In The Oresteia of Aeschylus, there's no question that Orestes and Electra murder mommy dearest and her latest squeeze out of a sincere belief that knocking them off is the only way to make sure that justice is served. When it comes to O'Neill's versions of the famously fatal pair, Orin and Lavinia Mannon, things are a little less clear-cut. Is Lavinia just being bitter—jealous of her mother for doing so much to take her father's love from her for all those years and then getting busy with Adam Brant on top of all that? Does Orin really ever buy Lavinia's talk about justice being served and wrongs being righted? O'Neill said that one of his reasons for focusing his play on Lavinia rather than Orin was that he didn't think that Electra ever suffered any consequences in The Oresteia for her role in murdering her mother. He was interested in playing out the punishment for Lavinia, rather than just letting her end up happily married to Peter. What's important to know about the justice being served in this trilogy is that the characters punish themselves. They might seem to get away with murder, but they're sunk in guilt that eventually does them in.
Questions About Justice and Judgment
- How would the different members of the Mannon family define "justice?"
- Do you think that Brant and Christine deserved to die the way they did? Was this a just outcome?
- What's the difference between being a criminal and being a sinner? How are the two related in O'Neill's trilogy?
Chew on This
In Mourning Becomes Electra, no major character is innocent. They're all guilty of something, whether or not it's something that's specifically against the law.
Ezra Mannon's job as a judge pales in importance to his symbolic value as a judge after his death.