Long Day's Journey Into Night Lesson Plan

Long Day's Journey Into Night contains references to inappropriate and abusive relationships between parents and children. Although society's perspectives on and treatments of drug addiction have changed significantly since the time that the play was written and even more since 1912 (when the play takes place), students may still feel uncomfortable with the ways in which drug use, alcoholism, and treatment for these conditions are addressed in the play. As such, it may be a good idea to warn students about these topics ahead of time, provide them with some brief historical and cultural background about the play's time period and literary/theatrical context (e.g., a discussion of the...