Long Day’s Journey into Night

by Eugene O’Neill

Long Day’s Journey into Night: Dialect 1 key example

Dialect
Explanation and Analysis—Trauneen for a Teetotaler:

Cathleen, one of the family's maids, is introduced by O'Neill as a "buxom Irish peasant." Because of this, O'Neill doesn't bother to put a large amount of Irish dialect into Cathleen's lines, leaving the character's Irish accent up to the actor. Still, there are some notable words and phrases from Irish dialect that O'Neill includes to clarify Cathleen's manner of speech. These help elaborate her character and distinguish her from the Tyrone family, marking her as a more recent immigrant who has had less time to assimilate into American society.