The play's themes -- a woman's sexual affairs, mental illness, abortion, and deception over paternity -- were very controversial for the 1920s. It was censored or banned in many cities outside New York. The plot centers on Nina Leeds, the daughter of a classics professor at a college in New England, who is devastated when her adored fiancé is killed in World War I, before they have a chance to consummate their passion. Ignoring the unconditional love of the novelist Charles Marsden, Nina embarks on a series of sordid affairs before determining to marry an amiable fool, Sam Evans. While Nina is pregnant with Sam's child, she learns a horrifying secret known only to Sam's mother: insanity runs in the Evans family and could be inherited by any child of Sam's. Realizing that a child is essential to her own and to Sam's happiness, Nina decides on a "scientific" solution. She will abort Sam's child and conceive a child with the physician Ned Darrell, letting Sam believe that it is his. The plan backfires when Nina and Ned's intimacy leads to their falling passionately in love. Twenty years later, Sam and Nina's son Gordon Evans is approaching manhood, with only Nina and Ned aware of the boy's true parentage. In the final act, Sam dies of a stroke without learning the truth. This leaves Nina free to marry Ned Darrell, but she declines to do so, choosing instead to marry the long-suffering Charlie Marsden, who proclaims that he now has "all the luck at last."

A comprehensive study guide offering in-depth explanation, essay, and test prep for Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude, a literary classic that challenged social norms of the US in the 1920s. As a romance of the mid-twentieth century, Strange Interlude describes the many hollow and unhealthy relationships Nina had in order to cope with her grieving. Moreover, the theme of contentment and happiness versus morality is very present throughout the novel, as sometimes the most therapeutic solution for Nina was not necessarily the most morally right. This Bright Notes Study Guide explores the context and history of O’Neill’s classic work, helping students to thoroughly explore the reasons it has stood the literary test of time. Each Bright Notes Study Guide contains: - Introductions to the Author and the Work - Character Summaries - Plot Guides - Section and Chapter Overviews - Test Essay and Study Q&As The Bright Notes Study Guide series offers an in-depth tour of more than 275 classic works of literature, exploring characters, critical commentary, historical background, plots, and themes. This set of study guides encourages readers to dig deeper in their understanding by including essay questions and answers as well as topics for further research.

A Study Guide for Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.

The era over which Stanley Baldwin presided became known as the ‘Baldwin Age’. Yet, despite a dozen or so biographies and several portraits in the memoirs of the great and the good, he remains little remembered today. Nonetheless the country owed much to him. The Great War of 1914-1918 had been the greatest conflict the world had known and that world had changed, robbed of its order, structure and beliefs; dictators came soon enough to replace the toppled monarchs. This biography details the many challenges Baldwin faced during his life.

The plot centers on Nina Leeds, the daughter of an Ivy League professor, who is devastated when her adored fiancé is killed in World War I, before they have a chance to consummate their passion. Ignoring the unconditional love of the novelist Charles Marsden, Nina embarks on a series of sordid affairs before determining to marry an amiable fool, Sam Evans. While Nina is pregnant with Sam's child, she learns a horrifying secret known only to Sam's mother: insanity runs in the Evans family and could be inherited by any child of Sam's. Realizing that a child is essential to her own and to Sam's happiness, Nina decides on a "scientific" solution. She will abort Sam's child and conceive a child with the physician Ned Darrell, letting Sam believe that it is his. The plan backfires when Nina and Ned's intimacy leads to their falling passionately in love. Twenty years later, Sam's "son" Gordon Evans is approaching manhood, with only Nina and Ned aware of the boy's true parentage.