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2/25/13
Compare Characters Essay
Honors Theatre
Period 6
Crazy Women
The difference between literature and quality literature bares a faint distinction, and this distinction can be opinionated. Quality literature should engage the reader and make them want to continue reading. Often times people are attracted to literature that they can relate to. In modern day society people have come to accept that no one is perfect, and therefore flaws are highly relatable among many diverse groups of people. The encounter of the occasional crazy person knows no gender, race, or economic status. Crazy characters such as Marie from Long Day’s Journey into Night, Mrs. Diedrichson from Double Indemnity, and Laura from The Glass Menagerie would contribute to the quality of the literature because these characters are relatable to some people, also the speed bump that is their insanity adds greatly to the plot line and gives the reader more to delve in to. Taking into consideration Marie in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, it is not necessarily known that she is genuinely as crazy as she is perceived to be or if it is her meth addiction. Her lack of sanity is expressed a great deal of times in the play through her frequent endeavors to do more drugs. This not only affected her relationship with her family, but it also had a hindrance on her appearance. It was stated in the play that it was obvious that she was doing morphine again because her eyes were glazed. She had multiple arguments with her husband about what makes a home a home, and that she has a distinct vision of what a home should be like which she claims that Tyrone has never provided her with. The legitimacy to her morphine addiction is that is that it was initially given to her to help her cope with the pains of child birth, but she became addicted. In addition to the addiction she does claim int he second act that since she got married, that even if she did go out for a drive she would have no one to see because she has no friends. She complained about other aspects of her life such as her car and the maid which were all also Tyrone’s fault. It is conceivable that she might be crazy due to her drug addiction and what could be considered depression. Mrs. Dedrichson seems considerably normal in the beginning of the film but as the film progresses her true character is brought out. It can be easily construed that she did not fulfill her duties as a nurse to help keep the first Mrs. Dedrichson alive which to an extent was out of what she felt as love for Mr. Dedrichson. Her lack of sanity is shown when we makes the move to kill her husband for persue a new romantic interest after she basically committed a murder to be with him. Now with a second murder on her head and a mad desire for the money she began to parallel the craziness of Lady McBeth telling Neff that they are not backing out and they are going to finish what they started. This shows her craziness to an extent because she is unable to see past the money and defy logic. Despite these characteristics being seen in other instances, Phyllis brought her situation to the next level by attempting to kill the only person that was on her side, Neff. In critical observation Phillis could be perceived as consistently making poor decisions but the possibility that she lacks a degree of sanity in the opinion of some people far outweighs the other possibilities.