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1048 words! That's only a little under halfway done! :D :D
Break time!
Eugene O’Neill is considered by many to be America’s greatest dramatist. Like many geniuses in their respective fields, his life was led in tragedy and depression; it was dominated by death, alcohol, and failed marriages. This is, perhaps, why O’Neill’s grasp of the tragic play is so tenacious. O’Neill’s characters (especially in his autobiographic play, Long Day’s Journey into Night), reflect his own flaws: his alcoholism early in life, his difficulty in marriage, and his detached connection with his own children and family. His true-to-life, edgy, blunt portrayal of dysfunctional individuals and their relationships define his works. Eugene O’Neill’s plays are about characters forced into uncontrollable circumstances by the choices they’ve made; in using dramatic irony and psychological elements, he reveals their true feelings and motivations.
In order to understand the tragedy of O’Neill’s plays, it is first necessary to understand his life and upbringing. His father, James O’Neill was born in Ireland. Shortly after moving from the country, James’s father returned to Ireland and died there. He grew up to be a famous Shakespearian actor, touring the country. Eventually he met Eugene’s mother, Mary, and they were married; Eugene was born in a hotel room and raised in hotel rooms. In the time he was growing up, his mother had become a morphine addict. O’Neill attributed his mother’s drug addiction to the insecure nature of his early years; the only homes he ever knew in those years were hotel rooms, the backstage of his father’s plays, and trains. (“Eugene Gladstone O‘Neill”) He often blamed his father for his less than happy upbringing, which shows in his plays. In his later childhood, O’Neill attended boarding school, spending his summers at his family’s only permanent home in New London, Connecticut. Though his father’s nomad lifestyle was something that O’Neill did not like to dwell on or remember, it did leave him with a valuable passion for the theater and drama. After his uneasy childhood, O’Neill attended Princeton for a year. Only for a year however; he was expelled from the prestigious school. In the years that followed, he received the real life experiences that inspired him to be a playwright. Led by his brother, James jr., O’Neill lapsed into a life of drinking and visiting prostitutes. It was only after he developed tuberculosis and was sent to a sanatorium that he decided to change his life for the better. It was only after his recovery that he stopped his rampant drinking and began writing plays. His first successful play was Beyond the Horizon. In the year following its release, a series of deaths plagued O’Neill. First his father had a stroke and succumbed to intestinal cancer, then his mother died of brain tumor. His brother Jamie essentially drank himself to death. This had a profound effect on his plays; they were not happy and often involved one or more of the main character’s deaths. He had three marriages, the last of which being the only successful one. This is another trend which shows itself in his writing: the stifling of great minds by women (Shuman, 237) Whether his failed marriages were the cause of his play’s themes or vice versa is debatable. He died in 1953 after writing his autobiographical masterpiece, Long Day‘s Journey into Night. It was published posthumously in 1956.
Many years before Long Day’s Journey into Night was written, O’Neill gained acclaim for Beyond the Horizon. In it, two brothers and those around them are led to ruin by their own deception and one fatal choice. Robert, a studious, intellectual young man is overshadowed by his stronger and more able brother, Andrew. Robert was sickly as a child and read frequently. As a result, he is focused on his dreams: on what is “beyond the horizon”; Andrew seeks only to take care of the family farm which he has grown up tending. Robert’s uncle owns a boat and seeks to take him around the world to fulfill the wanderlust burning inside him. Andrew is content to stay home, hoping to eventually marry Ruth Atkins. However, at the beginning of the play, it is revealed that Ruth has feelings toward Robert instead of Andrew, and Robert returns them in kind. And so the brother’s destinies are switched in one tragic moment. Robert, completely in love with Ruth, tells his uncle that he will not be going with him on the boat, saying that he prefers to spend his time with her and keep the farm. Andrew is crushed. In the blindness of his defeat and depression, he tells his uncle that he will take Robert’s place on his ship. As the play progresses, it becomes more and more apparent that the brothers were not meant to switch positions. Though Robert thinks he will be happy on the farm and make it work in some way, tragedy strikes in O‘Neill‘s typical fashion. “Indeed, an O’Neill character has only to express a desire for something in order to get just the opposite by the end of the act.” (Kemelman, 327) Ironically, Ruth finds that she does not really love Robert; she was actually in love with Andrew the whole time. When this is coupled with Robert’s frailty and lack of farming know-how, the reader realizes the extent of the disaster which has befallen Robert and his family. The farm is slowly deteriorating and Robert is powerless to stop it. Andrew’s letters home decrease Robert‘s mood while increasing the dramatic irony of the situation. The letters are casual and written from the perspective of a farmer (much to Robert‘s Chagrin). “Two of the men are down with fever and we’re shorthanded on the work,” he says (Four Plays, 59). This mundane assessment of the far East makes Robert bitter and makes him long to have been in Robert’s place. Every time Robert returns to the farm, he brings more stories of his travels, and Robert is left feeling more and more empty. Though he loves Ruth, she does not love him, and though he loves his farm and his young daughter Mary, he cannot help them because of his dreamy mindset and physical weakness. His only hope for salvation is thousands of miles away and oblivious to his problems. However, though Andrew’s situation seems to be ideal at first, it
Break time!
Eugene O’Neill is considered by many to be America’s greatest dramatist. Like many geniuses in their respective fields, his life was led in tragedy and depression; it was dominated by death, alcohol, and failed marriages. This is, perhaps, why O’Neill’s grasp of the tragic play is so tenacious. O’Neill’s characters (especially in his autobiographic play, Long Day’s Journey into Night), reflect his own flaws: his alcoholism early in life, his difficulty in marriage, and his detached connection with his own children and family. His true-to-life, edgy, blunt portrayal of dysfunctional individuals and their relationships define his works. Eugene O’Neill’s plays are about characters forced into uncontrollable circumstances by the choices they’ve made; in using dramatic irony and psychological elements, he reveals their true feelings and motivations.
In order to understand the tragedy of O’Neill’s plays, it is first necessary to understand his life and upbringing. His father, James O’Neill was born in Ireland. Shortly after moving from the country, James’s father returned to Ireland and died there. He grew up to be a famous Shakespearian actor, touring the country. Eventually he met Eugene’s mother, Mary, and they were married; Eugene was born in a hotel room and raised in hotel rooms. In the time he was growing up, his mother had become a morphine addict. O’Neill attributed his mother’s drug addiction to the insecure nature of his early years; the only homes he ever knew in those years were hotel rooms, the backstage of his father’s plays, and trains. (“Eugene Gladstone O‘Neill”) He often blamed his father for his less than happy upbringing, which shows in his plays. In his later childhood, O’Neill attended boarding school, spending his summers at his family’s only permanent home in New London, Connecticut. Though his father’s nomad lifestyle was something that O’Neill did not like to dwell on or remember, it did leave him with a valuable passion for the theater and drama. After his uneasy childhood, O’Neill attended Princeton for a year. Only for a year however; he was expelled from the prestigious school. In the years that followed, he received the real life experiences that inspired him to be a playwright. Led by his brother, James jr., O’Neill lapsed into a life of drinking and visiting prostitutes. It was only after he developed tuberculosis and was sent to a sanatorium that he decided to change his life for the better. It was only after his recovery that he stopped his rampant drinking and began writing plays. His first successful play was Beyond the Horizon. In the year following its release, a series of deaths plagued O’Neill. First his father had a stroke and succumbed to intestinal cancer, then his mother died of brain tumor. His brother Jamie essentially drank himself to death. This had a profound effect on his plays; they were not happy and often involved one or more of the main character’s deaths. He had three marriages, the last of which being the only successful one. This is another trend which shows itself in his writing: the stifling of great minds by women (Shuman, 237) Whether his failed marriages were the cause of his play’s themes or vice versa is debatable. He died in 1953 after writing his autobiographical masterpiece, Long Day‘s Journey into Night. It was published posthumously in 1956.
Many years before Long Day’s Journey into Night was written, O’Neill gained acclaim for Beyond the Horizon. In it, two brothers and those around them are led to ruin by their own deception and one fatal choice. Robert, a studious, intellectual young man is overshadowed by his stronger and more able brother, Andrew. Robert was sickly as a child and read frequently. As a result, he is focused on his dreams: on what is “beyond the horizon”; Andrew seeks only to take care of the family farm which he has grown up tending. Robert’s uncle owns a boat and seeks to take him around the world to fulfill the wanderlust burning inside him. Andrew is content to stay home, hoping to eventually marry Ruth Atkins. However, at the beginning of the play, it is revealed that Ruth has feelings toward Robert instead of Andrew, and Robert returns them in kind. And so the brother’s destinies are switched in one tragic moment. Robert, completely in love with Ruth, tells his uncle that he will not be going with him on the boat, saying that he prefers to spend his time with her and keep the farm. Andrew is crushed. In the blindness of his defeat and depression, he tells his uncle that he will take Robert’s place on his ship. As the play progresses, it becomes more and more apparent that the brothers were not meant to switch positions. Though Robert thinks he will be happy on the farm and make it work in some way, tragedy strikes in O‘Neill‘s typical fashion. “Indeed, an O’Neill character has only to express a desire for something in order to get just the opposite by the end of the act.” (Kemelman, 327) Ironically, Ruth finds that she does not really love Robert; she was actually in love with Andrew the whole time. When this is coupled with Robert’s frailty and lack of farming know-how, the reader realizes the extent of the disaster which has befallen Robert and his family. The farm is slowly deteriorating and Robert is powerless to stop it. Andrew’s letters home decrease Robert‘s mood while increasing the dramatic irony of the situation. The letters are casual and written from the perspective of a farmer (much to Robert‘s Chagrin). “Two of the men are down with fever and we’re shorthanded on the work,” he says (Four Plays, 59). This mundane assessment of the far East makes Robert bitter and makes him long to have been in Robert’s place. Every time Robert returns to the farm, he brings more stories of his travels, and Robert is left feeling more and more empty. Though he loves Ruth, she does not love him, and though he loves his farm and his young daughter Mary, he cannot help them because of his dreamy mindset and physical weakness. His only hope for salvation is thousands of miles away and oblivious to his problems. However, though Andrew’s situation seems to be ideal at first, it