Desire under the Elms, Part 1 Summary

This collection of plays by one of America's best known and most acclaimed dramatists explores variations on the central theme of family. Epic in both length and emotional scope, all three plays (written in the early years of the 20th Century) broke new ground in their explorations of sexuality, relationships, and theatrical storytelling. In doing so, they also explore secondary themes relating to the corruptible power of both love and revenge, and the complicated relationship between past and present.

Scene 1 - On the farmhouse porch, Eben comments on how pretty the land is, but then spits with disgust and goes inside. His brothers Simeon and Peter return from their field work (digging stones and laying them into a boundary around the farm), their conversation revealing that Eben is Simeon and Peter's half brother by their...