The Iceman Cometh is one of the greatest 
ays in American history, written by America's greatest playwright, Eugene O'Neill. Although he led a very difficult life, O'Neill was able to overcome this and eventually channel it into his two greatest works, Long Day's Journey Into Night and The Iceman Cometh. These plays had different storylines and characters, but both were realistic, that is, told one the tale of his depressing childhood full of drinking and his mother's drug abuse, while the other a similar story of a group of people who waste their lives drinking and wallowing on lost dreams. When O'Neill was writing The Iceman Cometh he was very influenced by his history, an influence that informed the rest of his works as well.
The play begins with eleven men at a bar, ten of whom are sitting at four bar tables and the other is the bartender. At one table, Harry Hope, Pat McGloin, and Ed Mosher sit. Hope is the owner of the bar and rooms upstairs. McGloin is an ex-policeman in his fifties. Mosher is a grafter and an ex-circus employee who is almost 60. The bartender, Rocky, is a strong, small man near the end of his twenties. At another table sits Willie Oban. Oban is a regular-sized man in his late thirties with a law degree from Harvard University. Seated at a table near them are Joe Mott, Piet Wetjoen, James Cameron, and Cecil Lewis. Joe Mott is a fifty-year-old black man who dreams of opening a casino. Piet Wetjoen is a Boer, in his fifties, who was a general for the Boers when they fought a war against the British, earning him the nickname, "The General." James Cameron, also known as, "Jimmy Tomorrow," is a clean, likable man in his fifties. Cecil Lewis, also known as "The Captain," is an almost sixty-year-old former British army captain who fought in the war between the Boers and England. Sitting at the last table are Hugo Kalmar and Larry Slade. Hugo is a short man in his fifties who is an anarchist. Larry Slade is a dirty, tall sixty year old man who once was an anarchist, but now denounces, "the movement" (O'Neill 13).
Act One opens with all of these men sitting around the bar at their respective tables very early in the morning. Most of them are asleep and all of them are completely drunk after a long night of drinking. Larry, Joe, and Rocky are talking about Willie shouting in his sleep, the pursuit of happiness, money, and their pipe dreams, when a boy named Parritt comes in. Parritt is a tall eighteen-year-old, whose mother was an important member of the movement and was sent to jail because he turned her in. Parritt knows Larry from his anarchist days so he tries to talk to him, but Larry does not like Parritt because of what he did to his mother. Everyone is awake at this point and Larry introduces them to Parritt. The men talk about trivial matters, mostly pipe dreams, and things that happened in the past. Later on, Chuck comes in with his soon-to-be wife, Cora. Chuck and Cora are friends of Rocky's prostitutes, Pearl and Margie. Soon after they arrive Hope and the original men at the bar's old friend Hickey comes in. Hickey is about fifty and he is a salesman. He is a good old friend of Hope and the other men in the bar, but he has changed from his old partying self. Now he wants to be in control and help everyone lose their pipe dreams. The act ends with everyone in the bar upset with Hickey because he is trying to help them get rid of their pipe dreams.
Act Two is Harry Hope's birthday party. Hickey buys a cake, flowers, and wine and Cora plays Hope's favorite song on the piano. Before Hope comes down for the celebration, everyone is complaining about Hickey, because he is trying to fix their lives for them. Hope comes down finally and everyone says Happy Birthday. Hope enjoys the celebration and gives a birthday speech. After his speech, Hickey gives one and mentions his late wife, Evelyn. Everyone asks about her and he informs them that she is dead and he is happy she finally got away from him.
The next morning, Act Three starts with Larry and Parritt fighting about Parritt's mother. Then a fight almost breaks out with Joe drawing a knife, Chuck threatening with his fists, and Rocky taking out a gun. Wetjoen, Lewis, and Chuck argue about carrying the piano the night before and Hickey comes in. Hickey tries to get everyone to follow up on commitments he made them make about ridding them of their pipe dreams. He gets Lewis and Wetjoen to go outside, McGloin and Mosher to go back to the circus, Willie to go to the district attorney's office to inquire about a job, Jimmy to go get his old job back, Cora and Chuck to get married, and Harry to take a walk around the block. None of the men follow through and they all come back later clinging to their pipe dreams. Act Three closes with the men pondering about what happened to Hickey's wife and Harry complaining that, "the booze lost its kick" (O'Neill 172).
