Jack #2: Dramatic Monologue for Men (20s) from “Abortion” by Eugene O’Neill


JACK—(scornfully) Restraint? Ah, yes, everybody preaches but who practices it? And could they if they wanted to? Some impulses are stronger than we are, have proved themselves so throughout the world’s history. Is it not rather our ideals of conduct, of Right and Wrong, our ethics, which are unnatural and monstrously distorted? Is society not suffering from a case of the evil eye which sees evil where there is none? Isn’t it our moral laws which force me into evasions like the one which you have just found fault with?

Play Title: Abortion
Author: Eugene O’Neill
Year: 1914
Genre: Dramatic, Contemporary, 1-Minute
Brief Summary of the Play: A star college athlete learns that the girl he had an affair with died after having an abortion he paid for and arranged.

Character: Jack
Gender: Male
Age: early 20s

Read the play online: http://www.eoneill.com/texts/abortion/contents.htm
Get your own copy: Eugene O’Neill’s Ten “Lost” Plays on Amazon.com

If you liked this, you might enjoy these related posts:

  1. Jack: Dramatic Monologue for Men (20s) from “Abortion” by Eugene O’Neill
  2. Jack: Dramatic Monologue for Men (early 30s) from “A Wife for a Life” by Eugene O’Neill
  3. Murray: Dramatic Monologue for Men (Late Teens, 20s) from “Abortion” by Eugene O’Neill
  4. Evelyn: Comedic Monologue for Women (20s) from “Abortion” by Eugene O’Neill
  5. Steve: Dramatic Monologue for Men (20s, 30s) from “The Web” by Eugene O’Neill

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