Long Day's Journey Into Night Themes

Long Day's Journey Into Night Themes

Guilt and Blame

The characters in Long Day's Journey are absolutely obsessed with thinking over the past and either feeling guilty about what they've done, or blaming someone else for all the problems they face. O...

Suffering

At the most basic level, Long Day's Journey Into Night is a play about people who are suffering. The characters have basically nothing to do, as the adult sons aren't working, the father is in his...

Drugs and Alcohol

In Long Day's Journey Into Night, the Tyrone family's past and present have been so dire that normal coping mechanisms (family love, togetherness, etc.) can't keep up. So what do they turn to for r...

Memory and The Past

Everyone in Long Day's Journey into Night has some major anxiety about the lost Good Old Days and about old mistakes that still show scars. Both parents express real regret over choices they made i...

Lies and Deceit

One way you could chart the trajectory of Long Day's Journey Into Night is to follow how willing the characters are to be honest with one another. As the play starts, everyone except for the eldest...

Fate and Free Will

One of the basic tensions underlying Long Day's Journey is the conflict between fate and free will. All the characters want to change their lives, but at the same time, they can't get this depressi...

Family

The Tyrone family has no strong parent figure to take responsibility for the care of its members. Without supportive parents, the children are left to look after themselves and their parents, and t...

Society and Class

This theme is a little more subtle, but with all of this American dream stuff, you can see that class and money matter in Long Day's Journey Into Night. The dad has done well financially, and he fi...