Analysis of Family Relationship in Long Day’s Journey into Night from the Perspective of Psychology

Li Zhenmei

(School of Foreign Languages,Sichuan Technology and Business University, Meishan 620000 China)

Abstract: Eugene O’Neill is widely recognized as the father of American drama, and people say that there was no drama but theater in America until Eugene O’Neill appeared. The themes of works published in his life tend to be realistic, and the best one is Long Day’s Journey into Night that this paper studies from the perspective of psychology. In order to find out the reasons why the family in the drama is wreathed in tragedies, the paper analyzes the characteristics of every family member, as well as the family relationship presented in the drama. Firstly, it tries to figure out characters of the Tyrone’s mainly through analyzing their life experiences. It is concluded that James Tyrone is a man who loves money and land most; Mary Tyrone becomes neurotic due to her unhappy marriage life; lack of love and care, Jamie Tyrone’s character is deformed; and Edmund Tyrone enjoys reading and alcohol. Secondly, it comes to the family relationship. In this part, this article focuses on finding out the causes of present condition of family relationship by means of psychology theory. Finally, there is much connection between the family relationship and each member’s characteritics. Besides, the formation of their characteristics has an intimate relation to where they lived and what they experienced. Through studying the family relationship in the tragic drama, people will know about the reasons that a family becomes a tragedy from the psychology analytic perspective.

Key words: Eugene O’Neill；Long Day’s Journey into Night；Family relationship；Psychology

1 Introduction

Recently, TV series related to family of origin has been increasingly popular, which catches the eye of most people. Besides, family problems such as domestic violence and things like that have been attached more importance. People may wonder what plays a significant role in family relationship, why some families end with tragedies and what people can do to prevent these tragedies. Eugene O’Neill, entitled as the father of American drama, writes an autobiographic famous tragedy—Long Day’s Journey into Night, which is based on his own experiences. The family relationship in Tyrone family of this drama is thought-provoking. Although people are in different times, growing up in diverse surroundings, what happens in that family indeed will inspire everyone to think and make a change. This article will lay an investigation into family relationship in Long Day’s Journey into Night, looking through many a relevant composition and thesis. It will make a deep study on the relationship among the family members by analyzing characteristics of each member, and will find out factors causing the family to be a tragedy from the perspective of psychology. Additionally, it will reveal some enlightenment that is given from the family in drama. The importance of this article consists in its value of literature and practical meaning. Firstly, the value of literature denotes that this drama is considered as the best representative of O’Neill’s realistic works. O’Neill has a good command of psychological description, which perfectly takes on in this autobiographic drama. Literary writers can learn how the mentality of main characters of the drama is displayed. They are able to use the same way while writing their works. Hence, the work is well worth a research in terms of literary composing. Secondly, family relationship has been a hot topic in recent years. Besides, tragedies has happened to many families, but people know nothing about the reason. Through an analysis of family relationship in the drama, people will obtain much enlightenment. More importantly, people may lead their own family to the way of happiness.

2 Literature review

As a dramatist, O’Neill has always been acclaimed highly of his works. One of the best-known works is Long Day’s Journey into Night, which has been researched by a lot of scholars. What intrigues people most is the family tragedy. People eager to know why such a common family is shrouded in sorrow and why there are endless of disputes among the family members. Wang Shujie studies family relationship in all tragic works of O’Neill in his “Family Relationship Analysis of Eugene O’Neill’ Tragedies”[1]. That paper indicates that the root reason for family tragedy is the lack of mutual respect, understanding and love. In “Exploration into the Source of Deformed Personalities of Jamie in Long Day’s Journey into Night”, He Jingjing discusses that parents play a significant role in children’s development[2]. Song Xining claims Mary Tyrone’s tragedy is caused by social influence in “Character Analysis of Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey into Night”[3]. George Mandelbaum in his “O’Neill’s Journey”, illustrates the different writing processes and O’Neill’s changing state of mind by studying Long Day’s Journey into Night, showing the creation and development of characters as well as relation among them[4]. These researches and conclusion provide hints for the following readers and scholars.

In the thesis named “Family problems in Long Day’s Journey into Night”, the author Li Yafang focuses on analyzing family relationship of the Tyrone family and problems existing in the family in order to figure out the reasons why such a seemingly happy family presented in the drama turns out to be one filled with misery and contradiction[5]. Hence, the author describes in detail the relationship between husband and wife, parents and children, as well as two brothers. What is more, such factors as cultural influence, social influence, are all considered in this passage, and the author utilizes many a word to display how these factors exert an impact on the family relationship. Through all-round analysis of the Tyrone family relation and problems, the author comes to a conclusion that only love can tightly tie a family, not only for the Tyrone family but also the common families, which has a practical meaning. Apart from that, the writer also takes psychological influence into consideration, but only Freud’s Oedipus complex and Electra complex are mentioned. Therefore, in terms of psychology, the author does not explain thoroughly the connection between it and the family relationship.

However, there is another paper that discusses Tyrone family relationship and finds out the causes of the contradictory among family members in the four main characters themselves. This essay attributes different value system to the contradictory relationship between husband and wife; indifference and not caring about each other to the contradictory relationship between parents and children; jealousy and competition to the contradictory relationship between two brothers. The author shows three diverse contradictory relationships and relevant reasons. By studying these, the author tries to know why the Tyrone family is a tragedy. A common family is a mirror of the time, then what makes the Tyrone’s tragic is also what causes American people miserable. The author maintains that love is still around in the family, yet it is out-powered by the contradiction and hatred among family members. Contradictory relationships among one another are clearly depicted in the passage, but no theory is used as a testament when the author explains why such relation appears.

Some writers study the family relationship in Long Day’s Journey into Night from the perspective of psychology. “Desires in the Dysfunctional Family: A Psycho-analysis of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night” points out that it is the nostalgic desire for the past that makes the family inharmonious by virtue of the psychoanalytic theory of Walter Davis[6]. The Tyrone’s repress and defense the desire at the same time, which is contradictory. But as the passage says “just as the moment before dawn is the darkest, Long Day’s Journey into Night is actually a journey into light, into future, into love”, as a result, a peaceful conversation is necessarily needed for the family[7]. Different from that, Gong Guangming studies the family in this play by using a couple psychology theories[8]. He also deeply debates what family means in this drama. Actually, he uses social psychology to analyze the relationships between parents and sons, two brothers, and he explains the obstacles of developing relation are generation gap and deformed personality; he contends not doing something to improve relationship is detrimental by means of romantic psychology to explore the problems between husband and wife; he uses literature psychology to discuss the meaning of family. Besides, in “Mothers in Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude and Long Day’s journey into Night” Asim Karim uses Kleinian perspectives to explain family relationship, and further instruct O’Neill’s works with depression[9]. All these are to lay a way to look for the truth of the family tragedy.

There are so many scholars are interested in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, and even they have made lots of researches. However, most of them attach much importance to analyze the characters of the Tyrone’s members. It is certain that some center on the family relationship in the drama, and they attempt to search for reasons for the horrible relationships. The ways they study the drama are disparate and diverse, but few of them take the method psychology theory. Wang Shujie said in his paper that O’Neill’s tragic works are typical Freud tragedy, and thus it is necessary to analyze the tragic family relationship using the Freud’s theory[1].

3 Introduction of the author and the work

3.1 Background information of Eugene O’Neill

Eugene O’Neill himself has a deep affection of drama, which might result from his father’s profession who is a wellknown actor. Before he becomes an excellent dramatist, he has experienced a lot, loafing and traveling. At an early age, he went to plenty of places, together with his father’s team. Later, he was admitted to Princeton University, but after one year he was expelled on account of his not obeying school rules. From then on, he trekked all around to make a living. He had been to South America, Africa and other places, where he earned money by being sailor, inferior clerk or some casual jobs. In 1910, he went to a business ship as a sailor for a year, when he accumulated a substantial writing material from the sight and sound on the ship. The turning point of O’Neill’s life was 1912, from which to 1913 he was confined to hospital for consumption. During that period, O’Neill had free time to do some reading and thinking for the first time. He read and studied dramas around the world, especially was immersed in the works of Ibsen and Strindberg. At that time, the plots of most works were exacerbated and the writers did not guarantee their works’ quality. Therefore, O’Neill made up his mind to escape this condition. In 1914, he recovered from tuberculosis, then he joined the famous Professor Pierce Baker’s 47 Workshop at Harvard to learn to write better. Afterwards, he lived in Greenwich Village, New York, where he began to write drama. 1916 was a year endowed with much important meaning not only for O’Neill, but also for American drama. In the summer of that year, the Provincetown Players produced O’Neill’s first performed play, the one-act play Bound East for Cardiff. This means the beginning of O’Neill’s successful dramatic career, and also indicated the modern American drama was pending.

3.2 The main idea of Long Day’s Journey into Night

Long Day’s Journey into Night was produced in the year of 1956. It is an autobiography at some point. The Tyrone family in the drama is actually a reflection of O’Neill’s family. The four major characters are respectively the father—James Tyrone, a well-known actor, who may do anything to make more money; the mother—Mary Tyrone, addictive to drugs; the elder son—Jamie Tyrone and the little one, Edmund Tyrone. Mary is so unsatisfied with the marriage life that she is always depressed; Jamie has no hope and faith in life; and Edmund who more often than not wanders away finally comes back with tuberculosis. The four persons of the family suffer from failures of life, hoping to escape the complex reality. Jamie and James try to look for solace in drinking, while Mary and Edmund wish to keep the outside away. The setting is designed at half past eight on a morning of August of 1912. They gather in the living room, arguing with each other until the midnight. The father complains about the addiction of the mother, and the mother dislikes the son’s idleness, and the children argue that parents are irresponsible. All of these arguments are mixed with the war of love and hatred, but nobody is certain whether they are caused by love or hatred. For them, life is too terrible to understand its meaning. The long journey eventually comes into night, and the family tragedy begins in its wake. All is surrounded by the darkness, with no light or relief.

4 Analysis of characters of Tyrone family members

There are four members in the Tyrone’s. Each of them grows up in different environment and has different experiences. Their characters are also different. Thereby, this article will analyze each person’s characteristics carefully from the daily activities and their words.

4.1 James Tyrone

James Tyrone pays much attention to money. Additionally, he has always had deep feelings to land, which can bring him sense of security from his opinion. To get more money, he saves it in many aspects, such as not buying a house, not turning on all bulbs in the living room and so on. The main reason why James behaves so weirdly is what he experienced at an early age. When he was very young, his father left the family. He was brought up by his mother through laborious work. At that time, he lived a horrible life. He saw how exhausted and toiled his mother was. Therefore, he realized money is extremely crucial to life, and he attached much importance to money. As he was an actor, to gain lots of money, he abandoned the opportunity to study and create novel dramas. Instead, he got scripts using money. In fact, he earned abundant wealth after he decided to buy scripts, but he lost his artistic dream forever at the same time.

James’s early experiences has caused him to be obsessed with material things but indifferent to his family. In James’s world, money and land matter more than his family. His love for money is clear to notice, and his indifference to his family is also obvious.

The first time James meets Mary, he is attracted to her beauty and falls in love with her soon. At that moment, both of them are possessed by the romantic feelings and then get married, mindless of the fact that they know little about each other. The life after marriage cannot be called happiness. James travels around to perform, and Mary has to go with him. They live at different hotels that are their home on the surface, while in fact those are just shelters for them when reaching somewhere. Mary is not contented with the loafing life, which is obvious from her words: “Mr. Tyrone has made me go with him on his all tours, I’ve had little to do with the people in his company, or with anyone on the stage … But I have never felt at home with them. Their life is not my life”[10]. However, James is oblivious to Mary’s dissatisfaction to the unstable life. Later, when Mary is sick, he asks a doctor who is not professional at all to check on her. The ignorant doctor gives morphine to Mary to relieve the pain, which makes Mary addictive to drugs. From then on, she is more sensitive to everything. James notices that, and he knows Mary is worried about Edmund when Edmund is always coughing. To make Mary not too anxious about Edmund’s health, he tells her Edmund merely comes down with cold instead of consumption. The time Jamie says something indicating Edmund’s condition is serious, he scolds him. Besides, he buys a villa in the country to please her; he employs a servant to help her with the housework; and he presents her with a car, hoping she can sometimes go out to have fun. Though he does pay much attention to Mary, and his love to Mary is displayed from these deeds, that is not enough because he still knows nothing about his wife. He often goes to the bar as before, leaving her alone at home. He does not realize that what Mary truly needs is his company.

James has two sons, but both of them do not get his care either. James does not supply a stable and decent life to Jamie. When Jamie is young, James carries him to here and there to give performance. Every time little Jamie gets sick, and James let him drink some beer rather than take him to see a doctor. Mary once accuses James, saying, “And if he had a nightmare when he was little, or a stomachache, your remedy was to give him a teaspoonful of whiskey to quiet him”[10]. As Jamie grows up, he fails to hunt for a good job, which greatly disappoints James. As a father, James never attempts to know what his elder son wanted to do. He finds a job in the theatre for Jamie. But as to Jamie, that is terrible. He says, “I never wanted to be an actor. You forced me on the stage”[10]. James embraces a more tolerant attitude towards his little son named Edmund. But in such aspects as literature, James does not show a little understanding to Edmund, thinking the literature taste of Edmund is pessimistic and even is filled with filth. They usually argue heavily with each other in terms of their different tastes.

People can know from the drama that James is neither a perfect husband nor a responsible father. As a husband, he fails to understand his wife, not providing the life she is eager for; as a father, he does not give enough care to his children, unable to appreciate his sons’ good quality in them.

4.2 Mary Tyrone

Mary once was a happy girl, but now she becomes a poor ordinary woman. While she is a young lady, she receives good education and dreams to be a pious nun. During her free time, she enjoys playing piano. Sometimes she goes out with her friends. But everything changes at the moment when she meets James. She is totally mesmerized by him and neglects her dream. After getting married to James, she either goes there and here with him to perform, or she is left alone with the children. They live in cheap hotels, take filthy trains and eat horrible food. James does not provide her a stable life. For love, she forces herself to adapt to these. To meet James, she once leaves her little child Eugene to other person to take care of. Unfortunately, Jamie is diagnosed with measles and spread his disease to Eugene, which leads to Eugene’s death. This gives a terrible blow to Mary, and she is guilty and remorseful. Maybe at that time, she is slightly mentally ill. When she gives birth to Edmund, she is addictive to drugs to kill the pain. Since then, her discomfort and complaints amasses. She feels she is lonely, and she begins to miss her old days, even she thinks everyone keeps an eye on her. Once she is dosed, she will complain about James’s not giving her a home, and often leaving her behind. Home is to refer to a family living together and the way it behaves. But in Mary’s home, there is herself alone most of the time. It is more a “house” than a “home” to her because a house is merely a building where people live in.

So miserable Mary feels that she finally becomes a neurotic woman especially after taking morphine, and people can clearly observe that when she appears in the drama for the first time. She often pays much attention to her hands and hair, saying, “These hands once were very beautiful, thin and fair, but … they look ugly now”[11]. If someone stares at her for a while, she will be ill at ease, and will touch her hair with shaking hands, asking, “Why are you always looking at me? Is there something wrong with my hair? I have been always making my hair a mess recently”[11]. Being neurotic and an addict, her love to husband and sons can be noticed from her words and deeds. Hearing Edmund cough, she is very anxious about him. She often tells him not to drink whiskey and eat more to keep strength. Edmund’s health is on her mind all day. As to James, the minute she talks to him and says some mean words, she immediately stops and apologizes. When James and two sons are out, and it is time for dinner, Mary says, “No, no. They won’t come. Tell Bridget I won’t wait”[10]. But the moment she hears James’s voice at the door, her face lights up lovingly—with excited eagerness, and says, “I’ve been waiting for you. I’m happy you come”[10]. From Mary’s totally different reaction before and after James’s arrival, people can feel her deep love to her family.

After marriage, Mary is always the one who waits for her family to stay home and accompany her. But she is left behind all the time. Her mind is out of order in the end, which is caused partially by the family, but she still longs for their care. She is pitiful and pathetic.

4.3 Jamie Tyrone

Jamie is like a hedgehog, showing his hostility to everything. He has hatred to his father, much dissatisfaction to his mother as well as great envy of his brother. He even has a distorted mind that there was always something that will deprive his parents’ love belonging to him. The occurrence of these complicated and evil feelings is because he did not get enough care from his parents when he was young.

At his early age, Jamie is a brilliant student who is frequently praised by his teachers, and popular among his friends. But gradually, he begins drinking and finally is expelled. James is occupied with his performance and spares little time on him. Besides, James is a boozer, which has a negative influence on Jamie to a great extent. Due to that, in an argument Mary accuses James that he brings Jamie to be a boozer, since the first time Jamie opens his eyes, he has seen James drinking[10]. Later, Jamie has a little brother—Eugene, but Jimmy dislikes him, for he thinks his brother is also the “something” that steals the love and attention of his parents. “I’ve always believed Jamie did it on purpose. He was jealous of the baby”[10]. Even, when he is diagnosed with measles, he deliberately approaches Eugene, causing Eugene sick and die young. As he grows up, his personality does not change. Instead, it goes worse. He becomes idle, dependent on his parents to get money even though he is nearly thirty years old. He is a regular customer to the bars. He hates his father, for he believes it was his father’s stinginess that caused his mother to take drugs and destroyed her life. He also holds dissatisfaction with Mary, because she always surrenders to drugs. As to Edmund, he is jealous, as Edmund can get more attention from Mary and James than him. Hence, he persuades Edmund that drinking is a wonderful experience, illustrating the mistakes he made are actually good and normal part of one’s life, and told Edmund prostitutes are like forbidden fruits, palatable and intriguing. He admits that he almost did all those wrong things by design to Edmund, making him to be a failure like himself. “Did it on purpose to make a bum of you”[10].

Actually, Jamie is complicated and tragic. The way he treats his families is certainly unfriendly, but the reasons he acts like this cannot be simply summarized that he hates them and wants to take a revenge. On one hand, he accuses his parents of not being responsible, but on the other hand he depends on them. To his brother, he confesses that part of him wants Edmund to fail, but the other part loves Edmund very much. Thus, it is also reasonable to claim that what Jamie does to his families is a way to attain their attention. When he is a little boy, no one pays much attention to him. The father is constantly in the middle of performance. The mother is always busy with taking after his brother and goes out with the father from time to time. “Always jealous of you. Mama’s baby, Papa’s pet. And it was your being born that started Mama on dope”[10]. His brother is his enemy who steals the mother’s care. Now, he grows up, and he uses anger and malicious words as his weapon. By doing so, he makes everyone unhappy and quarrels with them, but he indeed is involved in them and to get their attention by doing so. “I love you more than I hate you. My saying what I’m telling you now proves it”[10].

4.4 Edmund Tyrone

Compared to the other family members, the characteristics of Edmund presented in the drama is comparatively normal. He will argue with his family when there are contradictions; but he also will show his understanding as he knows the truth. Under the influence of his brother, he hates his father for he is miserly with money. Additionally, he condemns his father for his mother’s sickness. In the fourth sector of the drama, he quarrels with James about going to a cheap sanatorium. To James, he says, “you stinking old miser”[10]. But he later shows his understanding to his father after being told how poor and terrible life is as his father is a little child. As for his mother, he is quite patient and careful in case that some words will insult her. He always expresses his affection to his mother, yet in a meanwhile, he keeps an eye on her, worrying that she will take drugs. He does not believe in his mother. “It makes it so much harder, living in this atmosphere of constant suspicion … and none of you believe in me or trust me”[10]. To Jamie, he loves him all the time because Jamie teaches him drinking, going to the bars, reading poetry, writing. That is like what Jamie said in the book—“I made you. You are my Frankenstein”[10].

However, Edmund sometimes is lost in the past and depressed. He likes the sea, the fog, both of which are like unreal things. The poetry he reads is pessimistic. He enjoys travelling on the sea, and he imagines that he is the sun, the moonlight, the seagulls … The real life is relegated to the back of his mind. At that time, he is free. For him, real life is a burden that he attempts to take off, and all he wants is forget his real life and his family. More worse, he once wants to kill himself to get rid of the insane and abnormal life.

5 Analysis of the present condition of Tyrone family’s relationship

In this drama, Freud’s three fundamental psychology theories are perfectly merged with the plots. Jamie and Edmund are hostile to their father, while giving much concern to their mother. This is just like what Oedipus complex describes. Mary is terribly aラicted with drugs and her terrible marriage life, and sometimes she tries to commit suicide to relive herself, which is true of death instinct. Just as Freud believed that illusion is a game that adults enjoy, Edmund likes fog and sea that are unpredictable and changeable[1]. He is always submerged in revery, longing for getting rid of secular life.

5.1 Oedipus complex

Generally speaking, Oedipus complex is a psychological tendency that people like the feelings of staying with their mother. The feelings of loving mother are not like romantic ones at all, and they are more like a gratitude and appreciation to mother. It is common in society that both boys and girls have Oedipus complex. Besides, most people have this complex to a greater or lesser extent at some stage, and almost all have Oedipus complex in childhood by this theory. In one Greek mythology, it is said that prince Oedipus kills his father accidentally, and marries his mother. According to this story, Freud puts forward that boys will develop love for their mother, and want to kill their father[12]. To get mother’s love, they have to fight against their father. Freud also contends that the competition between two brothers is aroused because they both desire to acquire more attention from parents.

O’Neill once confesses that he has Oedipus complex, and people can observe this in his works. Long Day’s Journey into Night can be seen as an autobiographical work, in which O’Neill’s Oedipus complex is deeply hidden. “In the relationship between James and his two sons, the two generations cannot agree on many things, such as the literature taste and they cannot understand each other. James always accuses of his sons’ inability to live independently, while the sons accuse of James’ stinginess”[13]. Edmund and Jamie dislike their father very much, and they also ascribe Mary’s addiction to morphine to him. It seems that arguments between the father and sons never come to an end. In sector one, after Mary and Edmund leave the living room, Jamie and James start quarreling about the doctor of Edmund, Jamie’s work, Edmund’s disease and Mary’s condition. That lasts for a long time. In sector four, a dispute between Edmund and James bursts out because of turning on more bulbs. They argue about the money, the literature taste and the money. Jamie and Edmund’s hatred and dissatisfaction to their father and eager to get mother’s love are so strong that, they scarcely get along well with one another. But their thoughts and behavior are unfilial and wrong in terms of social ethics. Thus, the impulse of “id” should be rebuked and punished severely by “superego”, and people will have mental disorder. Both Jamie and Edmund are affected by this. Edmund becomes an unhappy youth whose mind is full of all kinds of revery, even he considers that death can help him get away all the suffering. As for Jamie, on one hand, he is attached to his mother; on the other hand, he feels guilty. He attempts to relieve his pain by spending a great amount of time on drinking and prostitutes.

The complex relationship between brothers can also be ascribed to Oedipus complex. The complex entices Jamie to have the idea that to be the only one who owns mother’s care. Thereby, in his childhood, he deliberately approaches Eugene and made him contract measles. Finally, Eugene dies. He gets the complete love and care from his mother. But there is Edmund later. Another opponent who will jostle with him for mother’s love appeared. He sets a bad example to Edmund. His father charges him in one dispute, he said, “You made him old before his time … you wanted to believe every man was a knave with his soul for save …”[10]He intends to let Edmund to go astray.

5.2 Death instinct and life instinct

Another important part of Freud’s theory is the theory of instinct. From his view, instinct plays a deciding role in all human behavior[12]. People have plenty of instincts and any physiological needs is a kind of instinct. At first, Freud divides human instinct into two parts—survival and reproduction. Having witnessed the cruelty of World War Two, he puts death instinct into the first two. He further combines the first two into one instinct—life instinct, which stands for all psychological desires that are needed for life’s growth and improvement. The outgrowth is romantic love. “I was really very pretty then, Cathleen ... I fell in love right then”[10]. Life instinct focuses on pursuing the physical pleasure and satisfaction under the happiness rules, while death instinct plans to go back to inanimate situation and its outgrowth is destruction. Freud quotes words of German philosopher Schopenhauer that the goal of all life is death to support his theory. Death instinct not only includes outside deeds: war, murder; but also includes inner behavior: suicide. “I hope, sometime, without meaning it, I will take an overdose”[10].

Before encountering James, Mary is always the charming one around the people. She does well in playing piano and she is determined to be a nun. But the instant she meets James, all she wants is to marry him. She thinks life ahead of her is promising and happy. Yet real life gives her a slap and she gets to know that her dreams about marriage life burst into bubbles. She has to endure endless loneliness, loafing life and drunk husband and sons. She is extremely miserable. When she is addictive to morphine, she indulges herself in it. Her life instinct is competing with her death instinct. She is eager to obtain relief and deliverance by taking drugs. The minute she is forced to forgo drugs, she just wants to kill herself.

Life instinct is also reflected when Edmund argues with his father about his health. When Edmund is diagnosed with consumption and his condition is getting worse, he still wants to survive. Accordingly, as his father plans to send him to a hospitality of poor quality, he scolds his father because he thinks his father only cared about money. “For the money! ... You know well Hill-town Sanatorium is a state institution”[10]. However, death instinct is demonstrated by his actions at the same time. The moment he is in a foreign country, penniless and homeless, he tries to find a way to get out of the horrible situation. Eventually, death strikes him. “Particularly the time I tried to commit suicide at Jimmie the Priest’s, and almost did”[10].

People who read the drama believe that James is really a miser, for he is unwilling to spend much money on the doctor, or good living conditions. But the reasons are clear when it is related with the life instinct. James goes through too much horrible things in his childhood because of poverty. After growing up, he tries to earn lots of fortune at the price of losing his art pursuit. When he owns substantial money in the end, he does not live a decent and luxurious life, instead, he chooses to buy more land. Because the insecurity caused by poverty in his youth is engraved in his heart, he holds the belief that land stands for security. All he desires for is have enough money to survive the life.

5.3 Fantasy and daydream

In “Creative Writers and Daydream”, Freud points out that writers usually fantasize about the world with an earnest attitude and enthusiasm[1]. Art works are artist’s daydreams. One’s desires can be realized by fantasy that is the game for adults. But people need to know that only those whose wishes do not come true fantasize and those who are contented and happy will not. In real world, “id” is satisfied by beautiful revery for those who are constantly assailed by challenges of life.

Although Edmund has a job in a newspaper, and his father is not harsh on him, he is still always gloomy. He often brings his mind to the past. For himself, his life is not happy, and he wants to get rid of it. Therefore, he is keen on fantasy. His wish is to go to sea which means leaving suffer and annoying person and things behind as for him. At one time, he goes to sea for several times, and he enjoys it so much, “with the water foaming into spume under me, the masts with every sail white in the moonlight, towering high above me”[10]. He likes fog too. Compared to the sea, fog is intangible, and it gives a feeling that it does not really exist, and almost disappears next second. Edmund hopes to be part of the fog, ignoring the terrible world. But he cannot. Even though Edmund wants to devote his life to the sea, he is unable to do it. He cannot escape his family, and he has to undertake his responsibility. What he can do is to talk himself into giving up his desire, and he chooses drinking and poetry to comfort himself.

Like Edmund, Mary cannot forget the past, and often is aラicted with it. In her mind, the life before marriage is like the moon in water, and what she can do is to recollect and miss. She is unable to go back any more. The present life makes her depressed and she chooses to be immersed in the past happy days. In the last sector of the drama, Mary is lost in her own world. She speaks to herself, totally oblivious to the real world. She thinks she is still taking piano lessons, and the tutor will scold her for her bad playing. Besides, she remembers her talk with Mother Elizabeth, and her appointment with Mother, completely involved in the past. In reality, Mary’s world is laden with family chores and suffering, and little time is given to playing piano and making friends. In addition, marriage means she cannot be a pious nun any more. Because of marriage, she loses her dreams, and she only can find them back in her illusion.

6 Conclusion

The drama simply depicts common activities of the Tyrone family in a day, letting people know how they interact with each other. They argue with each other for many times in a day, and the reasons why they argue all the time are very simple. Normally, people will ignore these trifles for keeping harmonious relationship, while for Tyrone family, anything trivial can trigger a furious argument. Through analyzing the character of each member, people understand why they act like that, and feel the agony in their heart. All of them have suffering in their heart, and their characters are affected by their horrible experiences and become deformed to some degree. They do not have ways to release their own negative feelings, and thus quarrels are a choice. Peaceful conversation is forgotten by them. Apart from that, Freud’s theory gives a proper explanation to their terrible family relationship. Firstly, because of Oedipus complex, the sons have some hostility to the father. Furthermore, their father does not accomplish what he should do, like educating his child, caring about them. The father is the indirect cause to the mother’s drug addiction. These fuel the sons’ hatred to the father. Secondly, according to death instinct and life instinct, the mother struggles the addiction and the life, she wants to live but her suffering may kill her. Finally, the mother and the little son enjoy fantasizing about their own world where they find their dream and there is no suffering. This article has found out the reasons for the tragic family relationship through analyzing each member’s characters by means of psychology theories. It will help readers better understand how psychology theories are closely related with this play.