Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Lavinia Mannon

We're not Mannons, so we're not going to lie to you—it's hard to think of a major character who is completely, 100% awesome and totally good in Mourning Becomes Electra. Still, Lavinia probably comes closest to fitting the bill. If there's one thing she's got, it's principles. In Homecoming, she more than proves that she's willing to make some big decisions and stop at nothing to protect the people, well, person, she loves the most—Papa Mannon.

She lies to Christine about chilling with some friends and follows her to New York just so she can confirm that her mom is fooling around. After confronting Christine about what she knows, she doesn't back down for a second, and make some pretty strong demands about what needs to happen with no hesitation. And, of course, when Christine murders Lavinia's dad, she enlists her brother to help her make Christine and her boy toy Brant pay for what they did.

We admit that she takes a turn for the worst in The Haunted, bullying her brother and spying on him all the time (and basically driving him to kill himself). Still, she realizes that she's done wrong and needs some punishing, so she takes her medicine like a big girl and gives herself a life sentence. She might be short on sympathy, but she's got a ton of guts, and that's one of the reasons why she's the character we call the protagonist. She drives much of the action and, at least in her mind, is trying to do the right thing. 

Orin Mannon

Calling Orin Mannon a protagonist is a stretch, we know. Orin's a character who's wounded—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. To make matters worse, this guy is ridiculously wishy-washy and more than a little weak, especially compared to his strong-willed sibling. Hamlet has an easier time making decisions than this guy. Still, even if it's primarily a weird jealous rage that makes Orin do what he does, he goes along with Lavinia's plan and murders Brant, which results in Christine killing herself.

Naturally, since Orin was messed up to begin with, this last turn of events isn't going to help. But Brant's murder and Christine's suicide are the closest thing we get to justice being served in O'Neill's trilogy. He even encourages Lavinia to confess to the authorities what they both did, which does seem to suggest Orin has a little bit more of a conscience than old sis. Plus, it's kind of hard not to feel sorry for Orin—everybody likes an underdog (at least, we do).