Tyrone. Throughout his whole life James never really used his money, and so it just sat rotting away. While reading the play it seemed very apparent that James was displeased with his life and wondered whether he wasted his whole life. James revisits the day when Mr. Booth noted him as the best actor in the world numerous times and realizes that he never actually used his skill to become an even better actor. James ruined his life by taking the role in the "The Count of Monte Cristo." James wanted to perform Shakespeare's plays because they would allow him to achieve greatness as an actor by bringing out the best in Shakespeare. These wonderful would-be achievements were shattered when he took the one-man role in the "The Count of Monte Cristo". Tyrone has the right to be devastated; he chose the path of money, which only ended up rotting, instead of grasping the chance to pursue a dream and really make use of the massive talent that embraced him. James desires to have that chance again but it is out of reach, and this is what disappoints him. There is nothing to do but for him to sit and drown in his depression. He loses hope completely. The past, to him, is a snake whose squeeze only increases; it suffocates whatever life he has, resulting in the end of his life.
Mary, the dreary wife of the depressed James Tyrone, is ruined by past events as well and sees life as an endless melancholy cycle. Mary, in a state misery, looks to the cheerful days of her early life and the terrible event that changed everything. Mary was a grateful daughter of a wonderful father and was always surrounded by prosperity. Music, especially the piano, and the Church were her loves and also her passions. Mary was to become a nun, a career free of the evils in the world, but that dream was soon demolished when her father set her up with the famous actor James Tyrone, whom she desired. She was love-stricken as soon as she met him, and the desires in her other life were now.