Symbolism In Eugene O 'Neill's The Hairy Ape'?

1296 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theater history essay

Eugene O’Neill is regarded as America’s greatest playwright, and also the only American to ever win a Nobel Prize for Literature. His plays were a wake up call for the nation and world alike, and he is credited with changing the way Americans viewed the theater. Before O’Neill, the American theater was viewed as childish and purely for entertainment, but O’Neill used his expressionist writing style to transform it into a strong social medium for change. One of O’Neill’s most eye-opening plays was The Hairy Ape, a play about a poor ship worker who is questioning his identity and searching for his place in society, but ultimately decides that he doesn’t fit in any social group. This play brought attention to the oppression and mistreatment of the working class by the wealthy upper class, and also the increasing deterioration of the worker caused by industrialization. The play received great reviews for its expressionistic themes, and help O’Neill’s already high reputation. O’Neill’s expressionistic writing style and use of poetic symbolism were responsible for the maturation of the American theater; therefore, earning him the title of “America’s greatest playwright” and a leaving a permanent mark in the history of its theater. …show more content…

Born October 16, 1888 to Mary Ellen and James O’Neill in a New York City Hotel Room, Eugene Gladstone O’Neill had a rough childhood. His father was an alcoholic, and his mother, stressed over a his difficult childbirth and the loss of one of her sons three years before, became addicted to morphine shortly after his birth. Most of Eugene’s early childhood was spent in on the move, traveling across the United States with his family because of his father. His father was a well-known touring actor because of his part in the Count of Monte Cristo, and was the one who introduced him to the theatrical

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Arthur MIller and John Proctor

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    Arthur Miller’s success first began with his Broadway play, All My Sons, in 1947. This award winning play “Struck a note that was to become familiar in Miller’s work: the need for moral responsibility in families and society”. (Anderson 1212) Later, his production Death of a Salesman left him the group of America’s top playwrights....

    Read More

  • The Light and Darkness of Suffering Depicted in Sonny's Blues

    2447 Words  | 5 Pages

    Reuben, Paul P. PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. Chapter 10: James Baldwin (1924-1987). 3 November 2011. April 2012 .

    Read More

  • King Lear and Death of a Salesman

    2158 Words  | 5 Pages

    Social pressures change as time passes, therefore it is interesting to see how these three texts whom differ by almost four hundred years perceive society and the effect this has on the protagonists; Shakespeare’s King Lear which was first performed in 1606 during the Jacobean era, presents a patriarchal society. Whilst, Arthur Miller uses the characters in ‘Death of a salesman’ to show the failure of the ‘American dream’ during the “golden era” of America in the late 40’s. The ‘American Dream’ was a set of ideals which suggested that anyone in the US could be successful through hard work, and had the potential to live a happy life. The sense of the deterioration in the equality of opportunities links to the fall in power and hierarchy in King Lear. Arudanthi Roy, however, uses her contemporary Indian novel to illustrate, using a proleptic and coalesce structure, the lives of the protagonists living in a post – colonial society. In each of these three texts there are characters who fit the stereotypes that society has instilled in them, but then there are those characters who noticeably differ from the norm; According to 19th century novelist Alfred de Musset “how glorious it is – and how painful – to be an exception.” Hence this statement can be seen as applicable to these characters, because in all three texts these characters do end up losing a lot.

    Read More

  • Jacobs & Douglass: An Insight Into The Experience of The American Slave

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...n American Literature. By Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 387-452. Print.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, And Edgar Allan Poe

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    When a writer starts his work, most often than not, they think of ways they can catch their reader’s attention, but more importantly, how to awake emotions within them. They want to stand out from the rest and to do so, they must swim against the social trend that marks a specific society. That will make them significant; the way they write, how they make a reader feel, the specific way they write, and the devotion they have for their work. Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgard Allan Poe influenced significantly the American literary canon with their styles, themes, and forms, making them three important writers in America.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Thing In The Forest By A. S. Byatt

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    A.S. Byatt uses symbolism in her story “The Thing in the Forest” to show how children in England during World War II, like herself, felt and reacted to the events that they knew where bad but didn’t understand. This can easily be shown through the sequencing of the plot, the deeper meanings behind characters and places, and the post effects it had the main characters.

    Read More

  • Shedding Light

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine, eds. The Norton Anthology: American Literature. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. Print.

    Read More

  • Essay on Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hirsch, Foster.  A Portrait of the Artist-The Plays of Tennessee Williams.  London: Kennikat Press, 1979.

    Read More

  • The Trauma of Female Character ---in “Death of Salesman”

    1823 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1949, the pinnacle of contemporary American playwright, Arthur Miller, published his works “Death of a Salesman”. After the advent of this play, not only caused a sensation in the theaters in the United States, but also became the Western model of modern tragedy as one of the most important drama after America's World War II. Miller was twice won the “New York Drama Critics Award” and also awarded the “Pulitzer Prize.”[

    Read More

  • Willy Lowman’s Tragic Misinterpretation of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    Barack Obama made history by being elected President of the United States, twice. This is just one more example that the American Dream is without a doubt achievable. Its pursuit is not easy; it requires undeniable hard work, modesty and optimism. Armed with these characteristics, seekers of this lifestyle will undeniably succeed. Success, though, is an interesting concept, for it can entail many superficial qualities. Willy Loman, the tragic hero of the play Death of a Salesman, sees only the superficial qualities of this dream. He views success solely as likeability (linked with attractiveness), and wealth. Ignoring all methods to honorably achieve these, Arthur Miller demonstrates how Willy’s search for the superficial qualities of the American Dream lead him to his own despair.

    Read More

  • Humanity In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though humanity can never express itself fully, it is never deterred in its quest to do so. Literature brings such light and expression for humanity to communicate across time, space, generations and ever-evolving society. However, no modicum of talent suffices to satisfy people throughout the ages for literature and its ability to communicate directly and indirectly. Arthur Miller stands as a classic American author with his ability to explore the darker and deeper parts of humanity and individuals facing the adversity of a larger society. In Miller’s Death of a Salesman, he demonstrates the struggle of a family with an illusion of the American Dream against new ideas of success and striving for personal happiness rather than wealth or prestige.

    Read More

  • A Doll’s House and The Cherry Orchard

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard were famous for the way in which they depicted the changing of cultures. Both plays act as a sort of social commentary during times of widespread liberation, and use the contortive nature of these seemingly stereotypical characters’ actions to speak about groups of people as a whole. Throughout the course of both plays, this subversion of how different groups of people were typically perceived created a distinct contrast which often shocked and appalled audiences of the time. However, the effects of these plays were felt long after they were presented.

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    Born into a wealthy family in 1915 in New York City, Arthur Miller would become one of America’s finest playwrights. Like many of the families during the Great Depression, Miller’s family suffered financial and social collapse during the 1930s. In order to pay for his education at the University of Michigan, he took on menial jobs that offered him the opportunity to be surrounded by those who had also suffered the same downfall from the Depression. These experiences would shape how and what Miller would write about in the future, including his Pulitzer Prize winning play, Death of a Salesman and the main character of the play, Willy Loman. Narcissism, mental illness, and the downfall of the American dream, define Willy Loman’s character in

    Read More

  • Dehumanism In Eugene O 'Neill's' The Hairy Ape

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill shines a light on the differences between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat during the industrial age. While focusing on how the working class men are slaves to the new, industrial society, O’Neill purposefully describes Yank, and the other working men, in harsh ways. By dehumanizing Yank and focusing on the bad traits of the working class, the wealthy, upper class appears to fly under the radar of the reader, but by the end of The Hairy Ape, the virtually unnoticed bourgeoisie is actually made to look worse than the animalistic working class.

    Read More

  • The Influences of Playwright Eugene O’Neill

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many playwrights drew from outside influences to compose their works. They would look the era they were living in, their personal lives, childhood experiences, and even ancient texts to acquire inspiration for their works and famous playwright, Eugene O’Neill, is no exception. Writing through two world wars, a great depression, and boom of the motion-picture industry, O’Neill certainly had much inspiration to choose from. Although not becoming nationally recognized until after his father’s death in 1920, O’Neill still managed to produce fifty completed works. Using influences from the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Eugene O’Neill demonstrated how he used the era he was living in to help compose his works.

    Read More

More about Symbolism In Eugene O 'Neill's The Hairy Ape'?

Open Document