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Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Act One
Explanation and Analysis—Cheshire Cats:
The Tyrone family, early in Act One, has a conversation that quickly escalates to an argument. James is angry that his children are making fun of him about his snoring. Jamie tries to defuse the situation, but then Mary steps in with a couple of idioms:
Mary:
James, do be quiet.
She puts an arm around his shoulder—coaxingly.
You must have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.
To the boys, changing the subject.
What were you two grinning about like Cheshire cats when you came in? What was the joke?
Jamie tries to tell everyone to "just forget it," which only incenses his father more. James embarks on an angry retort, attempting an intellectual argument over why Jamie wants everyone to just "forget it." Mary uses a different method than James. Her attempt to calm her family relies on very common idioms: "gotten out of the wrong side of the bed this morning" and "grinning about like Cheshire cats." These phrases are so commonplace that they function as quaint clichés. This works: the family avoids argument for the moment, as James "makes a painful effort to be a good sport."
Mary's idioms here inform the audience of her character. For one, she immediately comes off as less educated compared to Jamie and Tyrone, who just quoted Shakespeare's Othello to each other. Yet it is the calming simplicity of her vocabulary that ends up neutralizing James and Jamie's anger; such simple idioms are so familiar that, especially coming from a mother, they soothe easily. O'Neill also indicates to the reader that Mary thinks of herself as the caretaker in the family, jumping in when the men start arguing. By establishing Mary's sense of her position in the family early in the play, O'Neill makes Mary's descent into a drugged stupor throughout the play even more tragic
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