Analyze the Relationship Between the Father and His Sons in O’Neill’s “Desire Under the Elms”.

Answer

Analyze the relationship between the father and his sons in O’Neill’s “Desire Under the Elms.”

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In Eugene O’Neill’s play “Desire Under the Elms” (1924), the relationship between the father, Ephraim Cabot, and his sons, Simeon and Peter, is one of the central conflicts driving the plot. The relationship between the three characters is fraught with tension, resentment, and competition, reflecting the play’s broader themes of inheritance, power, and control. Let us discuss it.

Tolerable Relationship: At the outset of the play, we know that the relationship between Cabot and his sons, Simeon, Peter, and Eben, is not good. Simeon and Peter wait for the death of their father to get the property and get rid of the tendency to work hard. Besides, Eben, first to last, thinks that his father killed his mother. But when Eben prays to God for the death of his father, Simeon and Peter say to him in the following manner:

Simeon: Look here, Eben. You should not have spoken like that.

Peter: After all, he is our father.

These comments from them allow the tolerable relationship between Simeon, Peter, and Cabot, their father.

Complete Loss of Faith: After scanning the play, when Cabot marries Abbie Putnam, we find out that the sons completely lose faith in their father. After coming here, she claims that she owns the farmhouse. They wish that their father would remain unmarried. So, this is not their expectation. Eben starts to hate his stepmother with his father. Simeon and Peter decide to go to California.

Domination Over the Sons: The relationship between father and son is unsuitable for a dominating attitude. Cabot always wants to dominate his family members. Eben claims that his father kills his mother by hard work tendency. Cabot makes all the members of the farmhouse hard workers.

Lack of Responsibility: Simeon is 39 years old, and his wife, Jenny, died eighteen years ago. But there is no sign of Cabot’s help in marrying Simeon. He marries Abbie at 75 years old. That is nothing but a lack of responsibility.

Revengeful Attitude: There is a revengeful attitude in the relationship between Eben and Cabot. He always wants to take revenge upon his father. This attitude takes him in a tragic situation at the end of the play. Abbie, Eben’s stepmother, fuels on this attitude for her desire. She convinces him to have sex to get revenge on his father. Then he says to his father the following day in the following manner:

Eben: My mother’s spirit, ……. has now gone back to her grave. She can now sleep in the grave peacefully. She has taken her revenge upon you.

This sentence is enough to prove his revengeful attitude.

Absence of Heavenly Love and Respect: There is somewhat no love and respect in the relationship between father and son. True love and genuine respect are essential things in any relationship. Cabot accepts his sons, but they lack that heavenly love. For example, when everybody laughs at Eben for his absence at the dance party, Cabot stops them. He says that:

Cabot: Let Eben go to hell…..But at the same time I do not want anyone here to lough at Eben. After all he is my blood……

This dialogue proves that he loves his sons but not so much. Besides, in the dialogues of Cabot’s sons, we get a lack of respect for him.

In termination, we can say that the relationship between Ephraim and his sons is one of deep resentment, competition, and power struggles. The conflict between them reflects the broader themes of inheritance and control central to the play. Through their interactions and conflicts, O’Neill explores how family relationships can be shaped by power, inheritance, and the desire for control and how these dynamics can lead to conflict and violence.