Pop culture these days seems all about encouraging our fascination with the rich and famous. People Magazine, entire television channels that are like the CNN of celebrity gossip, movies about people like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg—we've got tons of options when it comes to spying into the lives of the well-off. In Mourning Becomes Electra, O'Neill is playing with all of that. We're given an all-access pass to what goes on in the lives of these kinds of folks, and you've got to admit that the Mannons are like a reality TV show from hell. O'Neill drops hints that high social status really doesn't make life any better. In fact, it's the working- and middle-class folks who seem to have more freedom and happiness. They don't have that fancy Mannon name to uphold.
Questions About Society and Class
- In what ways does social class figure into Lavinia's plan to avenge Ezra's death?
- Think of the character in the play with the most wealth and power. Is it the most admirable character? If so, why? If not—who is?
- Do characters of lower social classes seem more emotionally expressive than the Mannons? Is that a classist idea on O'Neill's part?
Chew on This
Argue for or against: In O'Neill's trilogy, it is possible to figure out how evil a person is by just where on the social ladder they fall.
The way Seth and other working folks operate like the chorus in Greek drama, giving us all of the important information we need—that is, doing all the work and setting things up—imitates the way things are in real life. Hard-working people do all the heavy lifting while the rich just worry about their personal problems.