加载中…Eugene O’Neill(1888-1953) 尤金·奥尼尔 The Hairy Ape《毛猿》
(2013-03-12 11:38:04)
2. Family: his father, an actor
4. Working Experiences: Prospector,
sailor
II. Literary Achievements 1920: Beyond the Horizon 《天边外》 1920: The
Emperor Jones 《琼斯王》 1920: Anna Christie《安娜·克里斯蒂》 1921: The Hairy
Ape 《毛猿》 1924: Desire Under the Elms 《榆树下的欲望》 1925: The Great God
Brown 《大神布朗》 1928: The Strange Interlude 《奇异的插曲》 Literary
Achievements 1931: Mourning Becomes Electra 《悲悼》 1934: Days Without
End 《无穷的岁月》 1939: The Iceman Cometh 《送冰人来了》 1940: Long Day’s
Journey into Night 《进入黑夜的漫长旅程》
O’Neill was no doubt the greatest American dramatist of the first
half of the 20th century. He was the first playwright to explore
serious themes in the theater and to carry out his continual,
vigorous, courageous experiments with theatrical conventions. His
plays have been translated and staged all over the world. Three
Pulitzer Prizes(1920, 1922, 1928) and the Noble Prize in 1936 show
his achievement and influence at home and abroad. comment As the
nation’s first important playwright with forty nine published
plays, he did a great deal to establish the modes of the modern
theatre in the country. With him American drama developed into a
form of literature and in him American drama came of
age.
As America’s foremost playwright, O’Neill successfully introduced
the European theatrical trends of realism, naturalism and
expressionism to the American stage as devices to express his
comprehensive interest in life and humanity. He often ignored
normal play divisions of scenes and acts, paid little attention to
the expected length of plays, made his characters wear masks, split
one character between two actors, reintroduced ghosts, chorus,
monologue, and direct addresses to audience. comment He employed
sets, lighting, and sounds to enhance emotion rather than to
represent a real place. He made great contributions to establishing
the modes of the modern American drama. He represented the new
trend on the stage by introducing a modern and timely content. He
grounded his works in personal experience. His works reflect the
life of his country and his time.
comment
Story
Yank, the protagonist, is a leading stoker on a transatlantic
liner. Strong and brutish, he has won respect from his fellow men,
the kind of “grudging respect of fear.” Completely adapted to his
environment, Yank is satisfied with the life he leads, and is proud
of himself.
Story
But when Mildred Douglas, daughter of the ship’s owner, displays
her horror and terror of him and calls him a “filthy beast” on her
visit to the stokehole, Yank feels insulted, and denied a position
in the world. He goes out to prove his position by insulting
aristocratic strollers in New York and is then put to prison. He
cannot make himself understood by his fellow prisoners, and is
later rejected by the I. W. W. (Industrial Workers of the World), a
labor organization.
Story
theme
Modern man loses his sense of belonging under technological
progress. Humanity is in a predicament by creating a world he does
not belong to.
VI. Topics for Discussion
喜欢
0
赠金笔