"You expect the Blessed Virgin Mary to be fooled by a lying dope fiend reciting words!"
             The play Long Day's Journey Into Night, by Eugene O' Neil, is an artistically written play which tells about a day in the life of the Tyrone family. One of the most interesting members of the family is morphine dependent Mary, who has been fighting a uphill battle against her addiction ever since her second son was born. It is seen as the play develops that Mary is not solely responsible for her troubles and that many collaborating factors created, and continue to fuel her addiction. Therefore, Mary Tyrone is both innocent and guilty, a condition which begs to be more fully explored and analyzed so that one can truly recognize why Mary Tyrone's behavior never had the opportunity to cease.
             In the article, " Slaves of Time: Nietzsche's Concept of "Eternal Recurrence" in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night", by Carolyn Swierski, the author views Mary's addiction from a unique perspective. She speaks about Nietzsche's concept of Eternal Recurrence, "a cyclical vision of existence in which we are destined to relive our lives forever and ever." Swierski says that Mary, "is a participant in her own addiction, and also she is the perpetrator of the large-scale cycle, which leads her family to despondency ". Mary is in fact a manipulator, one who makes others feel sorry for her. Her guiltiness is very apparent in this situation. As Swierski clearly states, Mary allows herself to be wrapped up within this "perpetual cycle of illness, pain, prayer, apparent recovery and return again to illness." She is guilty of making a "conscious decision to give herself the first injection and knowingly begin the cycle anew." Throughout the play James Tyrone pleads with his wife to stop her backwards circle before it is
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