Desire Under the Elms

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For the film adaptation, see Desire Under the Elms (film).
1958 publication of the play, issued to tie-in with the film version starring Sophia Loren (pictured).
1958 publication of the play, issued to tie-in with the film version starring Sophia Loren (pictured).

Desire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. In 1958, a film version was produced. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Ephraim Cabot

Simeon
Peter - his sons
Eben

Abbie Putnam

Young Girl, Two Farmers, The Fiddler, A Sheriff, and other folk from the neighboring farms

[edit] Synopsis

Widower Ephraim Cabot abandons his New England farm to his three sons, who hate him but share his greed. Eben, the youngest and brightest sibling, feels the farm is his birthright, as it originally belonged to his mother. He buys out his half-brothers' shares of the farm with money stolen from his father, and Peter and Simeon head off to California to seek their fortune. Later, Ephraim returns with a new wife, the beautiful and headstrong Abbie, who enters into an adulterous affair with Eben. Soon after, Abbie bears Eben's child, but lets Ephraim believe that the child is his, in the hopes of securing her future with the farm. The proud Ephraim is oblivious as his neighbors openly mock him as a cuckold. Madly in love with Eben and fearful it would become an obstacle to their relationship, Abbie kills the infant. An enraged and distraught Eben turns Abbie over to the sheriff, but not before admitting to himself the depths of his love for her and thus confessing his own role in the infanticide.

[edit] External links

[edit] References