When was ah wilderness written

One of the central problems with Ah, Wilderness! It is a light charming comedy written by a playwright who at his best was intense, at his worst ponderous, but was never light or charming.

There are scenes, for instance, where the family share jokes and laugh and I wonder how this works on the stage: it must be a challenge to get the audience to share the warmth of feeling.

But maybe it plays better than it reads on the page. A One of the central problems with Ah, Wilderness! Her husband, Nat Miller, is not as shockable and, so we get the point, he is contrasted with David McComber, a more extreme example of the small minded in a small town — but there is a certain complacent security about Nat and his family: they are nostalgically nice because they are from a small town in simpler times.

Finally he returns to the goodness of his family Apparently thirty years ago Ah, Wilderness! But maybe Ah, Wilderness!

Aug 16, Bluehat rated it liked it. A window into such a different time. The play follows a whole family of characters, none of which are particularly interesting, but the relationships between them are fascinating.

The play imagines itself a good moral influence. So, you get to see what the play thinks is is permissible, what is not, and what is praised. From a modern perspective, none of the on-stage romantic relationships seem healthy. Miller shoves all decision making and emotional labor onto Mr. Miller, and he sort of blo A window into such a different time.

Miller, and he sort of blows her off. Lily somehow manages to treat Sid more like an agency-less child than anybody else in the family. It's implied that he proposes to her every night, and Mrs. Miller asks why Lily doesn't just "reform him" from being the alcoholic everybody in else in the family encourages him to be.

Richard and Muriel don't take responsibility for their actions, and the way they keep blaming each other is framed as cute. Other parts of the play's sense of "right and wrong" are surprisingly Of course, Richard's puppy-love aspirations of "untainted" monogamy are celebrated as exactly what a "good boy" would want. At the same time, Mildred is dating around and everybody seems cool with it except for Mr.

Mccomber, who is framed as uptight, unrealistic, and insufferable. Miller lectures Mr. Mccomber as naive for insisting Muriel is corruptible by sexualized poetry, insists that such if she was she'd be ignorant, and says he is "giving her [Muriel] credit for ordinary good sense.

Miller says that, while he wasn't into prostitutes, he ultimately supports Richard's personal decisions so long as he understands there's a difference between a relationship and a transaction.

There's a lot of poorly-aged hand wringing about corrupting the womenfolk, but the play ultimately celebrates those "scandalous books" Richard has, and Mrs. Miller comes to accept them. It's weirdly disjointed and seemingly inconsistent moralizing ramble, but that's also a lot of what I like about it. Sep 26, Thomas rated it really liked it. But Ah, Wilderness! It is Happy Days for folks living through the Great Depression.

Set on the fourth of July in , it presents an idealized middle-class family in a Currier and Ives New England town. Richard is graduating from high school with revolutionary ideas from reading the scandalous works of George Bernard Shaw, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and Omar Khayyam.

Will his girl ever allow him to kiss her? Will he go off to Yale and become a doctor or a lawyer? Simple Charm and Truth A quaint but charming tale that remains true to human behavior, even though O'Neill knew it was a romantic fantasy. Charming and haunting as you read the story of the author's life.

Jul 26, Geraldine Cheung rated it it was amazing. Both funny and quite beautiful. A very nice read. Important historically. Dec 07, Bobby Sullivan rated it liked it. Not terrible. But it's an oddly happy ending after a situation that could have gone incredibly wrong due to poor decision making. Mar 19, Steve added it. Jun 06, Koa Spears rated it it was amazing. I do enjoy reading but there are only a few books that I would like to be able to read from start to finish without setting the book down and simultaneously not wanting the book to end.

Jul 13, Patti rated it really liked it. Can't wait to see what's next!! Oct 18, Jim Leckband rated it liked it. O'Neill showed that he can do comedic sections in his previous plays, but I remember the humor always being a little bit cynically barbed.

I guess in Depression New York, he thought it might be time to let it loose with broad strokes of wordplay, slapstick and situation comedy. Richard is distraught, heartbroken, and seems about ready to knuckle under to strong liquor and fast women Can his father Nat reach across the generation gap and bring his son back to the family — and Muriel?

Eugene O'Neill's play Ah! Wilderness was premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre in October Nick Hern Books uses cookies on this website. They are stored locally on your computer or mobile device. To accept cookies continue browsing as normal.

Or go to the cookie policy for more information and preferences. It looked smaller than he remembered and poorly maintained. He wished he had never gone. Ah, Wilderness! Since its premiere, two film adaptations have been made, one a musical entitled Summer Holiday ; it has also been adapted as a Broadway musical, Take Me Along and a made-for-television miniseries.

Sunlight streams in from the windows. A set of sliding doors opens to an unlit parlor in the back, and another to a well-lit parlor and the front door; a screen door leads to the outside porch, and a table sits at center with five chairs positioned around it. The Millers have just finished breakfast. Tommy, a blondhaired, chubby year-old, appears at the doorway to the back parlor, impatient to begin the Fourth of July festivities.

Essie grants Tommy permission to go outside, and he rushes out the screen door. Nat shouts not to set off firecrackers too close to the house.

Mildred Miller, a tall, slightly mannish, but attractively vivacious year-old girl, and her brother Arthur, a year-old with a heavyset build and collegiate attire, enter from the back parlor. Mildred and Arthur tease each other about their plans for the day and who they expect to spend it with. Essie goes out the screen door and orders Tommy away from the house. Nat and Sid discuss the Sachem picnic they will attend, and Essie quips that those picnics are simply an excuse to drink.

They all report their plans for the day: Arthur will go to a picnic with his girlfriend Elsie Rand and another couple; Mildred to a beach party; and Essie and Lily, who had not yet made plans, decide on a drive in the family Buick. Sid offers to escort Lily to the fireworks; she accepts on the condition that he not get intoxicated at the picnic.

Mildred remarks that he must be writing a poem for his paramour, Muriel McComber, and the rest discuss his obsession with books and poetry, particularly the kind associated with political radicalism, which Essie has found hidden in his room. They call for Richard, and, book in hand, he appears from the doorway of the back parlor. Distracted by his reading, Richard gets tripped by Mildred as he enters the room; he responds by pushing her onto the couch and tickling her with his free hand.

They ask what his plans are—the beach party? This last sparks admissions of appreciation and short recitations from both Sid and Lily, then Richard himself, all of which shocks Essie.

Nat invites McComber into the sitting room. McComber shows Nat poems that Richard had given Muriel and demands he punish the boy. Leaving Nat with the poems and a letter from Muriel to Richard, McComber departs, disturbed by the threat but retaining a superior look of indignation. He demands to know if Richard has sexual designs on Muriel, and Richard indignantly responds that they are engaged, and he would never sully her reputation.

Nat hands him the letter. When pressed, he again curses the Fourth of July, and the family reluctantly leave him in the sitting room, as the curtain falls. Her sister-in-law Lily, wearing a new dress, steps in from the back parlor to help.

She regrets that such a fine woman should be without a husband and children. Essie praises her stalwartness, then tells her about a shared family joke on Nat. He has always claimed to be allergic to bluefish, but she has served him bluefish for years, lying to him that it is weakfish. Essie heads out to warn Tommy not to give away her secret, and Richard enters from the back parlor. When he pushes this line too far, his aunt grows offended by his cynicism.

Essie returns and asks if Richard is hungry; he shrugs off the thought of food with theatrical disdain. Essie and Lily go into the sitting room. Richard reappears and, contrary to his prior scorn for food, is caught by Norah pilfering some olives.

She scolds him, then heads back into the kitchen. Richard has 11 dollars money he meant to spend on a gift for Muriel and convinces Wint he has much experience with drinking and older women. He says he can lie his way out of family festivities. They agree to meet at the Pleasant Beach Hotel at that night. Richard will entertain Belle while Wint goes off with Edith. Wint heads off into the night. Tommy enters, hungry for dinner. Essie reenters, saying they will have lobster and bluefish and reminding Tommy not to blow the secret they share about Nat.

Lily follows close behind her. From a distance, Sid can be heard singing drunkenly as he and Nat approach the house. Mildred runs into the room, stifling a fit of laughter, and Essie sternly orders everyone to sit. Nat enters in a jovial mood, only slightly intoxicated. He slaps Essie playfully on the behind, and everyone bursts into laughter. She then orders the children to behave.

Nat warns everyone that Sid has had too much to drink but hopes no one will hold it against him on a holiday. Sid enters, drunk but trying hard, at first, to conceal it.

He acts out a comedy routine that amuses everyone but Lily. Nonetheless, his sense of humor while drunk—drinking soup without a spoon, accusing Nat of being shamefully intoxicated, and wooing Norah playfully—even wins over Lily for a time. Nat inquires whether the dinner is bluefish, and Tommy explodes into laughter. Essie informs her husband that he has eaten bluefish for years with no allergic reaction. Nat stubbornly refuses to eat the fish and changes the subject.

They laugh again at his expense, but Essie jumps to his defense. Sid continues joking brazenly and begins eating lobster, shell and all. When he refers to Lily as a tragic alcoholic, Essie sends him off to bed. He departs singing a Salvation Army marching song. Nat tells the remaining family members that Sid lost his job at the Waterbury newspaper.

Nat orders him never to speak like that again and storms out. Essie scolds Richard, then follows her husband out. He charges out the screen door as the curtain falls. Richard is spending generously, which keeps Belle in good spirits, but she does not fully understand his intentions. Search all monologues from plays.

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