“Addiction as a Symbol of Repression: The Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Substance Abuse in O’Neill’s Play”
This blog is a part of the assignment of Paper 108 : The American Literature
Academic Details:
Name : Jay P. Vaghani
Roll No. : 06
Sem. : 2
Batch : 2024-26
E-mail : vaghanijay77@gmail.com
Assignment Details:
Paper Name : The American Literature
Paper No. : 108
Paper Code : 22401
Unit : 1- Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night
Topic : “Addiction as a Symbol of Repression: The Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Substance Abuse in O’Neill’s Play”
Submitted To : Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
Submitted Date : April 17, 2025
The following information—numbers are counted using QuillBot:
Words : 1576
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Paragraphs : 78
Sentences : 136
Reading time :6 m 18 s
Table of Contents
Introduction
Psychoanalytic Framework
O’Neill’s Personal Context and Its Relevance
Case Study – Long Day’s Journey into Night
The Symbolism of Fog and Isolation
Other Plays and Continuities
Critical Responses and Scholarly Support
Conclusion
References
Abstract
This assignment explores the psychological dimensions of addiction in Eugene O’Neill’s works, focusing especially on Long Day's Journey into Night. It applies Freudian psychoanalysis to examine how addiction operates not just as a physical or social illness, but as a symbolic manifestation of repressed emotions, guilt, trauma, and internal conflict. Through this lens, O’Neill's characters are seen as victims of their own unconscious minds, using substances as mechanisms to avoid confronting painful truths.
Keywords
Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Psychoanalysis, Freudian Theory, Repression, Addiction, Substance Abuse, Trauma, Guilt, Memory, Unconscious Mind, Symbolism, Alcoholism, Morphine, Family Dysfunction
Research Question
How does Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night use addiction as a symbolic manifestation of repressed trauma, guilt, and unconscious conflict, as interpreted through Freudian psychoanalysis?
Hypothesis
In Long Day’s Journey into Night, Eugene O’Neill uses addiction not merely as a personal or familial issue but as a symbolic representation of Freudian repression, wherein each character’s substance dependence reflects their attempt to suppress unresolved trauma, guilt, and inner emotional conflicts. Through this psychoanalytic lens, addiction becomes a dramatic metaphor for the unconscious struggle between memory and denial.
1. Introduction
Eugene O’Neill is widely acknowledged as a transformative figure in American drama, notable for his psychological depth and emotional rawness. Central to many of his plays is the theme of addiction—morphine, alcohol, and other dependencies serve as recurring motifs. While critics often explore addiction in his plays as reflections of familial dysfunction or personal failure, this assignment approaches addiction as a psychoanalytic symbol. In particular, it interprets addiction as a form of repression, where characters seek refuge in substances to avoid traumatic memories, suppressed desires, or unresolvable emotional conflicts. The central text for this analysis is Long Day's Journey into Night (1941), which is both a personal and artistic masterpiece.
2. Section I: Psychoanalytic Framework
Sigmund Freud, the founding figure of psychoanalysis, proposed that much of human behavior is influenced by unconscious desires and repressed experiences. Repression, one of the core defense mechanisms in Freudian theory, involves burying unwanted thoughts or emotions in the unconscious to protect the ego from distress.
In this framework, addiction is often not just a compulsion or habit but a symptom—an external sign of internal conflict. Substance abuse provides a way to escape from the confrontation with these buried aspects of the self. For Freud, unresolved tensions from childhood or trauma manifest themselves in neurotic behaviors. Addiction, from this perspective, becomes a substitute gratification that veils the original source of anxiety or repression.
3. Section II: O’Neill’s Personal Context and Its Relevance
O’Neill’s personal life was marked by tragedy, illness, and addiction. His father, James O’Neill, was an alcoholic, and his mother, Ella, became addicted to morphine following the birth of Eugene’s younger brother. These personal traumas are dramatized in Long Day’s Journey into Night, making the play a fertile ground for psychoanalytic interpretation.
Understanding O’Neill’s biographical background enriches the symbolic reading of addiction in his plays. Rather than representing moral weakness, the substance abuse depicted is rooted in emotional loss, disappointment, and existential despair—all of which O’Neill experienced firsthand. Thus, O’Neill's characters often mirror his own inner conflicts, making psychoanalytic approaches particularly revealing.
4. Section III: Case Study – Long Day’s Journey into Night
4.1 Mary Tyrone: Morphine as Repression of Guilt and Lost Innocence
Mary Tyrone’s morphine addiction represents a retreat from the unbearable guilt of her son’s illness and the disillusionment of her marriage. Her constant return to the "fog" of morphine suggests not only physical dependency but a desire to blur painful memories. Her fixation on the past and idealization of her convent days reflects a classic Freudian return to the innocence of childhood as a defense mechanism. Her addiction is thus a symptom of unresolved trauma and grief.
"The past is the present, isn’t it? It’s the future too. We all try to lie out of that but life won’t let us."
This quote underlines how temporality collapses for Mary. The morphine-induced state becomes a timeless refuge from reality.
4.2 James Tyrone: Alcoholism as Fear of Poverty and Failure
The father, James Tyrone, is an alcoholic whose repressed fear of poverty and obsession with financial security have emotionally paralyzed him. His drinking, though socially acceptable, symbolizes a deeper failure to confront his own lost artistic potential. His repression of emotional vulnerability and ambition contributes to his family's dysfunction.
"I can’t touch a drink without wanting ten more. It never affects me that way until I’ve had the first."
His addiction acts as a barrier against self-revelation. It allows him to deflect guilt and drown emotional discomfort.
4.3 Jamie Tyrone: Addiction as Rebellion and Self-Hatred
Jamie, the elder son, drinks excessively and frequents prostitutes, behaviors that signify not only rebellion but deep self-loathing. His addiction masks a psychological war between wanting approval and resenting his family’s expectations. In psychoanalytic terms, Jamie’s behavior can be seen as a combination of displacement (projecting guilt onto others) and repetition compulsion (reenacting his own trauma).
4.4 Edmund Tyrone: Illness and Symbolic Displacement
Although Edmund is not addicted to substances in the same way, his illness (tuberculosis) and bouts of drinking may be interpreted as symbolic extensions of repression. He oscillates between poetic escapism and existential despair, often articulating a nihilistic worldview reminiscent of Freud’s death drive.
"Stammering is the native eloquence of us fog people."
The fog metaphor again invokes blurred consciousness, repression, and emotional distancing.
5. Section IV: The Symbolism of Fog and Isolation
Fog is one of the central recurring motifs in Long Day’s Journey into Night. Symbolically, it represents both the desire to forget and the inability to see life clearly—a perfect metaphor for repression. The characters’ addictions deepen as they retreat further into isolation. The house itself becomes a kind of psychological prison where memories circulate but are never confronted directly.
The foghorn’s persistent sound acts as a kind of return of the repressed—a reminder that no matter how far the characters try to drift away, reality continues to intrude. The play's temporal structure, which condenses the family’s entire emotional history into a single day, further supports a psychoanalytic reading of cyclical trauma and unresolved grief.
6. Section V: Other Plays and Continuities
6.1 The Iceman Cometh:
In this play, the bar patrons use alcohol to maintain their "pipe dreams" and avoid confronting their failures. The character Hickey's forced sobriety becomes disturbing, as it strips illusions and reveals brutal truths. The communal addiction represents collective repression, a social counterpart to the individual psychology in Long Day’s Journey into Night.
6.2 A Moon for the Misbegotten:
Jamie Tyrone reappears in this play, continuing to struggle with his addictions and guilt. His confessional monologue at the climax reveals how substance abuse has been his only means of coping with his brother’s death and his own failings. Josie Hogan’s response is more maternal than romantic, symbolizing emotional release and temporary redemption.
7. Section VI: Critical Responses and Scholarly Support
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Several scholars support the psychoanalytic interpretation of O’Neill’s work:
Harold Bloom sees Mary Tyrone's addiction as the emotional core of Long Day's Journey, tying it directly to Freudian concepts of maternal repression.
Steven F. Walker argues that the play functions as a case study in neurotic repetition and unresolved Oedipal tensions.
Frederic Carpenter identifies addiction in O’Neill’s work as an aesthetic of self-destruction rooted in repressed Catholic guilt and familial pressure.
These critics reinforce the idea that addiction in O’Neill’s plays transcends realism. It becomes a symbolic and psychological device that opens the characters' inner lives to the audience.
8. Conclusion
Addiction in Eugene O’Neill’s plays, especially Long Day’s Journey into Night, operates as a profound metaphor for repression. Through Freudian psychoanalysis, the characters’ dependencies on substances are revealed to be desperate attempts to manage unbearable psychic pain. Far from being mere personal flaws, these addictions symbolize a deeper struggle with memory, guilt, fear, and identity. The brilliance of O’Neill lies in his ability to turn these psychological conflicts into compelling drama, offering insight into the human condition. His plays continue to resonate because they speak not only to the social realities of addiction but to the hidden emotional wounds it often conceals.
References
Black, Stephen A. “Reality and Its Vicissitudes: The Problem of Understanding in ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night.’” The Eugene O’Neill Review, vol. 16, no. 2, 1992, pp. 57–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29784458. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
Eacho, Rebecca. “Acts of Recovery: Eugene O’Neill and Addiction Treatment ...” Scholarly Publishing Collective, 2024, scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/eugene-oneill/article/45/2/188/390516/Acts-of-Recovery-Eugene-O-Neill-and-Addiction.
Fathima, Sabreen. “The Consequence of Psychological Imbalances in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” Velsunic, Feb. 2025, www.academia.edu/29094520/The_Consequence_of_Psychological_Imbalances_in_ONeills_Long_Days_Journey_into_Night.
O'Neill, Eugene. Long Day's Journey into Night. Yale University Press, 2002.
Vijaykumar, Sushila. “Depression and Addictions in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into the Night.” Mu, May 2017, www.academia.edu/33235548/Depression_and_Addictions_in_ONeills_Long_Days_Journey_into_the_Night?utm_source=.
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