LDJIN+Characters


 * **James Tyrone:** He is the husband of Mary and father of Jamie and Edmund. He has a strong work ethic and appreation for money. Although he is well of, he refuses to make the house nice for his wife and would rather send his son to state sanatorium than spend money because he is in fear of ending his days in poverty. In addition to his money problem he has a drinking problem which contributes to the family arguments. James used to be a famous actor, touring the united states with his wife, Mary. //"He has never really been sick a day in his life. He has no nerves. There is a lot of stolid, earthy peasant in him, mix with streaks of sentimental melancholy and rare flashes of intuitive sensibility."// (Act I pg 13) Unlike his wife he has no nerves nothing seems to bother him. This also reinforces his safety with money because he is not bothered by the little things in life. "Ten foghorns couldn't disturb you. You haven't a nerve in you. You've never had." (Act 1 pg 17) Mary teases her husband about his nerves to make her feel better about her own.


 * **Mary Tyrone:** She is the wife of James and father of Jamie and Edmund. She's struggled over a morphine addiction for over two decades. She has stopped her addiction, but resumed it after spending time with her family. She often regrets marrying James, becaseu she felt she had to give up her dreams of becoming a concert pianist, or a nun. Instead she had to travel constantly, stay in cheap hotels, and eat bad food. Her husband still refuses to spend money to make the summer house enjoyable for her. //"What strikes one immediately is her extreme nervousness. Her hands are never stil. They were once beautiful hands, with long, tapering fingers, but rheumatism has knotted the joints and warped the fingers, so now they have an ugly crippled look."// (Act I pg. 12) She was once beautiful and pure but as the years have she has suffered to many hard times she has become very nervous and addicted to morphine. Quite the opposite of her husband who is never nervous.


 * **Jamie Tyrone:** He is the eldest son, in his thirty-three. He spends most of the money he gets from his parents on women and booze. He has little ambition, and has been expelled from many colleges. He is a disappointment to his parents and a bad influence on his brothers. //"He has his father's broadshouldered, deep-chested physique, is an inch taller and weighs less, but appears shorter and stouter because he lacks Tyrone's bearing and graceful carriage. He also lacks his father's vitality. the signs of premature disintigration are on him. His face is still good looking, despite marks of dissipation, but it has never been handsome like Tyrone's, although Jamie resembles him rather than his mother. he has fine brown eyes, their color midway between his father's lighter and his mother's darker ones. His hair is thinning and already there is indication of a bold spot like Tyrone's."// (Act 1 pg 19) He is much like his father in many ways.


 * **Edmund Tyrone:** He is the youngest, being ten years younger than his older brother Jamie. He is an intelligent young man, and a very romantic dreamer. He rejects the beliefs of his father and is well red in poetry and philosophy. As the play proceeds he finds out he has tuberculosis. Althought Mary denies it and the father will do anything to save some money. He is somewhat of an alcoholic, like his brother and father. His mom, Mary, believes he will become successful one day. //"They even have to a minor degree the same nervousness. It is in the quality of extreme sensibility that the likeness of Edmund to his mother is most marked."// (Act 1 pg 20) Jamie and James are alike while Edmund and Mary are alike. They both get nervous easily. //"He is plainly in bad health. Much thinner than he should be, his eyes appear feverish and his cheeks are sunken. His skin, in spite of being sunburneda deep brown, as a parched sallowness. He wears a shirt, collar and tie, no coat, old flannel trousers, brown sneakers."// (Act 1 pg 20) His health is a common topic throughout the play.


 * **Cathleen:** She is the family maid. Cathleen is very flurtatious, and also like the other characters gets drunk.

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