Eugene O'Neill

“ MARTHA— [Gently.] It must be now—or not at all—at my age, dear. [Then after a pause—staring at him frightenedly—sadly.] You have changed, Curt. I remember it used to be your happiness to sacrifice yourself for me.
CURTIS—I had no work then—no purpose beyond myself. To sacrifice oneself is easy. But when your only meaning becomes as a searcher for knowledge—you cannot sacrifice that, Martha. You must sacrifice everything for that—or lose all sincerity. ”

“ Why, this is the greatest thing of its kind ever attempted! There are unprecedented possibilities! A whole new world of knowledge may be opened up—the very origin of Man himself! And you will be the only woman—
MARTHA—I realize all that, Curt.
CURTIS—You can't—and hesitate! And then—think, Martha!—it will mean that you and I won't have to be separated. We can go on living the old, free life together.
MARTHA— [Growing calm now.] You are forgetting—what I told you, Curt. You must face the fact. I cannot go.
CURTIS— [Overwhelmed by the finality of her tone—after a pause.] ”

“ MARTHA—We were real lunatics for a time. And then when we'd calmed down enough to realize—how things stood with us—we swore we'd never have children again—to steal away their memory. It wasn't what you thought—romanticism—that set Curt wandering—and me with him. It was a longing to lose ourselves—to forget. He flung himself with all his power into every new study that interested him. ”

“ Curt! Forgive me! I ought to know better. This isn't you. You'll come to yourself when you've had time to think it over. The memory of Martha—she'll tell you what you must do. [He wrings CURT's hand.] Good-by, old scout!
CURTIS— [Dully.] Good-by. [BIGELOW hurries out, rear. CURT sits in a dumb apathy for a while—then groans heart-brokenly.] Martha! Martha! [He springs to his feet distractedly. The door of the study is slowly opened and SHEFFIELD peers out cautiously—then comes into the room, followed by the others. They all take seats as before. CURT ignores them.] ”

“ JAYSON— [Stops, appears about to object—then remarks coldly.] Very well—if you insist. [He switches off the lights. He hesitates at the door uncertainly, then opens it and goes out. There is a pause. Then CURT lifts his head and peers about the room. Seeing he is alone he springs to his feet and begins to pace back and forth, his teeth clenched, his features working convulsively. Then, as if attracted by an irresistible impulse, he goes to the closed door and puts his ear to the crack. He evidently hears his wife's moans for he starts away—in agony.]
CURTIS—Oh, Martha, Martha! ”

“ CURT sits down on couch. MARTHA goes to the window right, and looks out—after a pause, waving her hand.]
MARTHA—There they go. What darlings they are! [CURTIS grunts perfunctorily. MARTHA comes back and sits beside CURT on the couch—with a sigh.] Whoever did say it was right, Curt, I am getting old.
CURTIS— [Taking one of her hands and patting it.] Nonsense!
MARTHA— [Shaking her head and smiling with a touch of sadness.] No. I feel it.
CURTIS— [Puts his arms around her protectingly.] Nonsense! You're not the sort that ever grows old. ”

“ Good God, this is too much! Why does a man have to be maddened by fools at such a time! [Raging.] Leave me alone! You're like a swarm of poisonous flies.
JAYSON—Curt! This is—really—when we've tried to be so considerate—
JOHN— [Bursting with rage.] It's an outrage to allow such insults!
DICK—You're not playing the game, Curt.
EMILY— [Spitefully.] It seems to me it's much more for Martha's sake, we're urging you than for our own. After all, the town can't say anything against us.
CURTIS— [Turning on her.] Martha's sake? [Brokenly.] Martha is gone. Leave her out of this. ”

“ Now that I'm through with college, my occupation's gone. All I do is read book after book. The only live people are the ones in books, I find, and the only live life.
MARTHA— [Immediately sympathetic.] You're lonely, that's what, Lily.
LILY— [Drily.] Don't pity me, Martha—or I'll join the enemy.
MARTHA—I'm not. But I'd like to help you if I could. [After a pause.] Have you ever thought of marrying?
LILY— [With a laugh.] Martha! How banal! The men I see are enough to banish that thought if I ever had it. ”

“ Isn't that a more difficult, beautiful happiness to achieve than—children? Everyone has children. Don't I love you as much as any man could love a woman? Isn't that enough for you? Doesn't it mean anything to you that I need you so terribly—for myself, for my work—for everything that is best and worthiest in me? Can you expect me to be glad when you propose to introduce a stranger who will steal away your love, your interest—who will separate us and deprive me of you! ”

“ LILY—Oh, Curt is the last one to be bothered by anyone's morals. Curt and I are the unconventional ones of the family. The trouble with Bigelow, Martha, is that he was too careless to conceal his sins—and that won't go down in this Philistine small town. You have to hide and be a fellow hypocrite or they revenge themselves on you. ”

“ For the love of God, if you have such thoughts, keep them to yourself. I won't listen! You make me despise life!
CURTIS—And would you have me love life? [The door in the rear is opened and JAYSON enters, pale and unnerved. A succession of quick, piercing shrieks is heard before he can close the door behind him. Shuddering.] My God! My God! [With a fierce cry.] Will—this—never—end!
JAYSON— [Tremblingly.] Sh-h-h, they say this is the crisis. [Puts his arm around CURT.] Bear up, my boy, it will soon be over now. ”

“ As the curtain rises, MARTHA, CURTIS and BIGELOW are discovered. MARTHA is a healthy, fine-looking woman of thirty-eight. She does not appear this age for her strenuous life in the open has kept her young and fresh. She possesses the frank, clear, direct quality of outdoors, outspoken and generous. Her wavy hair is a dark brown, her eyes blue-gray. CURTIS JAYSON is a tall, rangy, broad-shouldered man of thirty-seven. ”

“ But I swear to you, Curt, I'm an absolutely new man since my wife's death, since I've grown to love the children. Before that I hardly knew them. They were hers, not mine, it seemed. [His face lighting up.] Now we're the best of pals, and I've commenced to appreciate life from a different angle. I've found a career at last—the children—the finest career a man could have, I believe. ”

“ No! No! You lie! [They all cry out in fright and amazement: "CURT!" The door is opened and the NURSE appears.]
NURSE— [Looking at CURTIS, in a low voice.] Mr. Jayson, your wife is asking for you.
BIGELOW— [Promptly slapping CURT on the back.] There! What did I tell you? Run, you chump!
CURTIS— [With a gasp of joy.] Martha! Darling, I'm coming— [He rushes out after the NURSE.]
BIGELOW— [Comes forward to get his hat and coat from the sofa—coldly.] Pardon me, please. [They shrink away from him.]
EMILY— [As he goes to the door—cuttingly.] Some people seem to have no sense of decency! ”

“ SHEFFIELD—It is hardly a case of their judging—you. [Breaking off as he catches CURT'S tortured eyes fixed on him wildly.] This is a small town, Curt, and you know as well as I do, gossip is not the least of its faults. It doesn't take long for such things to get started. [Persuasively.] Now I ask you frankly, is it wise to provoke deliberately what may easily be set at rest by a little—I'll be frank—a little pretense on your part?
JAYSON—Yes, my boy. As a Jayson, I know you don't wish—
ESTHEE— [With a sigh.] Yes, you really must think of us, Curt. ”

“ CURTIS— [Savagely.] Her murderer! You are right! [They all look shocked, suspicious.]
SHEFFIELD— [Remonstratingly but suspiciously.] You can hardly hold the child responsible for the terrible outcome. Women die every day from the same cause. [Keenly.] Why do you attribute guilt to the child in this case, Curt?
CURTIS—It lives and Martha is gone—But, enough! I've said I never wanted it mentioned to me. Will you please remember that?
SHEFFIELD— [Sharply.] Its name is Jayson. Curt—in the eyes of the law. ”

“ I must be getting selfish to grudge Martha her bit of fresh air. You don't know what it means to outdoor animals like us to be pent up. [He springs to his feet and paces back and forth nervously.] We're used to living with the sky for a roof— [Then interestedly.] Did Martha tell you I'd definitely decided to go on the five year Asian expedition?
ESTHER—Curt! You're not!
EMILY—And leave Martha here—all alone—for five years?
JAYSON—Yes, you can't take Martha with you this time, you know. ”

“ LILY— [Indignantly.] She probably realizes what we are too mean to remember—that the baby, at least, is innocent. Wait, Esther. I'll come with you.
JAYSON—Yes, hurry, she shouldn't be left alone. [ESTHER and LILY follow the old lady out, rear.]
DICK— [After a pause—impatiently.] Well, what next? I don't see what good we are accomplishing. May I run along? [He gets up restlessly as he is speaking and goes to the window.]
JAYSON— [Severely.] You will stay, if you please. There's to be no shirking on anyone's part. It may take all of us to induce Curt—
SHEFFIELD—I wouldn't worry. ”

“ That's not old—but it's not young either, Curt.
CURTIS— [Disgustedly.] You talk like an old woman, Big. What have years to do with it? Martha is young in spirit and always will be. [There is a knock at the door and MARTHA's voice calling: "May I come in, people?"] Sure thing! [BIGELOW jumps to open the door and MARTHA enters. She is flushed, excited, full of the joy of life, panting from her exertions.]
MARTHA— [Laughing.] I've had to run away and leave them with the governess. They're too active for me. [She throws herself on the couch.] Phew! I'm all tired out. I must be getting old. ”

“ A woman is as old as she looks. You're not thirty yet.
MARTHA— [Laughing.] After that nice remark I'll have to forgive you everything, won't I? [LILY JAYSON comes in from the rear. She is a slender, rather pretty girl of twenty-five. The stamp of college student is still very much about her. She rather insists on a superior, intellectual air, is full of nervous, thwarted energy. At the sight of them sitting on the couch together, her eyebrows are raised.] ”

“ You get a job as engineer in that Goldfield mine—but you are soon disillusioned by a laborious life where six-shooters are as rare as nuggets. You try prospecting. You find nothing but different varieties of pebbles. But it is necessary to your nature to project romance into these stones, so you go in strong for geology. As a geologist, you become a slave to the Romance of the Rocks. It is but a step from that to anthropology—the last romance of all. ”

“ The door is opened again and EMILY, ESTHER, JOHN and SHEFFIELD file in quickly as if escaping from the cries of the woman upstairs. They are all greatly agitated. CURT groans, pressing his clenched fists against his ears. The two women sit on the lounge. MARK comes forward and stands by JAYSON'S chair, JOHN sits by the door as before. BIGELOW retreats behind CURT's chair, aware of their hostility. There is a long pause. ”

“ LILY— [Coming into the room—breezily.] Hello, Martha. Hello, Big. [They both get up with answering "Hellos."] I walked right in regardless. Hope I'm not interrupting.
MARTHA—Not at all.
LILY— [Sitting down by the table as MARTHA and BIGELOW resume their seats on the lounge.] I must say it sounded serious. I heard you tell Big you'd forgive him everything, Martha. [Dryly—with a mocking glance at BIGELOW.] You're letting yourself in for a large proposition. ”

“ She feels that we're so awfully strict—about certain things. It must be so different in the Far West—I suppose—so much freer.
MARTHA— [Acidly.] Then you believe broad-mindedness and clean thinking are a question of locality? I can't agree with you. I know nothing of the present Far West, not having lived there for ten years, but Curt and I have lived in the Far East and I'm sure he'd agree with me in saying that Chinese ancestor worship is far more dignified than ours. After all, you know, theirs is religion, not snobbery. ”

“ Every woman who is able should have children. Don't you believe that, Martha Jayson? [She accentuates the full name.]
MARTHA— [Taken aback for a moment but restraining her resentment—gently.] Yes, I do, Mrs. Davidson.
MRS. DAVIDSON— [Seemingly placated by this reply—in a milder tone.] You must call me aunt, my dear. [Meaningly.] All the Jaysons do.
MARTHA— [Simply.] Thank you, aunt.
LILY— [As if all of this aroused her irritation—in a nervous fuming.] Why don't the others come, darn 'em? I'm dying for my tea. [The door from the study is opened and CURT appears. They all greet him.] ”

“ All the gentlemen rise stiffly. MARTHA is made immediately self-conscious and resentful by the feeling that they have been discussing her unfavorably.]
MARTHA— [Coming forward—with a forced cordiality.] How do you do, everybody? So sorry I wasn't here when you came. I hope Lily made proper excuses for me. [She goes from one to the other of the four latest comers with "So glad you came," etc. They reply formally and perfunctorily. MARTHA finally finds a seat on the couch between EMILY and ESTHER.] I hope Lily—but I see you've all had tea. ”

“ Lily!
MRS. DAVIDSON— [Fixes LILY with her stare—in a tone of irrevocable decision.] We'll get you married, young lady, and that very soon. What you need to bring you down to earth is a husband and the responsibility of children. [Turning her glance to MARTHA, a challenge in her question.] ”

“ Then the door in rear is opened and LILY appears. She is pale and agitated. Leaving the door open behind her she comes forward and flings herself on the lounge.]
JAYSON— [Anxiously.] Well?
LILY— [Irritably, getting up and switching on the lights.] Isn't everything gloomy enough? [Sits down.] I couldn't bear it upstairs one second longer. Esther and Emily are coming down, too. It's too much for them—and they've had personal experience. [Trying to mask her agitation by a pretense at flippancy.] I hereby become a life-member of the birth-control league. ”