during the course of the play.
Mary enters just as Tyrone and Jamie are about to begin a new
argument. Not wishing to upset her, they immediately cease and decide to go
outside to trim the hedges. Mary asks what they were arguing about, and
Jamie tells her that they were discussing Edmund's doctor, Doc Hardy. Mary
says she knows that they are lying to her. The two stare at her again
briefly before exiting, with Jamie telling her not to worry. Edmund then
enters in the midst of a coughing fit and tells Mary that he feels ill.
Mary begins to fuss over him, although Edmund tells her to worry about
herself and not him. Mary tells Edmund that she hates the house in which
they live because, "I've never felt it was my home." She puts up with it
only because she usually goes along with whatever Tyrone wants. She
criticizes Edmund and Jamie for "disgracing" themselves with loose women,
so that at present no respectable girls will be seen with them. Mary
announces her belief that Jamie and Edmund are always cruelly suspicious,
and she thinks that they spy on her. She asks Edmund to "stop suspecting
me," although she acknowledges that Edmund cannot trust her because she has
broken many promises in the past. She thinks that the past is hard to
forget because it is full of broken promises. The act ends with Edmund's
exit. Mary sits alone, twitching nervously.
Act II, Scene i The curtain rises again on the living room, where
Edmund sits reading. It is 12:45 pm on the same August day. Cathleen, the
maid, enters with whiskey and water for pre-lunch drinking. Edmund asks
Cathleen to call Tyrone and Jamie for lunch. Cathleen is chatty and flirty,
and tells Edmund that he is handsome. Jamie soon enters and pours himself a
drink, adding water to the bottle afterwards so that Tyrone will not know
they had a drink before he came in. Tyrone is still outside, talking to one
of the neighbors and putting on "an act" with the intent of showing off.
Jamie tells Edmund that Edmund may have a sickness more severe than a
simple case of malaria. He then chastises Edmund for leaving Mary alone all
morning. He tells him that Mary's promises mean nothing anymore. Jamie
reveals that he and Tyrone knew of Mary's morphine addiction as much as ten
years before they told Edmund.
Edmund begins a coughing fit as Mary enters, and she tells him not to
cough. When Jamie makes a snide comment about his father, Mary tells him to
respect Tyrone more. She tells him to stop always seeking out the
weaknesses in others. She expresses her fatalistic view of life, that most
events are somehow predetermined, that humans have little control over
their own lives. She then complains that Tyrone never hires any good
servants; she is displeased with Cathleen, and she blames her unhappiness
on Tyrone's refusal to hire a top-rate maid. At this point, Cathleen enters
and tells them that Tyrone is still outside talking. Edmund exits to fetch
him, and while he is gone, Jamie stares at Mary with a concerned look. Mary
asks why he is looking at her, and he tells her that she knows why.
Although he will not say it directly, Jamie knows that Mary is back on
morphine; he can tell by her glazed eyes. Edmund reenters and curses Jamie
when Mary, playing ignorant, tells him that Jamie has been insinuating
nasty things about her. Mary prevents an argument by telling Edmund to
blame no one. She again expresses her fatalist view: "[Jamie] can't help
what the past has made him. Any more than your father can. Or you. Or I."
Jamie shrugs off all accusations, and Edmund looks suspiciously at Mary.
Tyrone enters, and he argues briefly with his two sons about the
whiskey. They all have a large drink. Suddenly, Mary has an outburst about
Tyrone's failure to understand what a home is. Mary has a distinct vision
of a home, one that Tyrone has never been able to provide for her. She
tells him that he should have remained a bachelor, but then she drops the
subject so that they can begin lunch. However, she first criticizes Tyrone
for letting Edmund drink, saying that it will kill him. Suddenly feeling
guilty, she retracts her comments. Jamie and Edmund exit to the dining
room. Tyrone sits staring at Mary, then says that he has "been a God-damned
fool to believe in you." She becomes defensive and begins to deny Tyrone's
unspoken accusations, but he now knows that she is back on morphine. She
complains again of his drinking before the scene ends.
Act II, Scene ii The scene begins half an hour after the previous
scene. The family is returning from lunch in the dining room. Tyrone
appears angry and aloof, while Edmund appears "heartsick." Mary and Tyrone
argue briefly about the nature of the "home," although Mary seems somewhat
aloof while she speaks because she is on morphine. The phone rings, and
Tyrone answers it. He talks briefly with the caller and agrees on a meeting
at four o'clock. He returns and tells the family that the caller was Doc
Hardy, who wanted to see Edmund that afternoon. Edmund remarks that it
doesn't sound like good tidings. Mary immediately discredits everything Doc
Hardy has to say because she thinks he is a cheap quack whom Tyrone hired
only because he is inexpensive. After a brief argument, she exits upstairs.
After she is gone, Jamie remarks that she has gone to get more
morphine. Edmund and Tyrone explode at him, telling him not to think such
bad thoughts about people. Jamie counters that Edmund and Tyrone need to
face the truth; they are kidding themselves. Edmund tells Jamie that he is
too pessimistic. Tyrone argues that both boys have forgotten Catholicism,
the only belief that is not fraudulent. Jamie and Edmund both grow mad and
begin to argue with Tyrone. Tyrone admits that he does not practice
Catholicism strictly, but he claims that he prays each morning and each
evening. Edmund is a believer in Nietzsche, who wrote that "God is dead" in
Thus Spoke Zarathustra. He ends the argument, however, by resolving to
speak with Mary about the drugs, and he exits upstairs.
After Edmund leaves, Tyrone tells Jamie that Doc Hardy say that Edmund
has consumption, "no possible doubt." However, if Edmund goes to a
sanatorium immediately, he will be cured in six to 12 months. Jamie demands
that Tyrone send Edmund somewhere good, not somewhere cheap. Jamie says
that Tyrone thinks consumption is necessarily fatal, and therefore it is
not worth spending money on trying to cure Edmund since he is guaranteed to
die anyway. Jamie correctly argues that consumption can be cured if treated
properly. He decides to go with Tyrone and Edmund to the doctor that
afternoon then exits.
Mary reenters as Jamie leaves, and she tells Tyrone that Jamie would
be a good son if he had been raised in a "real" home as Mary envisions it.
She tells Tyrone not to give Jamie any money because he will use it only to
but liquor. Tyrone bitterly implies that Mary and her drug use is enough to
make any man want to drink. Mary dodges his accusation with denials, but
she asks Tyrone not to leave her alone that afternoon because she gets
lonely. Tyrone responds that Mary is the one who "leaves," referring to her
mental aloofness when she takes drugs. Tyrone suggests that Mary take a
ride in the new car he bought her, which to Tyrone's resentment does not
often get used (he sees it as another waste of money). Mary tells him that
he should not have bought her a second-hand car. In any case, Mary argues
that she has no one to visit in the car, since she has not had any friends
since she got married. She alludes briefly to a scandal involving Tyrone
and a mistress at the beginning of their marriage, and this event caused
many of her friends to abandon her. Tyrone tells Mary not to dig up the
past. Mary changes the subject and tells Tyrone that she needs to go to the
drugstore.
Delving into the past, Mary tells Tyrone the story of getting addicted
to morphine when Edmund was born. She implicitly blames Tyrone for her
addiction because he would only pay for a cheap doctor who knew of no
better way to cure her childbirth pain. Tyrone interrupts and tells her to
forget the past, but Mary replies, "Why? How can I? The past is the
present, isn't it? It's the future too. We all try to lie out of that but
life won't let us." Mary blames herself for breaking her vow never to have
another baby after Eugene, her second baby who died at two years old from
measles he caught from Jamie after Jamie went into the baby's room. Tyrone
tells Mary to let the dead baby rest in peace, but Mary only blames herself
more for not staying with Eugene (her mother was babysitting when Jamie
gave Eugene measles), and instead going on the road to keep Tyrone company
as he traveled the country with his plays. Tyrone had later insisted that
Mary have another baby to replace Eugene, and so Edmund was born. But Mary
claimed that from the first day she could tell that Edmund was weak and
fragile, as though God intended to punish her for what happened to Eugene.
Edmund reenters after Mary's speech, and he asks Tyrone for money,
which Tyrone grudgingly produces. Edmund is genuinely thankful, but then he
gets the idea that Tyrone may regret giving him money because Tyrone thinks
that Edmund will die and the money will be wasted. Tyrone is greatly hurt
by this accusation, and Edmund suddenly feels very guilty for what he said.
He and his father make amends briefly before Mary furiously tells Edmund
not to be so morbid and pessimistic. She begins to cry, and Tyrone exits to
get ready to go to the doctor with Edmund. Mary again criticizes Doc Hardy
and tells Edmund not to see him. Edmund replies that Mary needs to quit the
morphine, which puts Mary on the defensive, denying that she still uses and
then making excuses for herself. She admits that she lies to herself all
the time, and she says that she can "no longer call my soul my own." She
hopes for redemption one day through the Virgin. Jamie and Tyrone call
Edmund, and he exits. Mary is left alone, glad that they are gone but
feeling "so lonely."
Act III
The scene opens as usual on the living room at 6:30 pm, just before
dinner time. Mary and Cathleen are alone in the room; Cathleen, at Mary's
invitation, has been drinking. Although they discuss the fog, it is clear
that Cathleen is there only to give Mary a chance to talk to someone. They
discuss briefly Tyrone 's obsession with money, and then Mary refuses to
admit to Edmund's consumption. Mary delves into her past memories of her
life and family. As a pious Catholic schoolgirl, she says that she never
liked the theater; she did not feel "at home" with the theater crowd. Mary
then brings up the subject of morphine, which we learn Cathleen gets for
her from the local drugstore. Mary is becoming obsessed with her hands,
which used to be long and beautiful but have since deteriorated. She
mentions that she used to have two dreams: to become a nun and to become a
famous professional pianist. These dreams evaporated, however, when she met
Tyrone and fell in love. She met Tyrone after seeing him in a play. He was
friends with her father, who introduced the two. And she maintains that
Tyrone is a good man; in 36 years of marriage, he has had not one
extramarital scandal.
Cathleen then exits to see about dinner, and Mary slowly becomes
bitter as she recalls more memories. She thinks of her happiness before
meeting Tyrone. She thinks that she cannot pray anymore because the Virgin
will not listen to a dope fiend. She decides to go upstairs to get more
drugs, but before she can do so, Edmund and Tyrone return.
They immediately recognize upon seeing her that she has taken a large
dose of morphine. Mary tells them that she is surprised they returned,
since it is "more cheerful" uptown. The men are clearly drunk, and in fact
Jamie is still uptown seeing whores and drinking. Mary says that Jamie is a
"hopeless failure" and warns that he will drag down Edmund with him out of
jealousy. Mary talks more about the bad memories from the past, and Tyrone
laments that he even bothered to come home to his dope addict of a wife.
Tyrone decides to pay no attention to her. Mary meanwhile waxes about
Jamie, who she thinks was very smart until he started drinking. Mary blames
Jamie's drinking on Tyrone, calling the Irish stupid drunks, a comment
which Tyrone ignores.
Mary's tone suddenly changes as she reminisces about meeting Tyrone.
Tyrone then begins to cry as he thinks back on the memories, and he tells
his wife that he loves her. Mary responds, "I love you dear, in spite of
everything." But she regrets marrying him because he drinks so much. Mary
says she will not forget, but she will try to forgive. She mentions that
she was spoiled terribly by her father, and that spoiling made her a bad
wife. Tyrone takes a drink, but seeing the bottle has been watered down by
his sons trying to fool him into believing that they haven't been drinking,
he goes to get a new one. Mary again calls him stingy, but she excuses him
to Edmund, telling of how he was abandoned by his father and forced to work
at age 10.
Edmund then tells Mary that he has tuberculosis, and Mary immediately
begins discrediting Doc Hardy. She will not believe it, and she does not
want Edmund to go to a sanatorium. She thinks that Edmund is just blowing
things out of the water in an effort to get more attention. Edmund reminds
Mary that her own father died of tuberculosis, then comments that it is
difficult having a "dope fiend for a mother." He exits, laving Mary alone.
She says aloud that she needs more morphine, and she admits that she
secretly hopes to overdose and die, but she cannot intentionally do so
because the Virgin could never forgive suicide. Tyrone reenters with more
whiskey, noting that Jamie could not pick the lock to his liquor cabinet.
Mary suddenly bursts out that Edmund will die, but Tyrone assures her that
he will be cured in six months. Mary thinks that Edmund hated her because
she is a dope fiend. Tyrone comforts her, and Mary once again blames
herself for giving birth. Cathleen announces dinner. Mary says she is not
hungry and goes to bed. Tyrone knows that she is really going for more
drugs.
Act IV, Part One
The time is midnight, and as the act begins a foghorn is heard in the
distance. Tyrone sits alone in the living room, drinking and playing
solitaire. He is drunk, and soon Edmund enters, also drunk. They argue
about keeping the lights on and the cost of the electricity. Tyrone acts
stubborn, and Edmund accuses him of believing whatever he wants, including
that Shakespeare and Wellington were Irish Catholics. Tyrone grows angry
and threatens to beat Edmund, then retracts. He gives up and turns on all
the lights. They note that Jamie is still out at the whorehouse. Edmund has
just returned from a long walk in the cold night air even though doing so
was a bad idea for his health. He states, "To hell with sense! We're all
crazy." Edmund tells Tyrone that he loves being in the fog because it lets
him live in another world. He pessimistically parodies Shakespeare, saying,
"We are such stuff as manure is made of, so let's drink up and forget it.
That's more my idea." He quotes then from the French author Baudelaire,
saying "be always drunken." He then quotes from Baudelaire about the
debauchery in the city in reference to Jamie. Tyrone criticizes all of
Edmund's literary tastes; he thinks Edmund should leave literature for God.
Tyrone thinks that only Shakespeare avoids being an evil, morbid
degenerate.
They hear Mary upstairs moving around, and they discuss her father,
who died of tuberculosis. Edmund notes that they only seem to discuss
unhappy topics together. They begin to play cards, and Tyrone tells Jamie
that even though Mary dreamed of being a nun and a pianist, she did not
have the willpower for the former or the skill for the latter; Mary deludes
herself. They hear her come downstairs but pretend not to notice. Edmund
then blames Tyrone for Mary's morphine addiction because Tyrone hired a
cheap quack. Edmund then says he hates Tyrone and blames him for Mary's
continued addiction because Tyrone never gave her a home. Tyrone defends
himself, but then Edmund says that he thinks that Tyrone believes he will
die from consumption. Edmund tells Tyrone that he, Tyrone, spends money
only on land, not on his sons. Edmund states that he will die before he
will go to a cheap sanatorium.
Tyrone brushes off his comments, saying that Edmund is drunk. But
Tyrone promises to send Edmund anywhere he wants to make him better,
"within reason." Tyrone tells Edmund that he is prudent with money because
he has always had to work for everything he has. Edmund and Jamie, by
contrast, have been able to take everything in life for granted. Tyrone
thinks that neither of his sons knows the value of money. Edmund, delving
into his deeper emotions, reminds Tyrone that he, Edmund, once tried to
commit suicide. Tyrone says that Edmund was merely drunk at the time, but
Edmund insists he was aware of his actions. Tyrone then begins to cry
lightly, telling of his destitute childhood and his terrible father. Tyrone
and Edmund, making amends, agree together on a sanatorium for Edmund, a
place that is more expensive but substantially better. Tyrone then tells
Edmund of his great theatrical mistake that prevented him from becoming
widely famous: he sold out to one particular role, and was forever more
typecast, making it difficult for him to expand his horizons and find new
work. Tyrone says that he only ever really wanted to be an artist, but his
hopes were dashed when he sold out to brief commercial success. Edmund
begins laughing "at life. It's so damned crazy," thinking of his father as
an artist.
Edmund then tells some of his memories, all of which are related to
the sea. He reflects on moments when he felt dissolved into or lost in the
ocean. He thinks that there is truth and meaning in being lost at sea, and
he thinks he should have been born a "seagull or a fish."
Act IV, Part Two
Hearing Jamie approaching the house, Tyrone steps into the next room.
Jamie enters, drunk and slurring his speech. He drinks more, but he will
not let Edmund drink at first, for health reasons. Jamie complains about
Tyrone briefly, then learns of his agreement with Edmund. Jamie says that
he spent the evening at the whorehouse, where he paid for a fat whore whom
no one else was willing to take. Edmund attacks Jamie with a punch when
Jamie begins praising himself and berating others. Jamie thanks him
suddenly for straightening him out; he has been messed up by problems
related to Mary's addiction. He and Edmund both begin to cry as they think
about their mother. Jamie is also worried about Edmund, who may die from
consumption. Jamie says that he loves Edmund, and that in a sense he made
him what he is at present.
But Jamie also admits that he has been a bad influence, and he says
that he did it on purpose. Jamie admits that he has always been jealous of
Edmund, and he wanted Edmund to also fail. He set a bad example
intentionally and tried to bring Edmund down. He then warns Edmund, saying,
"I'll do my damnedest to make you fail," but then he admits, "You're all
I've got left." Jamie then passes out.
Tyrone then reenters, having heard all that Jamie said. Tyrone says
that he has been issuing the exact same warning to Edmund for many years.
Tyrone calls Jamie a "waste." Jamie wakes up suddenly and argues with
Tyrone. Jamie and Tyrone both pass out briefly until they are awoken by the
sound of Mary playing the piano in the next room. The sound stops, and Mary
appears. She is very pale and very clearly on a substantial dose of
morphine. Jamie begins to cry, and Tyrone angrily cries that he will throw
Jamie out of his house. Mary is hallucinating, thinking that she is back in
her childhood. She thinks that she is in a convent. In her hands, she is
holding her wedding gown, which she fished out of the attic earlier. She
does not hear anyone, and she moves like a sleepwalker. Edmund suddenly
tells Mary that he has consumption, but she tells him not to touch her
because she wants to be a nun. The three men all pour themselves more
alcohol, but before they can drink, Mary begins to speak. She tells them of
her talk with Mother Elizabeth, who told her that she should experience
life out of the convent before choosing to become a nun. Mary says that she
followed that advice, went home to her parents, met and fell in love with
James Tyrone, "and was so happy for a time." The boys sit motionless and
Tyrone stirs in his chair as the play ends.
Moby Dick
Context
Herman Melville (1819-1891) was a popular writer of sea narratives before
he wrote Moby-Dick (1851). What was to become his best known novel, The
Whale; or Moby-Dick, received good reviews when it appeared in England, but
the first American edition, coming out a month later in New York, received
mixed reviews. It was not a financial success and bafied American critics
until the 20th century, when it began to be considered a classic.
Melville was not recognized as a genius in his time; his most famous works
today{Moby-Dick, short stories like "Benito Cereno," and Billy Budd{were
not widely read or heralded in the 19th century.
Melville's America was a tumultuous place. In the North, rapid
industrialization was changing social patterns and giving rise to new
wealth. In the South, the cotton interest was trying to hold onto the
system of black slavery.
America was stretching westward, and encountering Native American tribes,
as travel by train, road, sea, and canal become easier than before.
Politicians appealed to the masses as the idea of "democracy" (versus
republicanism) took hold. Nationalism was high in the early nineteenth
century, but as national interconnectedness became more feasible, the deep
divisions in society began to grow. Soon, sectionalism, racism, economic
self-interest, and bitter political struggle would culminate in the Civil
War.
Against this backdrop, Melville sailed off on his first whaling voyage in
1841. This experience became the material for his first book, Typee (1846),
a narrative that capitalized on exotic titillation about natives in the
Marquesas Islands. Becoming well known for his earthy, rowdy stories of
faraway places, he quickly followed his initial success with Omoo (1847)
and Mardi (1849).
But after Mardi, Melville's writing career started to level off. Though
Melville had once thought he could be a professional writer, Moby-Dicks
poor reviews meant that Melville would never be able to support himself by
writing alone. Melville was always firmly middle-class, though his personas
in books always seemed working-class. He had a distinguished pedigree: some
of his ancestors were Scottish and Dutch settlers of New York who played
leading roles in the American Revolution and commercial development. But
Melville often felt like the "savage" in the family, which may have
explained why he was not afraid to tackle such risky topics as slave revolt
(in "Benito Cereno") or the life-sucking potential of offce jobs ("Bartleby
the Scrivener").
Throughout his life, Melville was an avid reader. Much of his information
for Moby-Dick comes from printed sources. The number of refer
ences to difierent texts (intertextuality) in Moby-Dick testifies to the
importance of books in Melville's life. In particular, he admired Nathaniel
Hawthorne, whom he befriended in 1850 and to whom Melville dedicated the
novel. Melville admired Hawthorne's willingness to dive to deep
psychological depths and gothic grimness, traits for which he would also be
praised.
The works of Shakespeare and stories in the Bible (especially the Old
Testament) also in uenced Moby-Dick. Moreover, Melville's novel was
certainly not the first book on whaling. Whaling narratives were extremely
popular in the 19th century. In particular, Melville relied on the
encyclopedic Natural History of the Sperm Whale by Thomas Beale and the
narrative Etchings of a Whaling Cruise by J. Ross Browne. He also used
information from a volume by William Scoresby, but mostly to ridicule
Scoresby's pompous inaccuracy. One final note: many editions of Moby-Dick
have been printed. Check your edition before using this guide, because
"abridged" or "edited" versions may be difierent.
Characters
Ishmael { Ishmael is the narrator of the story, but not really the center
of it. He has no experience with whaling when he signs on and he is often
comically extravagant in his storytelling. Ishmael bears the same name as a
famous castaway in the Bible.
Ahab { The egomaniacal captain of the whalingship Pequod; his leg was taken
off by Moby Dick, the white whale. He searches frantically for the whale,
seeking revenge, and forces his crew to join him in the pursuit.
Starbuck { This native of Nantucket is the first mate of the Pequod.
Starbuck questions his commander's judgment, first in private and later in
public.
Queequeg { Starbuck's stellar harpooner and Ishmael's best friend, Queequeg
was once a prince from a South Sea island who wanted to have a worldly
adventure. Queequeg is a composite character, with an identity that is part
African, Polynesian, Islamic, Christian, and Native American.
Stubb { This native of Cape Cod is the second mate of the Pequod and always
has a bit of mischievous good humor.
Moby Dick { The great white sperm whale; an infamous and dangerous threat
to seamen like Ahab and his crew.
Tashtego { Stubb's harpooneer, Tashtego is a Gay Head Indian from Martha's
Vineyard.
Flask { This native of Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard is the third mate of
the Pequod. Short and stocky, he has a confrontational attitude and no
reverence for anything.
Daggoo { Flask's harpooneer, Daggoo is a very big, dark-skinned, imperial-
looking man from Africa.
Pip { Either from Connecticut or Alabama (there is a discrepancy), Pip used
to play the tambourine and take care of the ship. After being left to oat
on the sea alone for a short period of time, he becomes mystically wise{or
possibly loses his mind.
Fedallah { Most of the crew doesn't know until the first whale chase that
Ahab has brought on board this strange "oriental" old man who is a Parsee
(Persian fire-worshipper). Fedallah has a very striking appearance: around
his head is a turban made from his own hair, and he wears a black Chinese
jacket and pants. Like Queequeg, Fedallah's character is also a composite
of Middle Eastern and East Asian traits.
Peleg { This well-to-do retired whaleman of Nantucket is one of the largest
owners of the Pequod who, with Captain Bildad, takes care of hiring the
crew. When the two are negotiating wages for Ishmael and Queequeg, Peleg
plays the generous one. He is a Quaker.
Bildad { Also a well-to-do Quaker ex-whaleman from Nantucket who owns a
large share of the Pequod, Bildad is (or pretends to be) crustier than
Peleg in negotiations over wages.
Father Mapple { The preacher in the New Bedford Whaleman's Chapel. He
delivers a sermon on Jonah and the whale.
Captain Boomer { Boomer is the jovial captain of the English whalingship
Samuel Enderby; his arm was taken off by Moby Dick
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