Desire Under the Elms

Drama | Eugene O'Neill
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Write a short note on the character of Cabot in Eugene O’Neill.

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Write a short note on the character of Cabot. [2017] 

Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953) presents Ephraim Cabot as a strong but lonely farmer in “Desire Under the Elms” (1924). Cabot is the owner of the rocky New England farm and the father of Simeon, Peter, and Eben. He is a deeply religious and proud man. Let us now move to the main discussion.

Cabot’s strength comes from his labor and faith, but these also make him cruel and cold. He forces his wives and sons to work endlessly. He treats them more like servants than family. His second wife, Maw, dies from hard labor. His sons hate him for his selfishness. Cabot’s hardness isolates him; he says, “It’s cold in this house. It’s uneasy.” These words reveal his spiritual loneliness and emptiness.

Cabot’s third marriage to Abbie Putnam shows his weakness and longing for

love. He hopes that Abbie will bring him comfort, but she betrays him with Eben. This betrayal destroys his pride and leaves him completely alone. Though Cabot appears strong, O’Neill shows that he is a tragic man. He believes that hard work is the way to please God. He says, “God’s hard, not easy.” This shows his belief that life must be full of struggle and pain.

In the end, Cabot becomes a symbol of wasted life. He owns the farm but loses love, peace, and family. O’Neill uses Cabot to show how blind faith, pride, and greed can make a man powerful in body but empty in soul.

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from Desire Under the Elms