<P> Long Day's Journey into Night is a drama play in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1941--42 but first published in 1956 . The play is widely considered to be his magnum opus and one of the finest American plays of the 20th century . It premiered in Sweden in February 1956 and then opened on Broadway in November 1956, winning the Tony Award for Best Play . </P> <P> O'Neill posthumously received the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Long Day's Journey into Night . The work concerns the Tyrone family--consisting of parents James and Mary and their sons Edmund and Jamie . Mary is addicted to morphine and Edmund is ill with tuberculosis . The "Long Day" refers to the setting of the play, which takes place during one day . The play is semi-autobiographical . </P> <P> The play takes place on a single day in August 1912, from around 8: 30 a.m. to midnight . The setting is the seaside Connecticut home of the Tyrones' Monte Cristo Cottage . The four main characters are the semi-autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents . </P> <P> This play portrays a family in a ferociously negative light as the parents and two sons express accusations, blame, and resentments--qualities which are often paired with pathetic and self - defeating attempts at affection, encouragement, tenderness, and yearnings for things to be otherwise . The pain of this family is made worse by their depth of self - understanding and self - analysis, combined with a brutal honesty, as they see it, and an ability to boldly express themselves . The story deals with the mother's addiction to morphine, the family's addiction to whiskey, the father's miserliness, the older brother's licentiousness, and younger brother's illness . </P>

Where is long day journey into night set