Questions (Long Day's Journey into Night) Broad e long day's journey into night as a modern tragedy e Compare/Contrast - modern v classical tragedy e Fog and foghorn symbolism Short e autobiographical element e Justify the titleAs a modern tragedy Classical tragedy mainly has one main or central character. Modern tragedy may have more than one central character. In the classical tragedy, the protagonist is typically from a wealthy, noble or royal family. In modern tragedy, the protagonist usually has a common, middle-class background. The story of classical tragedy is about the hero's nobility or royalty, their ambitions, attempts to unify or save a kingdom, etc. The story of a modern tragedy is about ordinary people and their ambitions, problems, and aspirations; thus, making the stories are more realistic. The important elements of classical tragedy are fate and divine power. The basic elements of modern tragedy are realistic and common problems.v. In the classical tragedy, the protagonist faces his downfall because of his tragic flaw. In modern tragedy, the traditional tragic flaw remains intact. vi. The classic tragedy is full of violence and onstage death. Modern tragedy lacks violence especially death. vii. Classic tragedy contains a large number of characters. The characters other than the protagonist shows less impact on drama. Modem tragedies contain very few numbers of characters, and most of them have much impact on drama. viii, The conflict in modern tragedy is mainly caused by flaws in the characters, society or the law. ix, Evoking pity and fear x. Mainting unity of time, place,actionJustifying the title Y a "journey," as the title indicates, beginning in seeming calmness as the farnily start their day, and ending in virtual catastrophe the night of that same day . Each of the characters is living in a self-created world of delusion. As the long day progresses, the family members are slowly forced to confront the reality of their failures. Mary is a drug addict; she has thought to hide this from her husband and sons but is ultimately unable to. Edmund has consumption (tuberculosis); he and the others have suspected this, but Mary, especially, has been in denial about it until the end of the play when Edmund announces it to her. Jamie, Edmund's elder brother, is an alcoholic and a failure in life. Tyrone is an alcoholic as well, reliving his past glory as an actor and refusing to accept the negative things about his wife, his sons, and himself.¥ The entire family are in denial about all these facts; the title of the play refers to the journey, taking place from morning through to night, of their being forced out of the shell of denial to recognize the harsh reality of their suffering. The title also symbolizes the "journey" through which addicts go through ‘on a daily basis. All of the Tyrones are using drugs or alcohol. For people with addiction problems, every day is a repetitive process in which they drink or use over and aver, until night finally brings sleep. It's thus possible O'Neill intended the title as a metaphor for the disease of addiction.