Investigate the history of the use of morphine and the problems of morphine addiction from the time of its chemical isolation from opium in 1806 to the present day.

Research the development of sanatoria or hospitals devoted to consumptive diseases and their methods of treating tuberculosis prior to the development of modern vaccines and chemotherapy.

Investigate the plight of Irish Catholic immigrants to America at the time of the potato blight famine that struck Europe in 1845.

Select one or more of the poets, novelists, or play wrights mentioned or quoted in the play and investigate their literary legacy and influence on O'Neill.

Research the state of the American theater at the end of the nineteenth century, particularly the negative effect that the profit motives of commercial theaters had on the quality of their productions.