critics Flashcards
(10 cards)
Mary thinks she just has arthritis from age
NOT that she’s an addict
The morphine probably caused the hand pain - ironic
KERR: ‘Mary has convinced herself, with the help of morphine, that her arthritic hands are the true cause of all her pain’
Because he’s jealous that E is the favourite, he blames him for their mother’s addiction (started at E’s birth), resents him because J is seen as a failure
So he got E addicted to alcohol like he is to get revenge
CARPENTER: ‘Jamie led Edmund into temptation on purpose, to make him fall’
They talk truth when they are high/drunk
They disguise themselves - by appearing differently to others, by lying to each other - lack of trust in each other
Pain = physical and mental pain
By drinking/taking drugs they are able to have honest conversations with each other - remove the disguise of the lies they tell each other and themselves
BOGARD: ‘Whiskey and morphine remove all disguise’
Scrutiny - criticized by others - by her family, by outside people’s criticism
Become used to it, feels it deeply
Constant suspicion -> always being watched and judged
PORTER: ‘Mary has internalised her family’s constant scrutiny’
To critique the legality of drugs
To show it can ruin a family - his family
Gauze = bandage -> points to the idea that it might be healing / therapeutic
Pretending that it’s fiction but it’s real
TYNAN: ‘a crucial day in O’Neil’s late youth, covered with a thin gauze of fiction’
gauze - bandage
Exclude her from things, make her feel less than them
PORTER: husband and sons ‘marginalise her’
The past accusations have their effects on the present
TYNAN: ‘The pressures and recriminations of the past will not let the present live’
recriminations - accusation
the effect of the fog on the family and atmosphere
MAMBROL: the fog enhances the tragic sense of unity, enclosure, and isolation for the Tyrones.
Religion
Mariolatry - idolatrous worship of the Virgin Mary.
O’Neill’s mothers birth name was Mary but she went by Elle
CARPENTER: Embodies all Christian Mariolatry - as her name suggests
Blame shifted around all characters lighting the cycle of addiction
O’NEILL HIMSELF: “Shifting alliances in battle.”
