Mourning Becomes Electra Summary

Mourning Becomes Electra is a modern tragedy written by Eugene O’Neill between 1929 and 1931. It was first staged on October 26, 1931. The play takes place mainly at the Mannon family’s large house in New England, with some scenes on a ship near Boston. As a work of the modern literary period, it deals with family conflict, betrayal, and revenge. The play centers on the downfall of the Mannon family, especially Christine Mannon, whose choices and secrets move the story forward. The climax comes when Christine discovers that her children, Orin and Lavinia, have murdered her lover Adam Brant. Overcome by despair, she ends her own life. Christine serves as the play’s antagonist, since her manipulation and deceit bring ruin to her family. Throughout the drama, a group of townspeople comments on events, acting as a “Greek chorus” to explain and reflect on the Mannon family’s tragic history.

The play is divided into three parts—Homecoming, The Hunted, and The Haunted—and is O’Neill’s modern reworking of Aeschylus’s ancient Greek trilogy Oresteia.

Homecoming

The first play begins in the spring of 1865, near the end of the American Civil War. Some villagers in a New England town discuss Ezra Mannon, the mayor, who is away serving with the Union army. The Mannons are wealthy and live in a big white mansion set apart from the rest of the community. While Ezra is respected, his wife Christine is disliked for her beauty and cold manner. The villagers recall an old scandal—Ezra’s brother David once had a relationship with a Canadian nurse, Marie Brantôme, which led to her disgrace.

Ezra’s daughter Lavinia steps outside. The villagers think she looks like Christine but not as beautiful. Seth Beckwith, the gardener, tells Lavinia that the Union army is close to winning and her father will soon be back.

Neighbors Peter and Hazel Niles visit. Peter wants to marry Lavinia, while Hazel is interested in Orin, Lavinia’s brother. Lavinia rejects Peter’s proposal, and he wonders if she is secretly interested in Adam Brant, a ship captain who has been visiting often. Christine interrupts their talk. Lavinia questions her mother about her recent trip to New York, but Christine brushes her off. Later, Seth warns Lavinia that Adam Brant is actually Marie Brantôme’s son, the child from David Mannon’s affair, and that the Mannons once rejected his family.

Adam Brant soon arrives and flirts with Lavinia. She challenges him, demanding to know the truth about his background. Brant admits he is Marie’s son. Lavinia then accuses him of having an affair with her mother. Brant finally admits that he hates Ezra and wants revenge on the Mannons for destroying his mother’s life.

Lavinia confronts Christine directly. Christine confesses to the affair and says she has never loved Ezra. She even tells Lavinia that her dislike of Ezra made her dislike her own daughter. She says the only person she cared for was Orin, and she was drawn to Brant because he reminded her of him. She also accuses Lavinia of secretly having feelings for Brant.

Christine and Brant plan to kill Ezra by poisoning him when he comes home, pretending it is a heart attack. When Ezra finally returns, Lavinia wants to reconnect with him, but Ezra spends his attention on Christine. Jealous and hurt, Lavinia accuses Christine of stealing her father’s love.

That night, Ezra tries to rekindle his relationship with Christine, but she despises him. At dawn, Christine reveals the affair and Brant’s true identity. Shocked, Ezra collapses from heart trouble. Christine gives him a pill, saying it will help, but it is poison. As Ezra dies, he points to Christine and cries out, “She’s guilty!”

The Hunted

The second play begins with another group of villagers talking about Ezra’s death. They believe he may have died of a heart attack after being with Christine again.

Orin, Ezra’s son, returns from the war. Christine is troubled because Orin looks exactly like Ezra. Lavinia threatens to tell Orin that Christine poisoned their father. Christine becomes fearful.

Orin is glad to be back with his mother and doesn’t pick up on Lavinia’s warnings. He is, however, deeply scarred by the war, saying it felt like he was killing the same man over and over, and in the end he realized the man was himself. Christine tries to convince Orin that Lavinia has always been jealous, but Orin is mainly curious whether she truly loves Brant.

Later, Christine visits Brant’s ship in Boston. She hugs him, not knowing that Orin and Lavinia are watching from hiding. After she leaves, Orin, enraged, shoots Brant and stages the scene to look like a robbery. Looking at the body, Orin says Brant even looks like him and wonders if killing him was like killing himself.

When Orin and Lavinia tell Christine what they have done, she is devastated. Orin, however, tries to comfort her, even suggesting he can take Brant’s place in her life. Christine, unable to bear her grief, shoots herself. At the end of The Hunted, Orin falls into despair while Lavinia stares out at the audience with a cold, mask-like face.

The Haunted

The last play begins a year later. Some villagers gossip about the Mannon house, now standing empty. Many think it is haunted. Joe Small goes inside to disprove the rumor but runs out, claiming he saw Ezra’s ghost in a judge’s robe. Seth, the gardener, is convinced the spirits of the family remain there.

Orin and Lavinia return after a year abroad in the Pacific islands. Orin resents Lavinia, accusing her of enjoying too much sexual freedom there, even hinting at an affair with a native man named Avahanni. Lavinia, who now looks more like Christine and has become more attractive, wants Orin to marry Hazel while she herself plans to marry Peter. But Orin insists they cannot escape their guilt and live normal lives.

Orin takes up the study of law, focusing on crime and punishment. He also researches the history of the Mannon family, hoping to understand their doomed fate.

Lavinia gets engaged to Peter. Orin, however, threatens to reveal their family’s crimes to Hazel. Lavinia stops him, saying she will do anything he wants if he keeps quiet. Orin realizes he has turned into Ezra, while Lavinia has become Christine. He even admits to feeling a forbidden love for Lavinia and imagines her as Marie Brantôme. Unable to live with his torment, Orin shoots himself.

Three days later, Lavinia tries to marry Peter. But during their conversation, she accidentally calls him “Adam.” Shocked, she realizes she cannot bring Peter into the web of guilt and secrets. Accepting that no one else can punish her, she decides to punish herself. Lavinia shuts herself inside the Mannon house, prepared to live the rest of her life in isolation.