Short Note on Cabot

Answer

Describe Cabot’s faith in God.

Or, Puritan philosophy in the character of Cabot

Or, Short note on Cabot. 

“Desire Under the Elms” (1924) is a modern tragedy written by Eugene O’Neill (1888 – 1953). Cabot is the father of Simeon, Peter, and Eben. He is 75 years old, and Abbie’s husband is 35 years old. Five major characters develop the play in which the relationship between three sons and their father is not good. Let us discuss it. 

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.  

Domination over the sons: The relationship between the father and the sons is unsuitable for a dominating attitude. Cabot always wants to dominate his family members. Eben claims that his father killed his mother for problematic work tendencies. Cabot makes all the members of the farmhouse hard workers.  

Cabot’s sin and retribution: After scanning the play, we get his sin. First of all, his sin is that he is a very orthodox person. For that reason, he has no good relationship with his family members. His second notable sin, according to Eben, is that he takes forcibly the ownership of the farm from his mother and kills his mother through problematic work tendencies. 

Stereotypical mentality: O’Neill shows Cabot’s stereotypical mentality in the play in a fantastic way. This is one of the essential philosophical views of Puritanism. Cabot is the follower of a “hard worker” and a “hard God.” He never goes outside of his stony land. He never wants to lose his ownership of the farmhouse at any cost. He says: 

Cabot: …. The farm will remain mine.

In the last part of the play, he even wants to burn his farmhouse so that nobody can possess it. 

To sum up, after scanning the play, we learn that Cabot is a hard-working man who makes everyone a hard worker without any excuse. Cabot remains lonesome forever in the farmhouse.