thinks this marriage insults his mother s memory His desire for revenge becomes the main force that controls his life and actions Love as a Way of Revenge Eben uses love to take revenge on his father He falls in love with Abbie Cabot s new wife At first this love is not pure He wants to hurt his father s pride He says She may ve been his n but she s mine now His words show that his love is born from revenge not affection But as time passes Eben truly loves Abbie His revengeful love slowly turns into real passion and that passion brings more guilt and pain Abbie as a Tool of Revenge Abbie becomes the center of Eben s revenge At first she marries Cabot for the farm But soon she falls for Eben Both use each other to reach their goals Eben for revenge Abbie for love Their sin is not only against Cabot but also against their own souls Abbie s words Let me kiss ye Eben I ll be everythin she was t ye This shows her emotional weakness O Neill makes her part of Eben s revenge plan and its victim Cabot s Pride and Punishment Ephraim Cabot s pride causes his own suffering He believes that power and hard work make him close to God He says God s hard not easy But his hardness destroys his family His wife dies and his sons hate him When he learns about Abbie and Eben s love he loses all pride His money is gone his love betrayed and his life empty The revenge that Eben wanted also punishes Cabot s heart making him a lonely old man Revenge Turns into Guilt and Tragedy Eben s revenge ends in guilt and pain When Abbie kills their baby to prove her love he feels broken He realizes that his revenge has brought death and sorrow He tells the Sheriff the truth and accepts punishment Cabot says God s lonesome hain t He God s hard an lonesome These words reflect everyone s loneliness after revenge O Neill shows that revenge does not bring peace it only creates destruction loss and suffering for all In termination we can say that revenge is the root of all tragedy and pain Eben s anger and his love for Abbie begin with revenge but end in pain His father loses everything through pride and greed O Neill shows that revenge can destroy both the sinner and the victim In the end revenge gives no peace only guilt loneliness and tragic silence under the shadow of the elms