The Iceman Cometh Study Guide

The Iceman Cometh

The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill

In the Iceman Cometh, regulars at a Greenwich village bar await the return of Theodore "Hickey" Hickman, a salesman who always throws a party when he arrives. But, this time, Hickey has found salvation and is completely sober. The play examines the futility of pursuing the American Dream. Each of the patrons in the bar have given up on their dreams or somehow betrayed themselves, including Hickey, who reveals that he has killed his wife and ends up turning himself in.

  • Harry Hope– Widowed proprietor of the saloon and rooming house where the play takes place. He has a tendency to give free drinks, though he constantly says otherwise
  • Ed Mosher– Hope's brother-in-law (brother of Hope's late wife Bess), a con-man and former circus man
  • Pat McGloin– Former police lieutenant who was convicted on criminal charges and kicked off the force
  • Willie Oban– Harvard Law School alumnus
  • Joe Mott– Former proprietor of a gambling house
  • General Piet Wetjoen– Former leader of a Boer commando
  • Captain Cecil Lewis– Former Captain of British infantry
  • James Cameron "Jimmy Tomorrow"– Former Boer War correspondent who is constantly daydreaming about getting his old job back again tomorrow (hence his nickname)
  • Hugo Kalmar– Former editor of anarchist periodicals who often quotes the Old Testament
  • Larry Slade– Former syndicalist-anarchist
  • Rocky Pioggi– Night bartender, who is paid little and makes his living mostly by allowing Pearl and Margie to stay at the bar in exchange for a substantial cut of all the money they make from prostitution, he despises being called a pimp
  • Don Parritt– Teenager, son of a former anarchist
  • Pearl– Street walker working for Rocky
  • Margie– Street walker working for Rocky
  • Cora– Street walker, Chuck's girlfriend
  • Chuck Morello– Day bartender, Cora's boyfriend
  • Theodore "Hickey" Hickman– Hardware salesman
  • Moran– Police detective
  • Lieb– Police detective

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