A Brief Analysis of Symbolism in The Play Desire Under The Elms by Eugene O'Neill
Part I. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the Author
Eugene O’Neill was an American playwright and Nobel Laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. His plays were among the first to introduce speechless in American vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society, where they struggle to maintain their hope and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair.
Eugene O’Neill’s first published play, Beyond the Horizon, opened on Broadway in 1920 to great success, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His first major hit was The Emperor Jones, which ran on Broadway in 1920 and obliquely commented on the U.S. occupation of Haiti that was a topic of debate in that year's presidential election. His best-known plays include Anna Christie (Pulitzer Prize 1922), Desire Under the Elms (1924), Strange Interlude (Pulitzer Prize 1928), Mourning Becomes Electra (1931), and his only well-known comedy, Ah, Wilderness!, a wistful re-imagining of his youth as he wished it had been. In 1936 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. After a ten-year pause, O'Neill's now-renowned play The Iceman Cometh was produced in 1946. The following year's A Moon for the Misbegotten failed, and it was decades before coming to be considered as among his best works.
He was also part of the modern movement to partially revive the classical heroic mask from ancient Greek theatre and Japanese Noh theatre in some of his plays, such as The Great God Brown and Lazarus Laughed.
Desire Under the Elms is a 1924 play written by Eugene O’Neill. Like Mourning Becomes Electra, Desire Under the Elms signifies an attempt by Eugene O’Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England setting. It was inspired by the myth of Phaedra, Hippolytus, and Theseus.
1.2 Introduction to the Characters
Eben-He is
1.1 Introduction to the Author
Eugene O’Neill was an American playwright and Nobel Laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. His plays were among the first to introduce speechless in American vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society, where they struggle to maintain their hope and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair.
Eugene O’Neill’s first published play, Beyond the Horizon, opened on Broadway in 1920 to great success, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His first major hit was The Emperor Jones, which ran on Broadway in 1920 and obliquely commented on the U.S. occupation of Haiti that was a topic of debate in that year's presidential election. His best-known plays include Anna Christie (Pulitzer Prize 1922), Desire Under the Elms (1924), Strange Interlude (Pulitzer Prize 1928), Mourning Becomes Electra (1931), and his only well-known comedy, Ah, Wilderness!, a wistful re-imagining of his youth as he wished it had been. In 1936 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. After a ten-year pause, O'Neill's now-renowned play The Iceman Cometh was produced in 1946. The following year's A Moon for the Misbegotten failed, and it was decades before coming to be considered as among his best works.
He was also part of the modern movement to partially revive the classical heroic mask from ancient Greek theatre and Japanese Noh theatre in some of his plays, such as The Great God Brown and Lazarus Laughed.
Desire Under the Elms is a 1924 play written by Eugene O’Neill. Like Mourning Becomes Electra, Desire Under the Elms signifies an attempt by Eugene O’Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England setting. It was inspired by the myth of Phaedra, Hippolytus, and Theseus.
1.2 Introduction to the Characters
Eben-He is