Setting in Long Day's Journey Into Night

By extensively weaving symbolic elements into the setting, O’ Neill subtly suggests that perception is not always reality and that past events are always a part of both the present and future. The story takes place within a temporary summer house which is constantly masked by the fog that is brought in from the sea. The lack of a ‘real’ home emphasizes that the family knows neither permanence nor stability while the fog and the sea represent the deep abyss which each character seems to fall deeper into as the story progresses. The element of darkness also looms as a symbol of the complete disconnection that the family suffers from. The author intentionally creates a plot that spans over the period of one day and is based around meals to stress that the events that occur within the play are just a part of everyday life for the Tyrone family. The presence of drugs and watered down whiskey create another escape for the characters who seem to be ghosts which are merely shades of their former selves. The most prominent part of the setting is the past and the idea that the past is the present.
Mary Tyrone constantly yearns for the type of home that she grew up in, not the impermanent summer house that Tyrone has provided her with. The house, which is constantly engulfed by fog, acts as a sanctuary from reality, but feels like a prison to those who dwell in it. This facet of the story is paralleled by the other factors that cut the Tyrone family off from the rest of the world. For Mary, her morphine addiction; James, his obsession with the value of a dollar; Jamie, his frivolous lifestyle; Edmund, his lack of concern for the future (Horwitz). The component of the omnipresent fog and the vastness of the sea combine to form a significant aspect of the play. The fog and the sea are what they all long for, yet what they all fear. Each character is his own enemy and must fight between the desire to succumb to the fog and the desire to resist it.
Darkness is a prevalent part of the setting within the work and adds to the over-all theme. The title Long Day’s Journey Into Night illustrates that the play begins in the light, but as time moves on and more discoveries about the past are made, the darkness slowly takes over the dysfunctional family (Horwitz). Further expanding on the dark setting, O’ Neill incorporates literal darkness within the house. Throughout the work, several references are made to James Tyrone’s ‘knowledge of the value of a dollar.’ This knowledge is evident to the reader when Tyrone insists on turning all of the lights in the house off in order to save money on the electric bill, resulting in a completely dark atmosphere within the house. Before, the darkness within had only been figurative, but now there is a literal darkness that makes the family even gloomier than before. The author uses the literal darkness in juxtaposition to the figurative one in order to exaggerate how pervasive unhappiness can be.
By employing a plot based on a one day span within a household, the reader can better understand that the Tyrones have accepted their troubles as a part of their lives and instead of trying to mend the present, each family member dwells in the past (Horwitz). Although on the outside the Tyrone family may appear to be completely ordinary, O’ Neill draws a defining line between perception and reality. A bystander would never guess that both drugs and alcohol were significant issues within the Tyrone summer house, however, the reader has insight beyond what most would see. There is a definite change from the characters at the beginning of the book to how they behave in the end despite the fact that all of the action takes place in one day. Each character becomes more and more ghost-like and by the end they are merely extensions of who they used to be.
By forming a setting through diction and imagery, O’ Neill creates a masterpiece which portrays how the surrounding environment can worsen the state-of-being of a human. The house that feels like a prison, the surrounding fog which encompasses everything, and the drugs all contribute to the setting of the book. The setting adds to the dreary and somewhat cynical tone of the book and emphasizes the past as part of the present (Horwitz).

Works Cited: Horwitz, Simi. "The new family on stage: broken and transient.(In Focus)." Back Stage 44.50 (Dec 12, 2003): 5(3). Academic One File. Gale. Lee County Library System. 21 Sept. 2008
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