Timothy O'Neill: Difference between revisions

 

==Character Overview==

 

Mr. O'Neill primarily teaches English (at Lawndale it is called "Language Arts") and also teaches an after-school course on Self Esteem, at which [[Daria Morgendorffer]] and [[Jane Lane]] meet. [[The Daria Diaries]] also have him teaching Drama ("Dramatic Horizons") and present English and Language Arts as separate subjects. He is shown to be well aware of a vast swathe of classic and seminal literature, such as [[Fair Enough|Canterbury Tales]], War and Peace, [[This Year's Model|Walden]], [[Write Where It Hurts|The Dharma Bums, Breakfast of Champions]], and [[Daria's Inferno|Dante's Inferno]], and uses them in his class. However, his ''grasp'' of the literature and their meaning seems suspect: in "[[Fair Enough]]", he asked the class why Tolstoy made War and Peace "so darn unpleasant" (and seemed thought-provoked when Daria joked it was so nobody would want a sequel).

==Relations with other characters==

[[Image:Daria_annoyed_ONeill.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Daria puts up with O'Neill (sort of)]]

 

On the second season episode, "[[The Daria Hunter]]," Mr. O'Neill (unwittingly) began a sexual-but-not-romantic relationship with the misandrist [[Janet Barch]], which is repeated in episodes plotted similarly to "[[The Daria Hunter]]," "[[Fair Enough]]," and "[[Just Add Water]]" (and was mentioned briefly in the episode "[[Murder, She Snored]]"). The clear implication is that they engage in sexual practices that most would find unusual or disturbing. They don't appear to have done much in their relationship outside of sex. Janet's attraction to him was that "you're sensitive... but you're a ''man!''", though when he attempted (badly) to stand up to her about the engagement in IICY?, she was intrigued and attracted by the idea of him having a backbone.

 

==Trivia==

 

* "The Daria Diaries" were written early in the show's run. Later episodes would make it explicit that Daria ''does'' suffer from real problems that she masks with sarcasm; while his letter to Helen in "Diaries" was meant to show him being overly sensitive, it retroactively indicates that he ''does'' have some insight into Daria.