'Before Breakfast'--Important Passages with Explanation

 

1. Alfred! Get up, do you hear me? I want to make that bed before I go out. I’m sick of having this place in a continual muss on your account. Not that we’ll be here long unless you manage to get some money someplace. Heaven knows I do my part and more- going out to sew every day while you play the gentleman and loaf around barrooms with that good for nothing lot of artists from the square.

Reference to the context:- These lines have been taken from the play” Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’Neill. In this play Mrs. Rowland a young wife is disappointed with her poor life. She is angry with her husband who does nothing. The household runs with her meager earnings. She is the only character on stage in this play.

Explanation:- In these lines, Mrs. Rowland is quarreling with her husband. There is poverty in the house. She says that the rent of the flat is due this week. The landlord will turn them out if the rent is not paid. He says he cannot get a job. But she says that it is a lie. He spends the day writing poems and stories which do not sell. She does a meager job and it is only with her earnings that the family is not starving.

2. You’ll have to get money today someplace. I can’t do it all, and I won’t do it all. You’ve got to come to your senses. You’ve got to beg, borrow, or steal it somewhere. But where I’d like to know? You’re too proud to beg and you’ve borrowed the limit, and you haven’t the nerve to steal?

Reference to the context:- These lines have been taken from the play” Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’ Neill. In this play, Mrs. Rowland’s husband never appears on stage although sound show his presence. She keeps rebuking her husband for his failure in life.

Explanation:- These lines are spoken by Mrs. Rowland and addressed to her husband who is not seen on the stage. She tells him that there is no money in the house. She says that he will have to get money from somewhere, whether he begs, borrows, or steals. He is too proud to beg. He has already reached his limit of borrowing and he has no courage to steal.

3. Foolish question! I ought to know you better than that by this time. When you left here is such a huff last night I knew what would happen. You can’t be trusted for a second. A nice condition you came home in! The fight we had was only an excuse for you to make a beast of yourself. What was the use of pawning your watch if all you wanted with the money was to waste it on buying a drink?

Reference to the Context:- These lines have been taken from the play “ Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’ Neill, Mrs. Rowland, a young wife is disappointed with her poor life. She keeps rebuking her husband for his failure in life.

Explanation:- In these lines, Mrs. Rowland keeps rebuking her husband. The previous night they had a quarrel and Alfred left the house in a hurry. When he came back he was in a drunken position. He had pawned his watch and with that money, he came home drunk. Thus, Mrs. Rowland is very angry with her husband for not earning anything.

 

4. What on earth are you doing this all time? Well, you’re almost dressed at any rate. I expected to find you back in bed. That’d be just like you. How awful you look this morning! For heaven’s sake, shave! You’re disgusting! You look like a tramp. No wonder no one will give you a job. I don’t blame them- when you don’t even look halfway decent

Reference to the context:- These lines have been taken from the play “ Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’ Neill. The play depicts the married life of Rowlands as full of stress and complexities.

Explanation:- Here, Mrs. Rowland wonders what her husband has been doing in his room. She looks in and finds that he has not shaved. She says that he looks like a vagabond. She says that she will give him hot water for the shave. Then she pours some hot water into the bowl.

 

5. Look at your hand tremble. You’d better give up drinking. You can’t stand it. It’s just you kind of that get the DTs. That would be the last straw! Look at the mess you’ve made of this floor-cigarette butts and ashes all over the place. Why can’t you put them on a plate? No, you wouldn’t be considerate enough to do that. You never think of me. You don’t have to sweep the room and that’s all you care about.

Reference to the context:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by Eugene O’ Neill. These words are spoken jointly by the unidentified voice and Mrs. Rowland. The playwright has purposely allowed the unidentified voice to provide additional information for the audience.

Explanation:- Tauntingly she comments: “ look at your hands tremble. She asks him to give up drinking. She scolds him for spreading the butts of cigarettes and ashes on the floor. She ridicules him for not being kind enough to put the butts of cigarettes on a plate. She regrets that she has to clean the room she accuses him of not caring for her. Teasingly she remarks:” You don’t have to clean the room and that’s all you care about”. Thus trivial issues such as putting the butts etc become the measurement of the husband’s care. It is quite clear that she is an aggressive character devoid of patience at least at this stage of her life.

6. The millionaire Rowland’s only son, the Harvard graduate the post, the catch of the town. Huh! There wouldn’t be many of them now envy my catch if they knew the truth. What has our marriage been, I’d like to know? Even before your millionaire father died owing everyone in the world money. You certainly never wasted any of your time on your wife. I suppose you thought I’d be glad you were honorable enough to marry after getting me into trouble. You were ashamed of me with your fine friends because my father’s only a grocer that’s what you were. At least he’s honest, which is more than anyone could say about yours.

Reference to the Context:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by everyone O’ Neill. These words are spoken by Mrs. Rowland. She mocks the high family and academic background of her husband.

Explanation:- Here too she takes this opportunity to poke fun of Alfred’s rich family background and his graduate degree that he has earned from Harvard. She bitterly calls him, “the poet, and the catch of the town”. She expresses a strong desire to know the answer to her question:” What our marriage has been?” She complains to Alfred for not spending time with her. She expresses her anguish by mentioning that Alfred was ashamed of her in front of his friends simply because she is the daughter of a grocer. She makes a comparison between her father and Alfred’s father and ranks her own father higher than Alfred’s father in terms of honesty.

 

7. Goodness knows what time it is. We haven’t even got any way of telling the time since you pond your watch like a fool the last valuable thing we had, and you knew it. It’s been nothing but a pawn, pawn, pawn with you anything to put of getting a job, anything to get out of going to work like a man.

Reference to the context-:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by everyone O’ Neill. These words are spoken by Mrs. Rowland. She mocks the high family and academic background of her husband.

Explanation-  In these lines, Mrs. Rowland rebukes Alfred, her husband for not doing a job. There is a lot of poverty in the house. She says that there is no way of telling the time because he has pawned his watch. He has pawn a number of things so that he can get money and avoid getting a job. She taunts him that he does not do any work like a man. Thus, she quarrels with her husband because he does not earn anything.

8. And from where are you going to get money, I’d like to know? The rent was this week they won’t. I notice due this week and you know what the landlord is. He won’t let us stay a minute over our time. You say you can’t get a job. That’s a lie and you know it. You never even look for one. All you do is a moon around all day writing silly poetry and stories that no one will buy—and no wonder I can always get a position, such as it is, and it’s only that which keeps us from starving to death.

Reference to the Context-:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by everyone O’ Neill. These words are spoken by Mrs. Rowland. She mocks the high family and academic background of her husband.

Explanation- In these lines Mrs. Rowland is quarreling with her husband. There is poverty in the house. She says that the rent of the flat is due this week. The landlord will turn them out if the rent is not paid. He says that he cannot get a job. But she says that it is a lie. He never tries to get a job. He spends the day writing poems and stories which do not sell. She does a meager job and it is only with her earnings that the family is not starving.