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Summary
The play opens with the mise-en-scène, a description of the Cabot farmhouse where everything takes place. The author describes the two elm trees on either side of the house bending down towards the roof, appearing to “protect and at the same time subdue." The first scenes take place at the beginning of the summer of 1850. Eben Cabot comes out of the farmhouse, ringing a bell. He admires the sky but then frowns as he looks around and spits on the ground in disgust before going back into the house. His older brothers, Simeon and Peter, walk toward the house after a day of working on the farm. They also admire the sky. They talk about Simeon's late wife and then about going to California to join the Gold Rush. They also complain about how hard they work and debate whether they should give up the farm they've worked on. They discuss whether their father might be dead and how they might claim the farm instead of leaving. Eben hears them from the window and comments that he prays their father has died. Simeon and Peter go inside to have dinner with Eben.
In Scene Two, Simeon and Peter scold Eben for praying that their father has died. Eben says he's not like their father but like his mother. He speaks resentfully of how their father drove his mother to death. Simeon speaks of "somethin'" driving their father, and Eben asks what "somethin'" is and whether it's the same thing driving them to California. Eben says they won't go because they have no money, and they're waiting for the father to die to claim the farm. Then he shouts that it's not theirs but his because it belonged to his mother. They talk about whose fault it was that his mother died. They each claim they had work to do and couldn't step in to help her. Then they discuss their father, and Simeon reveals that as he left, their father told Simeon not to run away until he'd come back. Simeon says he thought he was drunk, or he'd have stopped him from leaving. Eben chides him that he's scared of their father and that neither he nor Peter are stronger than him. Peter jokingly asks if he's Samson, and Eben replies that he can feel himself getting stronger and that something is growing inside him. Then Eben announces that he's going to the village. Simeon and Peter tease him about going to see Minnie, a woman in town. They claim that both they and the father have also been with her in the past. Eben gets angry and says he'll hit her, but Simeon and Peter laugh and guess he'll probably soften when he gets to her. Eben becomes more cheerful as he walks.
Scene Three takes place early the next morning. Eben returns with news that their father has married again. Simeon and Peter realize the farm will go to the new wife. They talk again about going to California. Eben makes them an offer to sign a paper that gives their share of the farm to him in return for money to help them get to California. Simeon asks where Eben was all night, and he tells how he took Minnie by force and claims she belongs to him now. Simeon and Peter tease him about being in love and getting married, but Eben scoffs and insists he doesn't care for her. Simeon and Peter decide between them that they won't sign until they see the new wife and the money. They also agree that they won’t work on the farm until their father has returned.
Analysis
The first character we meet is Eben Cabot, and he's portrayed in contradictory terms immediately. He looks up at the sky and exclaims, "God! Purty!" but then spits on the ground in disgust. This dichotomy of actions becomes typical of Eben, who loves the farm but also acts resentful and trapped. The old dialect of rural New England is also established in this first line. O'Neil uses spellings like "purty" right away to make sure the play is performed with the accent and dialect of the time and place.
Simeon and Peter also comment on the sunset, as many characters do throughout the play. They are stooped and dirty from work, but their expression softens when they see the sky. Their conversation turns to how much they've worked and the stones on the ground—"makin' stone walls fur him to fence us in!" It is yet unclear who "he" is that they're referring to, but the contrast between their excitement for the ideal of California versus the hard work they do on the farm is apparent, and it's clear that there is someone keeping them here. They follow this by wondering if "he" has died. Eben adds to their conversation by startling and teasing them, then declaring that he prays his father has died, heaping his disdain on their already unflattering discussion of their father.
The scene between the three brothers reveals their relationship. Simeon and Peter are a team. Eben is separate from them, younger, borne of a different mother, and with a distinct personality. The only thing in common for the three brothers is their resentment of their father and their discontent about working on the farm for him. The older brothers also show an affinity for Eben's mother's kindness. His late mother is a ghostly memory and presence throughout the play, regularly referred to in saintly terms, in contrast to Cabot's hard, practical character. Their discussion of "somethin'," which Simeon insists is what drove their father to slave Eben's mother to death and still drives him to work his sons so hard, is an important one. It sets up a kind of ineffability in opposition to the grounded, difficult, natural work and life on the farm. Eben is vengeful about his mother but also intrigued by the "something.'" This concept of something driving their father and possibly Simeon and Peter to go to California connects to the deep, cultural, and religious attitude the characters exhibit throughout the play. Cabot is focused on God and a higher power, but the presence of Eben's mother and the idea of "somethin'" driving the characters suggests other powers that seem to be beyond both the natural world and Cabot's hard, resistant conception of God.
Eben declares that his mother is still in the house and on the land, further introducing a supernatural element to the story and that she has yet to find peace in death. In contrast to Eben's mother's mourned absence, the discussion shifts to their father, and it's clear the hold Cabot has over his three sons, even in his absence of two months.
The character of Minnie, whom we never meet, illustrates Eben's youth and sexual desire. It also brings out misogynistic masculinity in him and the men of the play in general, joking about a woman who has apparently been with many men and the abuse she may or may not receive. Eben talks to himself about her, demonstrating his conflicted feelings—he conflates Minnie with the natural world, and rather than showing a desire for possession or violence that he claimed to his brothers, he shows a desire for affection and warmth.
In Scene Three, the commonality among the brothers is thwarting their father and finally deciding to think of themselves. When their conversation turns to Minnie, the disturbing declarations from Eben illustrate the need for him to prove his masculinity by possessing a woman. He insists he has no love for her but is also described as rebellious when he says she "hain't sech a bad un." When his brothers tease him about their father's new wife, Eben spits with disgust. But this foreshadows Eben's future interactions with Abbie.
The characters of Simeon and Peter act as clown-like characters to Eben's intensity, showing a goofy simplicity and lending the first scenes some lighter energy. They represent people who live and work in harsh rural places but still have a larger hope and penchant for dreaming of something better, as opposed to the hard, resigned character of their father and the restless hopelessness of Eben. As Simeon and Peter decide to leave for California, they tentatively agree to give Eben their share of the farm for money that will pay for a boat passage. They claim to be excited to take a much-needed rest, but it is obvious that the compulsion toward hard work will be a difficult one to abandon.
