Eugene O'Neill and Melodrama

Eugene O’Neill has been a essential author in the life of the melodramatic genre. In contrast to other “pure” melodramatic authors like Boucicault, he has transcended the limitations of this dramatic form and has given it a new dimension. If we take into consideration the Greek conventions and the Aristotelian six elements to create a well-made play, we could affirm that Melodrama emphasizes every of those elements except for character, and so the main contribution that O’Neill made to this genre is the development of this missing Aristotelian element in melodrama (character). With his contribution, the new melodrama became richer and less extravagant in terms of production, but it still kept the flame of the style and the overwhelming emotions. By contrasting Boucicault’s The Octoroon and O’Neill’s Beyond the Horizon, I am going to explore O’Neill’s gift to melodrama, and his place on the developmental continuum of western drama.
In the words of the Encyclopedia Britannica, melodrama, in Western theatre, refers to “sentimental drama with an improbable plot that concerns the vicissitudes suffered by the virtuous at the hands of the villainous but ends happily with virtue triumphant.” In the melodrama genre, emotion is exaggerated and plot and action are emphasized in comparison to the more character-driven emphasis within a drama. Melodramas can also be distinguished from tragedy by the fact that they are open to having a happy ending, but this is not always the case. The melodrama focuses not on character development but on sensational incidents and spectacular staging.
Originally it was a genre of theatre in which music was used to increase the spectator's emotional response or to suggest character types. As technical developments in the theatre made greater realism possible, more emphasis was given to the spectacular—e.g., snowstorms, shipwrecks, battles, train wrecks, conflagrations, earthquakes, and horse races. Among the best known and most representatives