How we cite our quotes: (Name of Play, Act #)
Quote #1
MINNIE: My, she's awful handsome ain't she?
LOUISA: Too furrin' lookin' for my taste.
MINNIE: Ayeh. There somethin' queer lookin' about her face.
AMES: Secret lookin'—'s if it was a mask she put on. That's the Mannon look. They all has it. They grow it on their wives. Seth's growed it, too, didn't you notice—from being with 'em all his life. They don't want folks to guess their secrets. (Homecoming, Act 1)
Back in the day, actors in ancient Greece would appear on stage wearing masks that hid their faces. With these descriptions of the Mannon mask-face, O'Neill is bringing back the mask, but not just as a shout-out to the Greek playwrights. It sets the stage for the general patterns of deception we see in the Mannon relationships. He tells us right away that things are not what they seem.
Quote #2
LAVINIA: We've so much to tell you. All about Captain Brant.
MANNON: Vinnie wrote me you'd had company. I never heard of him. What business had he here?
CHRISTINE: You had better ask Vinnie! He's her latest beau! She even went walking in the moonlight with him.
LAVINIA: Oh!
MANNON: I notice you didn't mention that in your letter, young lady!
LAVINIA: I only went walking once with him—and that was before—
MANNON: Before what?
LAVINIA: Before I knew he's the kind who chases after everything he sees.
MANNON: A fine guest to receive in my absence!
LAVINIA: I believe he even thought Mother was flirting with him. That's why I felt it my duty to write you. You know how folks in town gossip, father. […] (Homecoming, Act 3)
Lies are flying left and right in this little exchange, and everybody's got their motives for why they're peddling the BS. There are a million things going on that Ezra doesn't know about in this scene. It's like a ping-pong match between Christine and Lavinia to see who can spin the narrative most effectively to keep Ezra in the dark.
Quote #3
CHRISTINE: […] You want the truth? You've guessed it! You've used me, you've given me children, but I've never once been yours! I never could be! And whose fault is it? I loved you when I married you! I wanted to give myself! But you made me so I couldn't give! You filled me with disgust.
MANNON: You say that to me! No! Be quiet! We mustn't fight! I mustn't lose my temper! It might bring on—!
CHRISTINE: Oh, no! You needn't adopt that pitiful tone! You wanted the truth and you're going to hear it!
MANNON: Be quiet, Christine!
CHRISTINE: I've lied about everything! I lied about Captain Brant! He is Marie Brantôme's son! And it was I he came to see, not Vinnie. I made him come! (Homecoming, Act 4)
There you have it. Lie until you can use the truth to whack somebody over and over again like a human piñata. The message is that this is what happens when you've been lying during your whole marriage; eventually the truth comes bursting out in a destructive way. Christine's "confession" helps create a whole lot of tension that makes the finale to Homecoming—Ezra' death—all the more powerful.
Quote #4
MRS. HILLS: […] You remember, Everett, you've always said about the Mannons that pride goeth before a fall and that some day God would humble them in their sinful pride.
HILLS: I don't remember ever saying—
BLAKE: If you'll excuse me, that's darned nonsense! I've known Ezra Mannon all my life, and to those he wanted to know he was as plain and simple—
HILLS: Of course, Doctor. My wife entirely misunderstood me. I was, perhaps, wrongly referring to Mrs. Mannon.
BLAKE: She's all right, too—when you get to know her.
HILLS: I have no doubt. (The Hunted, Act 1)
We interrupt our quotes from major characters to bring you a little more from the townsfolk. It looks like the Mannons aren't the only well-off types who are above stretching the truth a little bit—even if some of them have a harder time keeping their mouths shut. Mr. Hills tries to backpedal to appease Doctor Blake.
Quote #5
ORIN: What was that stuff you wrote about some Captain Brant coming to see Mother? Do you mean to tell me there's actually been gossip started about her? By God, if he dares come here again, I'm make him damned sorry he did!
LAVINIA: I'm glad you feel that way about him. But there's no time to talk now. All I want to do is warn you to be on your guard. Don't let her baby you the way she used to and get you under her thumb again. Don't believe the lies she'll tell you! Wait until you've talked to me! Will you promise me?
ORIN: You mean—Mother? What the hell are you talking about, anyway? Are you loony? Honestly, Vinnie, I call that carrying your everlasting squabble with Mother a bit too far. You ought to be ashamed of yourself! (The Hunted, Act 2)
Lavinia recognizes that lying is a good way to control someone, and she knows her mother's very capable of controlling Orin. So she tries to undermine her mother's influence on him by this pre-emptive strike. It doesn't seem to be working so far; she'll need to up the ante.
Quote #6
LAVINIA: Has she succeeded in convincing you I'm out of my mind? Oh, Orin, how can you be so stupid? Look at me! You know in your heart I'm the same as I always was—your sister—who loves you, Orin!
ORIN: I didn't mean—I only think the shock of his death—
LAVINIA: I've never lied to you, have I? Even when we were little you always knew I told you the truth, didn't you?
ORIN: Yes—but—
LAVINIA: Then you must believe I wouldn't lie to you now! (The Hunted, Act 3)
Poor Orin. He doesn't know who to believe. Either his mother or sister is lying to him, and he's stuck in the middle of two powerful women. His response is to just become confused and childlike.
Quote #7
BRANT: I knew it! I've had a feeling in my bones! It serves me right, what has happened and is to happen! It wasn't the kind of revenge I had sworn on my mother's body! I should have done as I wanted—fought with Ezra Mannon as two men fight for the love of a woman! I have my father's rotten coward blood in me, I think. Aye! (The Hunted, Act 4)
Clearly, Lavinia and Orin aren't the only ones with issues. Still, you have to admit that as bad a guy as Brant is (and he's pretty awful), he never really wanted to play the same deceitful game that Christine didn't mind playing. He thinks he should have fought up front, man to man, with Ezra. But the lying Mannon blood got the better of him. Brant sees his own lies as stemming from cowardice.
Quote #8
ORIN: I see! So in case I did tell you—oh, she's cunning! But not cunning enough this time! You remember what I've given you, Hazel, and you do exactly what I said with it. For God's sake, Hazel, if you love me help me to get away from here—or something terrible will happen!
HAZEL: That's just what I want to do! You can come over tomorrow and stay with us.
ORIN: Do you suppose for a moment she'll ever let me go?
HAZEL: But haven't you a right to do as you want to?
ORIN: I could sneak out when she wasn't looking—and then you could hide me and when she came for me tell her I wasn't there.
HAZEL: I won't do any such thing! I don't tell lies, Orin! How can you be so scared of Vinnie? (The Haunted, Act 3)
Notice how Lavinia has turned into her domineering and lying mother. But leave it to the Niles kids to show us how decent people act. Hazel makes a point of refusing to get involved with the Mannon family pattern of lying. It's no coincidence that Orin trusts her with his book of truths about the family.