Eugene O'Neill's classic American tragedy, Desire Under the Elms, tells the story of characters driven by a number of common, and therefore competing, desires. Many believe that O'Neill intended Desire Under the Elms to refer to the desire between Eben and Abbie, and therefore strongly emphasize the resulting Oedipal themes. Although this incestuous desire is important, the desire for farmland shared by all the characters is another important dimension of the play's main desire that needs to be examined. The struggle for family inheritance depicted in the Cabot family is an age-old story that dates back thousands of years and is even evident in the Bible. Much like the biblical character Jacob, Eben of Desire is competing for what he believes to be his birthright: the Cabot farm. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay In Desire Under the Elms, much attention is paid to the land this family is fighting for, from the very first words of the room until the very last one. The play opens with a scene that establishes this central conflict over the land, as the three brothers debate who deserves to inherit the farm. In a telling exchange during the play's second scene, Eben, Simeon, and Peter begin this battle for the inheritance of their parents' farm: Eben—…You will never go because you will wait here for your share o' shut up, thinking that all [Cabot] will die soon. Simeon — We have a right. Peter — Two-thirds are ours (O'Neill 7). Throughout the play, this mentality of entitlement is dominant and guides the actions of each of the brothers – as Eben rightly points out, it is the only reason why the three brothers are still waiting and living on the farm. The battle for the farm becomes more complicated when the boys' father, Cabot, brings home a new wife, Abbie, who also seems hungry for farmland. Although Eben's Oedipal desire for Abbie seems to determine his final actions in the story, a reminder of the beauty and desirability of the farm ultimately closes the play. As the sheriff is about to take Abbie and Eben away, he longingly (and tellingly) proclaims, "It's a great farm, there's no denying it." I wish I had it! (O’Neill 64). O'Neill is sure to interject such a reminder in an attempt to reinforce man's primordial desire to own the land and to justify the conflict between the boys over the beautiful stone farmhouse. O'Neill is known for including his personal life in his writings, and he is surely expressing his own religion vis-à-vis the biblical allusions in this piece. As we mentioned, land hunger is not a new phenomenon and much of the Bible revolves around land disputes, especially between brothers. The common desire for land shared by all the characters in the play is what stirs up evil among them, and O'Neill seems to be warning against such a fate. This sinful competition between the males of the family is both for the land and for maternal love, and brings each of the characters to a seemingly unfortunate fate: Eben and Abbie end up in love but imprisoned, Cabot has the farm but no wife or family, and Simeon and Peter have no rights to the farm but are prospecting for gold in California. O'Neill's Christian theology is discernible in this piece, in which he explores these age-old questions in an almost cautious manner. Specifically, in portraying Eben as cunning and devious, O'Neill seemingly winks at Jacob, the Bible's quintessential trickster. In the book of Genesis, Jacob takes advantage ofthe momentary hunger of his brother Esau by buying him his birthright with a bowl of soup. (It is understood that in the Bible, the older brother – Esau in this case – is to receive the "birthright", which represents a larger portion of the family inheritance and essentially the position of patriarch of the family.) Later, Jacob also deceives his father Isaac. giving him the coveted family “blessing” – which Esau was also supposed to receive – much to Isaac’s dismay. Like Jacob, Eben is the youngest son of the Cabot family and fights his brothers for the birthright of the farm. Eben is manipulative and deceives his brothers in order to acquire their shares of agricultural land. Knowing that Simeon and Peter wanted to go to the Golden West, Eben stole part of his father's hidden money to bribe them and give them their land shares. Eben explains to his brothers “if you sign this, you, parents, get on a boat… It is written that three hundred dollars for each, you agree to have the shares of the farm sold to me” (O'Neill 12). Although they are hesitant, they give up their birthright to Eben, because they no longer believe they will get the land. In fact, Simeon mentions to Peter "if Paw had married, we would be selling Eben something we would never have bought anyway!" » while considering it (O'Neill 14). This scene is very reminiscent of the biblical passage in which Jacob obtains Esau's birthright: Esau said to Jacob, "Let me eat a little of this red stuff, for I am starving!" …Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright first.” Esau said, “I am about to die; What good is a birthright for me? Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob… So Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 25:30-34). In both stories, the manipulative brother takes advantage of his brothers at a time when they are vulnerable due to distractions (such as hunger, gold.) Jacob and Eben both obtain their birthright through similar methods of corruption and deception, so the character of Eben was undoubtedly influenced by this biblical story. One of the problems with being a trickster, for both Eben and Jacob, is that they are always paranoid about being tricked as well. In the Bible, Jacob fears – after taking Esau's birthright and blessing – that Esau will murder him and flee the city. In Eben's case, he doesn't have to worry about his brothers, who have gone West, but rather he is wary of Abbie. As a master of deception, Eben knows that Abbie might have ulterior motives in confessing her love to him. Eben accuses him of having a deceptive plan, shouting frantically, “You made a fool of me – a sick, stupid fool – for a purpose!” You've just been playing your stealth game all along - that makes me say lie with you, then you'd have a son he'd think was his, and you'd make him promise he would. give me the farm and let me eat dust, if you give him a son! » (O'Neill 52). Eben projects the deceptive methods he used (sneaking and stealing) onto Abbie, illustrating his paranoia. This accusation only leads to more harm, however, as Abbie then kills their baby in order to prove her love and honesty to Eben. Eben later admits his fundamental role in the disorder to the sheriff, and therefore surrenders. Interestingly, in the Bible, Jacob is described as a heroic figure and is held in high esteem by the biblical authors and by God himself. In the book of Genesis, God provides for Jacob and his family, which seems ironic given that Jacob was deceptive to his own brother. Regardless, Jacob and his family became more.