Guide Note

Mourning Becomes Electra is a trilogy of plays by American playwright Eugene O'Neill.

Fast Facts

Writer: Eugene O'Neill
Setting: New England 1865-1866
Premiere Date: Published in 1931
Stage performances can be six hours long
1947 made into a Film
1967 adapted into an Opera

Synopsis

Mourning Becomes Electra is a dark tragedy featuring adultery, incest, murder, suicide, revenge, madness. As the play opens, Ezra Mannon returns from the war, only to be poisoned by his adulterous wife, Christine. His daughter Lavinia and son Orin avenge their father's death by killing their mother's lover. The mother, Christine, commits suicide. Orin later also takes his own life. Lavinia shuts herself up in the house, with the memories of her dead relatives to haunt her.

The plays are closely based on the Greek myth of Orestes - especially on the Aeschylus trilogy Oresteia. To this foundation, O'Neill adds American history and Freudian psychology to present the self-destruction of one family in New England at the end of The Civil War.

Characters

Ezra Mannon - Brittle New Englander, is judge, mayor and, most recently, one of Grant’s generals in the Civil War
Christine Mannon - Ezra's wife, stopped loving him as soon as they were married
Lavinia Mannon - Daughter of Ezra and Christine, hates her mother and adores her father
Orin Mannon - Lavinia’s weak-willed brother, hates his father and adores his mother
Adam Brant - Bastard son of Ezra’s uncle by a servant
Peter - Orin’s childhood friend and Lavinia’s fiance
Helen - Peter’s sister, is Lavinia’s childhood friend and Orin’s fiance

Quotes

"I had a queer feeling that war meant murdering the same man over and over, and that in the end I would discover the man was myself!"

Categories

Writing | Plays | English | Literature | Dramatic Studies | Theater

View Note History

Mourning Becomes Electra

The Mahalo Top 7

Wikipedia: Mourning Becomes Electra
Seattle Opera: Mourning Becomes Electra Overview
eOneill: Iphigenia: An Overlooked Influence in Mourning... Analysis
American Repertory Theatre: O'Neill's Tragic Vision: Adapting the Greek Model Article
TheaterMania: Mourning Becomes Electra Review (December 1, 2002)
Amazon.com: Mourning Becomes Electra Merchandise
SparkNotes: Mourning Becomes Electra Study Guide

Mourning Becomes Electra Online Text and Synopsis

Project Gutenberg Australia: Mourning Becomes Electra
SparkNotes: Mourning Becomes Electra Plot Overview
eNotes: Mourning Becomes Electra Summary

Mourning Becomes Electra Analysis and Study Guides

Lesekost: Where Love is No Sin: The Blessed Isles in Mourning Becomes Electra
Bilkent University: The Oresteia and Mourning Becomes Electra
Everything: Mourning Becomes Electra (January 21, 2002)
BookRags: Mourning Becomes Electra Study Guide
eNotes: Mourning Becomes Electra Study Guide

Mourning Becomes Electra Critical History

eOneill.com: The Historian: Mourning Becomes Electra
The New York Society Library: Mourning Becomes Electra
The New York Times: "Tinkering Becomes Electra" (March 21, 2004)
Theatre Voice: Mourning Becomes Electra (November 27, 2003)
Hot Review: Mourning Mourning (November 17, 2003)
Nick's Flick Picks: Mourning Becomes Electra, 1947 Film Review

Mourning Becomes Electra in Performance

Blunt Review: Mourning Becomes Electra (April 8, 2005)
New National Theatre Tokyo: Mourning Becomes Electra (2004)
BBC London: Mourning Becomes Electra (National Theatre, Lyttelton) (November 28, 2003)
Curtain Up: Mourning Becomes Electra (November 28, 2003)
The New York Times: "It's Tragedy, Shorter and Sweet" (December 8, 2002)
Time: Greece in New England (October 5, 1983)

Mourning Becomes Electra in TV and Films

Note: The links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.
1947: Mourning Becomes Electra (Film)
1978: Mourning Becomes Electra (TV mini-series)

Mourning Becomes Electra Author Information

- Mahalo Guide to Eugene O'Neill
Wikipedia: Eugene O'Neill
Nobel Prize: Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site: American Drama Transformed
University of Virginia Library: Setting the Modern Stage
eOneill: An Electronic Eugene O'Neill Archive
Binghamton University: Eugene O'Neill, 1888-1953
The New York Times: " Why O'Neill's Ghosts Haunt Us Still" (June 12, 1988)

Mourning Becomes Electra Images and Videos

Google Image Search: Mourning Becomes Electra
Google and YouTube Video Search: Mourning Becomes Electra
ViewImage: Images from 1947 film Mourning Becomes Electra
Helen Mirren Appreciation Society: Helen Mirren in Mourning Becomes Electra

Mourning Becomes Electra Influences and Culture

SparkNotes: Mourning Becomes Electra Message Board
WesternCanon: Mourning Becomes Electra Forum
FunTrivia: Mourning Becomes Electra Quiz
Category D: Mourning Becomes Electra Blog (November 4, 2007)

Mourning Becomes Electra Merchandise

Amazon.com: Mourning Becomes Electra Books | DVDs
Powell's Books: Mourning Becomes Electra Merchandise
Borders: Mourning Becomes Electra Books | Movies
Barnes and Noble: Mourning Becomes Electra Books | DVD

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