Mourning Becomes Electra is a tragic play set in New England in the aftermath of the Civil War. It is heavily interwoven with the common fixtures of Greek tragedy. A wealthy general is poisoned by his vicious and scheming wife, then avenged by his children Orin and Lavinia. When Orin kills himself out of grief, Lavinia is left in the shoes of Greek tragedy's Electra and struggles to find meaning in her bleak and solitary life.
Main characters
Chorus of townsfolk– (various chorus members appear in different scenes)
The story is a retelling of the Oresteia by Aeschylus. The characters parallel characters from the ancient Greek play. For example, Agamemnon from the Oresteia becomes General Ezra Mannon. Clytemnestra becomes Christine, Orestes becomes Orin, Electra becomes Lavinia, Aegisthus becomes Adam Brant, etc. As a Greek tragedy made modern, the play features murder, adultery, incestuous love and revenge, and even a group of townspeople who function as a kind of Greek chorus. Though fate alone guides characters' actions in Greek tragedies, O'Neill's characters have motivations grounded in 1930s-era psychological theory as well. The play can easily be read from a Freudian perspective, paying attention to various characters' Oedipus complexes and Electra complexes.
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