Perceptions of Characters in A Moon For the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neil
One of the major themes in the play, “A Moon for the Misbegotten” by Eugene O’ Neill, is the fact that people are rarely what they seem to be at first glance. We see this theme in at least three out of the six characters in the play. “A Moon for the Misbegotten” is the story of an Irish father, Phil Hogan, and his daughter Josie who live in a small shanty on a farm in Connecticut.
In the beginning of the play Phil Hogan is portrayed as a drunk, greedy farmer with absolutely no morals. In addition, he seems to be willing to sacrifice anything for a little bit of money. We also see him overindulging in alcohol but being stingy when it comes to sharing it with others. As soon as the curtain opens on the first act, we see that Mike, one of his children is leaving home because he can no longer deal with the lack of morality in the house. Mike also makes the audience aware that he is the third one of Phil Hogan’s sons that is leaving for this reason.
Josie Hogan, the only daughter of Phil Hogan, is the only one who seems to have completely followed in her father’s footsteps. She is a massive, overweight woman. We learn very early on that she is considered to be a slut by everyone in the town, and that she has a very rough way of speaking to people. She also seems to share her father’s attitude that the best way to go through life is as an immoral individual. In the very beginning of the play we find her lamenting the fact that three of her brothers have gone off to live their lives as upstanding citizens.
Another important character in this play is the Hogan’s landlord, James Tyrone, Jr. Before we even meet him, we learn from Josie that he has a reputation of “going to Broadway” to sleep with whores every night. The first time the audience is introduced to him, he is coming to visit the Hogan farm. We see him as a wealthy, upper-class landowner that has everything but still likes to impose on the less wealthy-namely the Hogans.
However, all of these perceptions that we have at first slowly begin to change as the play goes on and we come to realize the true personalities of all of the characters.
Firstly, being in an Italian in an Australian society has affected Josie in many different ways because the way people view her affects her in the start of the novel because she doesn’t know who she is because she hasn’t developed her cultural identity. Later in the novel, she accepts that she is a ‘wog’ and this affects
The characters address the audience; the fast movement from scene to scene juxtaposing past and present and prevents us from identifying with particular characters, forcing us to assess their points of view; there are few characters who fail to repel us, as they display truly human complexity and fallibility. That fallibility is usually associated with greed and a ruthless disregard for the needs of others. Emotional needs are rarely acknowledged by those most concerned with taking what they maintain is theirs, and this confusion of feeling and finance contributes to the play's ultimate bleak mood.
Josie's father has had very little immediate impact on her life thus far. When her father did arrive in back in Sydney Josie is naturally angry at him. This is a totally acceptable form of behaviour considering the circumstance, but her anger not only stems from her own personal experience. Josie had to grow up knowing that her father had abandoed her and her mother, pushing her Christina into being a single parent bringing up her child alone.
Other characters are introduced throughout the play one by one; this creates a build-up of different levels of plot and character tension. The more characters the more drama and suspense as each character adds more to the storyline. For example, first the lead player, Vereen, and the other fictional players that are presumably “in” Pippin’s head are intro...
A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the
Graham, Miss Ruddock and Susan are all presented as human beings with intrinsic weaknesses that allow Alan Bennett to inflict unhappiness on them. He made Graham a ‘mommy’s boy’ without the mental wherewithal to make it on his own in the big scary World. Miss Ruddock is presented as someone who has the shadow of mental illness hanging over her and has let the rest of society move on without her. Susan is weak of will and lacks the inner strength to do as Ramesh and “take the profit and move on.” (Bennett, 1987, p, 84) Throughout the three monologues, Alan Bennett makes you laugh out loud at times, yet there is real tragedy here too. “However, what remains with the audience is his respect for the neglected characters, and how funnily and inventively he has used the monologue form.” (Turner, 1997, p, 66)
Growing up she seemed nearly perfect yet it was only a front, reserving all her emotional turmoil inside. Pressure came in the form of two main figures her mother and her boyfriend Matt Royston. Josie had to make her mother proud which was accomplished “ Many of the accomplishments that Josie’s mother was most proud of … had not been achieved because Josie wanted them so badly herself, but mostly because she was afraid of falling short of perfect.”(pg9). She felt as though popularity is the key to some form of conformity, being on top in the social hierarchy of high school would make her feel good that people liked her. Yet over time for her want of attention would become harmful to her feeling as though people would find who she really was by even creating precautions just incase it ever so happens with the book explaining her possible suicide methods “ It had taken Josie nearly six months to inconspicuously gather only fifteen pills, but she figured if she washed them down with a fifth of vodka, it would do the trick.” (pg 8-9).She felt as though that everything will crumble as if she was like Marie Antoinette with the people coming after but instead she will take matters into her own hands. Matt on the other hand was her source to her popularity, the pair
The pointedness of the play is created through a distinct plot path. The observer is lead through the story, seeing first how greatly Amanda Wingfield influences her children. Secondly, the play-goer notes how Tom Wingfield desperately struggles and writhes emotionally in his role of provider- he wants more than just to be at home, taking care of his all-too-reminiscent mother and emotionally stunted sister. Tom wants to get out from under his mother’s wing; his distinct ambitions prevent him from being comfortable with his station in life. Lastly, Laura struggles inside herself; doing battle against her shyness, Laura begins to unfurl a bit with Jim, but collapses once again after Jim announces his engagement and leaves her, again. Each character struggles and thrashes against their places in life, but none of them achieve true freedom. This plot attests to the fact that true change and freedom can only come through the saving power of God Almighty and Jesus Christ, and by letting go of the past.
The façades that the individual characters assume are all essential to the complex deception and insanity that follow. Shakespeare's characters, it would seem, all have `multi-faceted' personalities (with the exception of Horatio). The true thoughts of these characters are seen only as asides, soliloquies or, in Hamlet's case, through the manipulation of language.
O’Neill, Eugene. “Memorandum on Masks” in O’Neill and His Plays. Oscar Cargill et. al. eds. NY: New York University Press, 1963.
The family that the play centers on live in a small world. Nobody truly cares about them other than themselves. When Willy Loman’s son Biff goes to discuss a buisness deal
Upon examining Shakespeare's characters in this play, Hamlet proves to be a very complex character, and functions as the key element to the development of the play. Throughout the play we see the many different aspects of Hamlet's personality by observing his actions and responses to certain situations. Hamlet takes on the role of a strong character, but through his internal weaknesses we witness his destruction.
To understand the reasons Eliza is able to change and be changed into an almost Cinderella-like character. With Eliza going from and growing and changing through the hardship she faces. In the play, Eliza begins with no confidence and works towards finding a way to reach through learning during her life experiences. Learning through the other characters Eliza meets throughout the play. Eliza grows stronger and shows how she is able to change her ways one can understand how she is able to change and makes these changes by seeing her through poverty, how she is interacting with the other characters in the play, and through the things she learns from the options that are provided to her.
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