Eugene O'Neill & Desire Under Term Paper

It was a love-hate situation, and he would be madly kissing her and letting her stir his carnal urges one moment, and the next he would loudly protest and pull away. So from that standpoint, Eben was changed after the death of the baby. He was not changed in a truly intelligent heart-felt way, but in a kind of acceptance that this is how it is (the current cliche, "It is what it is," fits in here perfectly). For Eben, it feels good to have sex with her, and anyway, being hateful and spiteful of his father, this incestuous affair with his father's wife is another way to get back at him.

The bottom line is that even before they are both punished for the crime of murder (not the crime of incest) Eben's naivete in terms of relationships is disgustingly obvious; he returns to Abbie after having bolted away in initial revulsion to what she had done to his baby. "I love ye! Forgive me!" he begs (O'Neil, 374-75).Imagine, asking for forgiveness from the woman who just murdered your child. She grants him forgiveness of course and now she has what she wanted, albeit the two are no longer free to engage in the wild carnal activities they once shared.

Works Cited

American Decades. "Eugene O'Neill." Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Gale Biography.

Contemporary Authors Online. "Eugene (Gladstone) O'Neill." Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Gale Biography.

Mahfouz, Safi Mahmoud. "Tragic passion, romantic eloquence, and betrayal in Eugene O'Neill's

Desire Under the Elms." Studies in Literature and Language, 1.3….....