The elm trees are symbolically central to Desire Under the Elms, mentioned from the very first description of the farm. Part of what creates their symbolic importance is O’Neill’s use of personification to describe the elms, giving them a human-like presence that looms over the characters for the course of the play. In the initial description of the setting, O’Neill personifies the elm trees, imagining them as oppressive maternal figures:
[The elms] appear to protect and at the same time subdue. There is a sinister maternity in their aspect, a crushing, jealous absorption. They have developed from their intimate contact with the life of man in the house an appalling humaneness. They brood oppressively over the house. They are like exhausted women resting their sagging breasts and hands and hair on its roof, and when it rains their tears trickle down monotonously and rot on the shingles.
Here, O’Neill clearly personifies the elms, establishing their vital symbolic role in the story. He describes them as protecting and subduing with a “sinister maternity” and a “crushing, jealous absorption.” This choice of diction gives the elms human emotions. O’Neill even writes that they have “appalling humaneness,” directly referencing their human features. The personification is most clear when he writes that the elms “are like exhausted women.” This is significant throughout the play because it personifies the oppressive force of desire that motivates and manipulates the characters. For example, to Eben, the elms represent the oppressive memory of his mother, looming over him and influencing his every decision. Eben repeatedly invokes the idea of feeling Maw’s presence, especially in his early interactions with Abbie. The elms are a physical manifestation of this felt presence.
The elms are also personified in the third part of the play. As the tensions increase, Cabot remarks during the party that he feels a force creeping up on him:
Even the music can't drive it out—somethin'. Ye kin feel it droppin' off the elums, climbin' up the roof, sneakin' down the chimney, pokin' in the corners! They's no peace in houses, they's no rest livin' with folks. Somethin's always livin' with ye.
Cabot directly associates the elms with an oppressive presence “always livin’” with him. He personifies this presence when he says that he can feel it “droppin’ off the elums, climbin’ up the roof, sneakin’ down the chimney.” The crushing, sinister, and brooding maternal force that O’Neill associates with the elms early in the play reappears in Cabot’s exclamation here. This adds to the oppressive and tense mood of Desire Under the Elms and progresses the tension as the play goes on.
The elm trees are symbolically central to Desire Under the Elms, mentioned from the very first description of the farm. Part of what creates their symbolic importance is O’Neill’s use of personification to describe the elms, giving them a human-like presence that looms over the characters for the course of the play. In the initial description of the setting, O’Neill personifies the elm trees, imagining them as oppressive maternal figures:
[The elms] appear to protect and at the same time subdue. There is a sinister maternity in their aspect, a crushing, jealous absorption. They have developed from their intimate contact with the life of man in the house an appalling humaneness. They brood oppressively over the house. They are like exhausted women resting their sagging breasts and hands and hair on its roof, and when it rains their tears trickle down monotonously and rot on the shingles.
Here, O’Neill clearly personifies the elms, establishing their vital symbolic role in the story. He describes them as protecting and subduing with a “sinister maternity” and a “crushing, jealous absorption.” This choice of diction gives the elms human emotions. O’Neill even writes that they have “appalling humaneness,” directly referencing their human features. The personification is most clear when he writes that the elms “are like exhausted women.” This is significant throughout the play because it personifies the oppressive force of desire that motivates and manipulates the characters. For example, to Eben, the elms represent the oppressive memory of his mother, looming over him and influencing his every decision. Eben repeatedly invokes the idea of feeling Maw’s presence, especially in his early interactions with Abbie. The elms are a physical manifestation of this felt presence.
The elms are also personified in the third part of the play. As the tensions increase, Cabot remarks during the party that he feels a force creeping up on him:
Even the music can't drive it out—somethin'. Ye kin feel it droppin' off the elums, climbin' up the roof, sneakin' down the chimney, pokin' in the corners! They's no peace in houses, they's no rest livin' with folks. Somethin's always livin' with ye.
Cabot directly associates the elms with an oppressive presence “always livin’” with him. He personifies this presence when he says that he can feel it “droppin’ off the elums, climbin’ up the roof, sneakin’ down the chimney.” The crushing, sinister, and brooding maternal force that O’Neill associates with the elms early in the play reappears in Cabot’s exclamation here. This adds to the oppressive and tense mood of Desire Under the Elms and progresses the tension as the play goes on.
