Gender Roles and Female Identity in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night and John Van Druten’s I Remember Mama

Abstract

The paper explores gender roles within the patriarchal society in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night (1956) and John Van Druten’s I Remember Mama (1944), with respect to the portrayal of the mother. O’Neill’s play follows the story of the dysfunctional Tyrone family, while Van Druten depicts a close-knit family of Norwegian immigrants, the Hansons. Although seemingly different, both families are patriarchal, which
is reflected in the characters of the mothers who conform to traditional gender roles. Van Druten’s protagonist Marta Hanson is a selfless and caring mother responsible for the happiness of her family, unlike Mary Tyrone, who is addicted to morphine and consequently blamed for the downfall of her family. Despite the obvious differences between the protagonists, both are judged on the basis of the same criteria – their relationship with their husbands, children, and ultimately money and career. The paper applies Simone de Beauvoir’s gender theory in order to study the protagonists’ behaviour in three situations – marriage, motherhood, and the business world. The paper concludes that although Mary and Marta are evaluated based on the same criteria, they differ in that Marta successfully fulfils the expected roles, while Mary fails to do so. Thus, the mothers in these plays represent binary oppositions – the mother in Van Druten’s play is depicted as a saint praised for the sacrifices she makes, while the mother in O’Neill’s play is portrayed as a sinner whose failures lead to family ruin.