Mourning Becomes Electra

Mourning Becomes Electra is a play written by the American playwright Eugene O'Neill. It premiered on Broadway in 1931 and ran for 150 performances. The story is an updated Greek tragedy and features murder, adultery, incestuous love and revenge. O'Neill's characters have motivations that are influenced by the psychological theories of the 1930s. Hence, it can be understood from a Freudian perspective, with characters displaying Oedipus and Electra complexes. Mourning Becomes Electra is divided into three plays entitled Homecoming, The Hunted, and The Haunted, with themes corresponding to The Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus. These plays are normally shown together and, as they each have four or five acts, it is extraordinarily lengthy, often being cut down when produced.