she was spoiled terribly by her father, and that spoiling made her a bad
wife. Tyrone takes a drink, but seeing the bottle has been watered down by
his sons trying to fool him into believing that they haven't been drinking,
he goes to get a new one. Mary again calls him stingy, but she excuses him
to Edmund, telling of how he was abandoned by his father and forced to work
at age 10.
Edmund then tells Mary that he has tuberculosis, and Mary immediately
begins discrediting Doc Hardy. She will not believe it, and she does not
want Edmund to go to a sanatorium. She thinks that Edmund is just blowing
things out of the water in an effort to get more attention. Edmund reminds
Mary that her own father died of tuberculosis, then comments that it is
difficult having a "dope fiend for a mother." He exits, laving Mary alone.
She says aloud that she needs more morphine, and she admits that she
secretly hopes to overdose and die, but she cannot intentionally do so
because the Virgin could never forgive suicide. Tyrone reenters with more
whiskey, noting that Jamie could not pick the lock to his liquor cabinet.
Mary suddenly bursts out that Edmund will die, but Tyrone assures her that
he will be cured in six months. Mary thinks that Edmund hated her because
she is a dope fiend. Tyrone comforts her, and Mary once again blames
herself for giving birth. Cathleen announces dinner. Mary says she is not
hungry and goes to bed. Tyrone knows that she is really going for more
drugs.
Act IV, Part One
The time is midnight, and as the act begins a foghorn is heard in the
distance. Tyrone sits alone in the living room, drinking and playing
solitaire. He is drunk, and soon Edmund enters, also drunk. They argue
about keeping the lights on and the cost of the electricity. Tyrone acts
stubborn, and Edmund accuses him of believing whatever he wants, including
that Shakespeare and Wellington were Irish Catholics. Tyrone grows angry
and threatens to beat Edmund, then retracts. He gives up and turns on all
the lights. They note that Jamie is still out at the whorehouse. Edmund has
just returned from a long walk in the cold night air even though doing so
was a bad idea for his health. He states, "To hell with sense! We're all
crazy." Edmund tells Tyrone that he loves being in the fog because it lets
him live in another world. He pessimistically parodies Shakespeare, saying,
"We are such stuff as manure is made of, so let's drink up and forget it.
That's more my idea." He quotes then from the French author Baudelaire,
saying "be always drunken." He then quotes from Baudelaire about the
debauchery in the city in reference to Jamie. Tyrone criticizes all of
Edmund's literary tastes; he thinks Edmund should leave literature for God.
Tyrone thinks that only Shakespeare avoids being an evil, morbid
degenerate.
They hear Mary upstairs moving around, and they discuss her father,
who died of tuberculosis. Edmund notes that they only seem to discuss
unhappy topics together. They begin to play cards, and Tyrone tells Jamie
that even though Mary dreamed of being a nun and a pianist, she did not
have the willpower for the former or the skill for the latter; Mary deludes
herself. They hear her come downstairs but pretend not to notice. Edmund
then blames Tyrone for Mary's morphine addiction because Tyrone hired a
cheap quack. Edmund then says he hates Tyrone and blames him for Mary's
continued addiction because Tyrone never gave her a home. Tyrone defends
himself, but then Edmund says that he thinks that Tyrone believes he will
die from consumption. Edmund tells Tyrone that he, Tyrone, spends money
only on land, not on his sons. Edmund states that he will die before he
will go to a cheap sanatorium.
Tyrone brushes off his comments, saying that Edmund is drunk. But
Tyrone promises to send Edmund anywhere he wants to make him better,
"within reason." Tyrone tells Edmund that he is prudent with money because
he has always had to work for everything he has. Edmund and Jamie, by
contrast, have been able to take everything in life for granted. Tyrone
thinks that neither of his sons knows the value of money. Edmund, delving
into his deeper emotions, reminds Tyrone that he, Edmund, once tried to
commit suicide. Tyrone says that Edmund was merely drunk at the time, but
Edmund insists he was aware of his actions. Tyrone then begins to cry
lightly, telling of his destitute childhood and his terrible father. Tyrone
and Edmund, making amends, agree together on a sanatorium for Edmund, a
place that is more expensive but substantially better. Tyrone then tells
Edmund of his great theatrical mistake that prevented him from becoming
widely famous: he sold out to one particular role, and was forever more
typecast, making it difficult for him to expand his horizons and find new
work. Tyrone says that he only ever really wanted to be an artist, but his
hopes were dashed when he sold out to brief commercial success. Edmund
begins laughing "at life. It's so damned crazy," thinking of his father as
an artist.
Edmund then tells some of his memories, all of which are related to
the sea. He reflects on moments when he felt dissolved into or lost in the
ocean. He thinks that there is truth and meaning in being lost at sea, and
he thinks he should have been born a "seagull or a fish."
Act IV, Part Two
Hearing Jamie approaching the house, Tyrone steps into the next room.
Jamie enters, drunk and slurring his speech. He drinks more, but he will
not let Edmund drink at first, for health reasons. Jamie complains about
Tyrone briefly, then learns of his agreement with Edmund. Jamie says that
he spent the evening at the whorehouse, where he paid for a fat whore whom
no one else was willing to take. Edmund attacks Jamie with a punch when
Jamie begins praising himself and berating others. Jamie thanks him
suddenly for straightening him out; he has been messed up by problems
related to Mary's addiction. He and Edmund both begin to cry as they think
about their mother. Jamie is also worried about Edmund, who may die from
consumption. Jamie says that he loves Edmund, and that in a sense he made
him what he is at present.
But Jamie also admits that he has been a bad influence, and he says
that he did it on purpose. Jamie admits that he has always been jealous of
Edmund, and he wanted Edmund to also fail. He set a bad example
intentionally and tried to bring Edmund down. He then warns Edmund, saying,
"I'll do my damnedest to make you fail," but then he admits, "You're all
I've got left." Jamie then passes out.
Tyrone then reenters, having heard all that Jamie said. Tyrone says
that he has been issuing the exact same warning to Edmund for many years.
Tyrone calls Jamie a "waste." Jamie wakes up suddenly and argues with
Tyrone. Jamie and Tyrone both pass out briefly until they are awoken by the
sound of Mary playing the piano in the next room. The sound stops, and Mary
appears. She is very pale and very clearly on a substantial dose of
morphine. Jamie begins to cry, and Tyrone angrily cries that he will throw
Jamie out of his house. Mary is hallucinating, thinking that she is back in
her childhood. She thinks that she is in a convent. In her hands, she is
holding her wedding gown, which she fished out of the attic earlier. She
does not hear anyone, and she moves like a sleepwalker. Edmund suddenly
tells Mary that he has consumption, but she tells him not to touch her
because she wants to be a nun. The three men all pour themselves more
alcohol, but before they can drink, Mary begins to speak. She tells them of
her talk with Mother Elizabeth, who told her that she should experience
life out of the convent before choosing to become a nun. Mary says that she
followed that advice, went home to her parents, met and fell in love with
James Tyrone, "and was so happy for a time." The boys sit motionless and
Tyrone stirs in his chair as the play ends.
Moby Dick
Context
Herman Melville (1819-1891) was a popular writer of sea narratives before
he wrote Moby-Dick (1851). What was to become his best known novel, The
Whale; or Moby-Dick, received good reviews when it appeared in England, but
the first American edition, coming out a month later in New York, received
mixed reviews. It was not a financial success and bafied American critics
until the 20th century, when it began to be considered a classic.
Melville was not recognized as a genius in his time; his most famous works
today{Moby-Dick, short stories like "Benito Cereno," and Billy Budd{were
not widely read or heralded in the 19th century.
Melville's America was a tumultuous place. In the North, rapid
industrialization was changing social patterns and giving rise to new
wealth. In the South, the cotton interest was trying to hold onto the
system of black slavery.
America was stretching westward, and encountering Native American tribes,
as travel by train, road, sea, and canal become easier than before.
Politicians appealed to the masses as the idea of "democracy" (versus
republicanism) took hold. Nationalism was high in the early nineteenth
century, but as national interconnectedness became more feasible, the deep
divisions in society began to grow. Soon, sectionalism, racism, economic
self-interest, and bitter political struggle would culminate in the Civil
War.
Against this backdrop, Melville sailed off on his first whaling voyage in
1841. This experience became the material for his first book, Typee (1846),
a narrative that capitalized on exotic titillation about natives in the
Marquesas Islands. Becoming well known for his earthy, rowdy stories of
faraway places, he quickly followed his initial success with Omoo (1847)
and Mardi (1849).
But after Mardi, Melville's writing career started to level off. Though
Melville had once thought he could be a professional writer, Moby-Dicks
poor reviews meant that Melville would never be able to support himself by
writing alone. Melville was always firmly middle-class, though his personas
in books always seemed working-class. He had a distinguished pedigree: some
of his ancestors were Scottish and Dutch settlers of New York who played
leading roles in the American Revolution and commercial development. But
Melville often felt like the "savage" in the family, which may have
explained why he was not afraid to tackle such risky topics as slave revolt
(in "Benito Cereno") or the life-sucking potential of offce jobs ("Bartleby
the Scrivener").
Throughout his life, Melville was an avid reader. Much of his information
for Moby-Dick comes from printed sources. The number of refer
ences to difierent texts (intertextuality) in Moby-Dick testifies to the
importance of books in Melville's life. In particular, he admired Nathaniel
Hawthorne, whom he befriended in 1850 and to whom Melville dedicated the
novel. Melville admired Hawthorne's willingness to dive to deep
psychological depths and gothic grimness, traits for which he would also be
praised.
The works of Shakespeare and stories in the Bible (especially the Old
Testament) also in uenced Moby-Dick. Moreover, Melville's novel was
certainly not the first book on whaling. Whaling narratives were extremely
popular in the 19th century. In particular, Melville relied on the
encyclopedic Natural History of the Sperm Whale by Thomas Beale and the
narrative Etchings of a Whaling Cruise by J. Ross Browne. He also used
information from a volume by William Scoresby, but mostly to ridicule
Scoresby's pompous inaccuracy. One final note: many editions of Moby-Dick
have been printed. Check your edition before using this guide, because
"abridged" or "edited" versions may be difierent.
Characters
Ishmael { Ishmael is the narrator of the story, but not really the center
of it. He has no experience with whaling when he signs on and he is often
comically extravagant in his storytelling. Ishmael bears the same name as a
famous castaway in the Bible.
Ahab { The egomaniacal captain of the whalingship Pequod; his leg was taken
off by Moby Dick, the white whale. He searches frantically for the whale,
seeking revenge, and forces his crew to join him in the pursuit.
Starbuck { This native of Nantucket is the first mate of the Pequod.
Starbuck questions his commander's judgment, first in private and later in
public.
Queequeg { Starbuck's stellar harpooner and Ishmael's best friend, Queequeg
was once a prince from a South Sea island who wanted to have a worldly
adventure. Queequeg is a composite character, with an identity that is part
African, Polynesian, Islamic, Christian, and Native American.
Stubb { This native of Cape Cod is the second mate of the Pequod and always
has a bit of mischievous good humor.
Moby Dick { The great white sperm whale; an infamous and dangerous threat
to seamen like Ahab and his crew.
Tashtego { Stubb's harpooneer, Tashtego is a Gay Head Indian from Martha's
Vineyard.
Flask { This native of Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard is the third mate of
the Pequod. Short and stocky, he has a confrontational attitude and no
reverence for anything.
Daggoo { Flask's harpooneer, Daggoo is a very big, dark-skinned, imperial-
looking man from Africa.
Pip { Either from Connecticut or Alabama (there is a discrepancy), Pip used
to play the tambourine and take care of the ship. After being left to oat
on the sea alone for a short period of time, he becomes mystically wise{or
possibly loses his mind.
Fedallah { Most of the crew doesn't know until the first whale chase that
Ahab has brought on board this strange "oriental" old man who is a Parsee
(Persian fire-worshipper). Fedallah has a very striking appearance: around
his head is a turban made from his own hair, and he wears a black Chinese
jacket and pants. Like Queequeg, Fedallah's character is also a composite
of Middle Eastern and East Asian traits.
Peleg { This well-to-do retired whaleman of Nantucket is one of the largest
owners of the Pequod who, with Captain Bildad, takes care of hiring the
crew. When the two are negotiating wages for Ishmael and Queequeg, Peleg
plays the generous one. He is a Quaker.
Bildad { Also a well-to-do Quaker ex-whaleman from Nantucket who owns a
large share of the Pequod, Bildad is (or pretends to be) crustier than
Peleg in negotiations over wages.
Father Mapple { The preacher in the New Bedford Whaleman's Chapel. He
delivers a sermon on Jonah and the whale.
Captain Boomer { Boomer is the jovial captain of the English whalingship
Samuel Enderby; his arm was taken off by Moby Dick
Introduction
Summary
These prefatory sections establish the groundwork for a new book about
whaling. Melville quotes from a variety of sources, revered, famous, and
obscure, that may directly address whaling or only mention a whale in
passing. The quotations include short passages from the Bible, Shakespeare,
John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), other well-known poems,
dictionaries, whaling and travel narratives, histories, and songs. The
Etymology section, looking at the derivations of "whale," is compiled by a
"late consumptive usher to a grammar school," and the Extracts section, a
selection of short quotations describing whales or whaling, by a "sub-sub-
librarian."
Melville's humor comes through in these sections, both in the way he pokes
fun at the "poor devil of a Sub-Sub" and mentions even the tiniest
reference to a whale in these literary works.
Chapters 1-9
The story begins with one of the most famous opening lines in literary
history: "Call me Ishmael." Whatever Ishmael's "real" name, his adopted
name signals his identification with the Biblical outcast from the Book of
Genesis.
He explains that he went to sea because he was feeling a "damp, drizzly
November in [his] soul" and wanted some worldly adventure. In the mood for
old-fashioned whaling, Ishmael heads to New Bedford, the current center of
whaling, to catch a ferry to Nantucket, the previous center of whaling.
After wandering through the black streets of New Bedford, he finally
stumbles upon The Spouter-Inn, owned by Peter Coffn. First passing by a
large, somewhat inscrutable oil painting and a collection of "monstrous
clubs and spears," Ishmael walks into a room filled with "a wild set of
mariners." Because the inn is nearly full, Ishmael learns that he will have
to share a room with "a dark complexioned" harpooner named Queequeg. At
first, Ishmael decides that he would rather sleep on a bench than share a
bed with some strange, possibly dangerous man. But, discovering the bench
to be too uncomfortable, he decides to put up with the unknown harpooner,
who, Coffn assures him, is perfectly fine because "he pays reg'lar." Still,
Ishmael is worried since Coffn tells him that the harpooner has recently
arrived from the South Sea and peddles shrunken heads. When the Queequeg
finally returns, the frightened Ishmael watches Queequeg from the bed,
noting with a little horror the harpooner's tattoos, tomahawk/pipe, and
dark-colored idol.
When Queequeg finally discovers Ishmael in his bed, he ourishes the
tomahawk as Ishmael shouts for the owner. After Coffn explains the
situation, they settle in for the night and, when they wake up, Queequeg's
arm is affectionately thrown over Ishmael. Ishmael is sorry for his
prejudices against the "cannibal," finding Queequeg quite civilized, and
they become fast, close friends.
The chapters called The Street, The Chapel, The Pulpit, and The Sermon
establish the atmosphere in which Ishmael sets out on his whaling mission.
Because of its maritime industry, New Bedford is a cosmopolitan town, full
of difierent sorts of people (Lascars, Malays, Feegeeans, Tongatabooans,
Yankees, and green Vermonters). In this town is the Whaleman's Chapel,
where the walls are inscribed with memorials to sailors lost at sea and the
pulpit is like a ship's bow. The preacher in this chapel, Father Mapple, is
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