Mourning Becomes Electra Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

The Mannon Estate

A Tomb with a View The Mannon home isn't like what you'd expect to see on MTV's Cribs. Like most rich folks, the Mannons love showing off their money, but the way O'Neill describes this mansion is...

Ezra Mannon's Portrait

Court's in Session One of the weirdest things about Ezra Mannon is that he's always there—even when he's not. Characters constantly talk about him, and his memory haunts Lavinia, Orin, Christine...

The Mannon Family Portraits

The Hall of Dead Relatives Ezra's not the only dead or absent Mannon whose face we find framed and nailed to the walls of the Mannon home. In the sitting-room, where guests are entertained, are po...

The Islands of the South Seas

Destination Nowhere Sometimes it's nice to just pack your bags and get away from it all—everybody needs to take a little vacation now and then. That's where what Brant, Lavinia, and other charac...

Darkness and Light

Anybody Got a Match?Black and white, right and left, darkness and light—all classic pairs that are used to describe good and evil in a slightly fancier and prettier literary way. Throughout...

Ghosts and Other Spooky Stuff

Who doesn't love a good ghost story?  Well, probably Orin Mannon, for one.  Once the unfortunate Ezra Mannon and his murdering adulteress of a wife are out of the picture, ghosts seem t...

The Oedipus Complex

Psychiatrist: "I have to tell you, madam, that your son is suffering from an Oedipus complex." Mother: "Oedipus, Schmoedipus! What does it matter, so long as he loves his mother?" Looking for...