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
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