Human existence and predicament
Meaning and purpose
1
2
3
Disappointment and despair
4 The truth of life
1 Life and death, illusion and disillusion, dream and reality, etc.
5
His works
The early period: Realistic plays
Bound East for Cardiff (1916) 《东航卡迪夫》
➢His first play ➢The beginning of his dramatic career ➢Ushering in the modern era of the American theatre
Eugene O’Neill is the founder of modern American drama. He has been well nourished from different sources, especially from August Strindberg, Henrik Ibsen, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer.
3
His life
Birth
A theatrical family
Family
Education Experiences
Princeton Father-an actor University
Sailor Gold digger Theatre manager
4
His life
1912-1913
1
Part One
The Author: Eugene Glastone O’Neill
Born in a hotel room and died in a hotel room.
2
Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953)
➢The greatest American dramatist ➢“Founder of the American drama” and “American Shakespeare” ➢Won Pulitzer Prize four times ➢ Won the Nobel Prize (1936)
9
Features of his plays
Tragic structure
dream—doubt—defeat
Naturalistic and realistic spirits
symbolic expressionism
Psycholppet characters
2 Many characters are seeking meaning and purpose of life.
3 But ending with disappointment and despair.
4 O’ Neill himself was constantly wrestling with these issues and struggling with the perplexity about the truth of life.
representing all human beings
10
Style and techniques
➢Experimenting with new styles and forms
➢Borrowing from both traditional and modern theories and techniques
➢Sea life; one-act plays ➢ Romanticism, ➢naturalism ➢ realism
6
The middle period: Expressionistic plays
Anna Christie (1922) 《安娜·克里斯蒂》 Pulitzer Prize Desire Under the Elms (1924) 《榆树下的欲望》 Strange Interlude (1928) 《奇异的插曲》 Pulitzer Prize Mourning Becomes Electra (1931) 《悲悼》
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Final period: Realism and Modernism
The Iceman Cometh (1946) 《送冰的人来了》
Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1956) Pulitzer Prize 《进入黑夜的漫长旅程》
8
Themes of his plays: tragic view of life
✓His career as a dramatist began and he had been wholly dedicated to the mission as a dramatist.
✓I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room, and God damn it, died in a hotel room.
Naturalistic literature
Expressionism and symbolism
Realism
Naturalism
&
Expressionism
Symbolism
Stream of consciousness Interior monologue
Language of dialect Masks
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Comment
People who influenced on his writing
Tuberculosis
Baker’s drama class
Baker’s drama class at Harvard
Illness and death
Parkinson
✓Became infatuated with the works of Ibsen and Strindberg and cultivated an interest in play writing.