尤金 奥尼尔写作特色分析 精品Word格式.docx

尤金 奥尼尔写作特色分析 精品Word格式.docx

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I.Ageneralintroductionofhislifeandhismainworks

EugeneGladstoneO’NeillwasbornonOct.16,1888,inNewYorkCity.Hisfatherwasawell-knownactor.AsachildO’Neilltravelledwithhisfather’scompanyuntilhewas7,inwhichtimehewascaredforbynanny,hiredtohelphismotherwhowasnotrecoveringfromheradditiontomorphine.ThenannytookyoungEugenetoseethesightswherevertheytravelled.AtsevenhehadawideracquaintancewiththenaturalwondersandodditiesofAmericathanmostAmericanseveracquire.AllthewhileEugeneabsorbedthegrammaroftheatricalartifice,anativelanguage.Atsevenhewenttoaprivateschool,aCatholicschool,heremainedinthatkindofschooluntilhewasthirteen.In1906heenteredPrincetonbutleftattheendofhisfreshmanyear.O’Neilldriftedforseveralyears.HewenttoHondurasandthenworkedasaseamantravellingtoAfricaandtoSouthAmerica.HefinallytookajobasareporterfortheNewLondonTelegraphinConnecticut.Theyearsofirregularliving,combinedwithheavydrinking,hadunderminedhishealth,andin1912heenteredatuberculosissanatorium.

DuringhisillnessO’NeillreadtheworksofHenrikIbsenandAugustStrindberganddecidedtotrywritingplays.In1914-15hestudieddramaticwritingwithGeorgePierceBakeratHarvard.Hewrotetheone-actplaysthatwerepresentedbytheProvincetownPlayersinMassachusetts.ThecompanymovedtoGreenwichVillageinNewYorkCity,whereitformedthePlaywrightsTheater.Itopenedin1916,andthefirstbillincludedO’Neill’sBoundEastforCardiff,hisNewYorkdebut.Thisplayandthreeothers–IntheZone,TheLongVoyageHome,andTheMoonoftheCaribbees,basedonO’Neill’sexperiencesatsea–wereproducedtogetherin1924asS.S.Glencairn.TheimmediatesuccessoftheseshortplaysestablishedO’Neill’sreputation.

In1920O’Neill’sfirstfull-lengthplay,BeyondtheHorizonwasproducedonBroadway.ItwonthePulitzerPrize.In1922AnnaChristiewonanother,andin1928StrangeInterludewonathird.O’NeilljourneyedtoParis,wherehebeganMourningBecomesElectra,producedin1931.In1936hewasthefirstAmericandramatisttowintheNobelPrizeforliterature.In1946hissuccessfulTheIcemanComethwasproduced.OtherworksareTheEmperorJones（1920）,DesireUndertheElms（1924）,andTheGreatGodBrown（1926）,MarcoMillions（1927）includedsomehumor,butAh,Wilderness!

（1933）,anostalgicviewofsmall-townlife,wasO’Neill’sonlycomedy.

ThelasttenyearsofO’Neill’slifewerefilledwithfrustration.Aftersufferingfrommultiplehealthproblems（includingalcoholism）overmanyyears,O’NeillultimatelyfacedasevereParkinson’s-liketremorinhishandswhichmadeitimpossibleforhimtowrite（hehadtriedusingdictationbutfoundhimselfunabletocomposeinthatway）duringthelast10yearsofhislife.WhileatTaoHouse,O’Neillhadintendedtowriteacycleof11playschroniclinganAmericanfamilysincethe1800s.Onlytwoofthese,ATouchofthePoetandMoreStatelyMansionswereevercompleted.Ashishealthworsened,O’Neilllostininspirationfortheprojectandwrotethethreelargeautobiographicalplays,TheIcemanCometh,LongDay’sJourneyintoNight,whichwonafourthPulitzerPrizeandAMoonfortheMisbegotten.HemanagedtocompleteMoonfortheMisbegottenin1943,justbeforeleavingTaoHouseadlosinghisabilitytowrite.DraftsofmanyotheruncompletedplaysweredestroyedbyCarlottaatEugene’srequest.

O’NeilldiedinRoom401oftheSheratonHotelonBayStateRoadinBoston,onNovember27,1953,attheageof65.（ThebuildingisnowtheSheltonHalldormitoryatBostonUniversity）.ThereisanurbanlegendperpetuatedbystudentsthatO’Neill’sspirithauntstheroomanddormitory.Arevisedanalysisofhisautopsyreportshowsthat,contrarytothepreviousdiagnosis,hedidnothaveParkinson’sdisease,butalate-onsetcerebellacorticalatrophy.HewasinterredintheForestHillsCemeteryinJamaicaPlain,Massachusetts.O’Neill’sfinalwordswerereportedly“Borninahotelroom,andGoddammit,diedinone!

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Althoughhiswritteninstructionshadstipulatedthatitnotbemadepublicuntil25yearsafterhisdeath,in1956CarlottaarrangedforhisautobiographicalmasterpieceLongDay’sJourneyintoNighttobepublished,andproducedonstagetotremendouscriticalacclaimandwonthePulitzerPrizein1957.Thislastplayiswidelyconsideredtobehisfinest.O’Neill’shomeinNewLondon,MonteCristoCottage,wasmadeaNationalHistoricLandmarkin1971.HishomeinNorthernCaliforniawaspreservedastheEugeneO’NeillNationalHistoricSitein1976.

O’NeillwasthefirstAmericandramatisttoregardthestageasaliterarymediumandtheonlyAmericanplaywrightevertoreceivetheNobelPrizeforLiterature.Throughhisefforts,theAmericantheatregrewupduringthe1920s,developingintoaculturalmediumthatcouldtakeitsplacewiththebestinAmericanfiction,painting,andmusic.UntilhisBeyondtheHorizonwasproduced,in1920,Broadwaytheatricalfare,apartfrommusicalsandanoccasionalEuropeanimportofquality,hadconsistedlargelyofcontrivedmelodramaandfarce.O’Neillsawthetheatreasavalidforumforthepresentationofseriousideas.Imbuedwiththetragicsenseoflife,heaimedforacontemporarydramathathaditsrootsinthemostpowerfulofancientGreektragedies—adramathatcouldrisetotheemotionalheightsofShakespeare.Formorethan20years,bothwithsuchmasterpiecesasDesireundertheElms,MourningBecomesElectra,andTheIcemanComethandbyhisinspirationtootherseriousdramatists,O’NeillsetthepacefortheblossomingoftheBroadwaytheatre.

II.ThethreeperiodsofO’Neill’swritingandthemainachievementofeachphase

O’Neill’scareerasaplaywrightconsistsofthreeperiods.Hisearlyrealisticplaysutilizehisownexperiences,especiallyasaseaman.Inthe1920sherejectedrealisminanefforttocaptureonthestagetheforcebehindhumanlife.HisexpressionisticplaysduringthisperiodwereinfluencedbytheideasofphilosopherFreidrichNietzsche,psychologistsSigmundFreudandCarlJung,andSwedishplaywrightAugustStrindberg.DuringhisfinalperiodO’Neillreturnedtorealism.Theselaterworksdependonhislifeexperiencesfortheirstorylinesandthemes.

A.Fromtrialtotriumph（1913-1924）:

theearlyplays

In1912-1913,whileatuberculosispatientintheGaylordSanitarium,EugeneO’NeilldecidedtobecomeadramatistafterhadworkedasagoldprospectorinHonduras,asaseaman,andhadbecomearegularatNewYorkCity’sflophousesandcheapsaloons.EugeneO’Neillmadeprofitableuseofhisthree-monthhospitalstaybyreadingphilosophy,drama,andabsorbingtheinfluenceofnewtheatricalmovementsinIreland,Franc,Sweden,andGermany.

OnhisreleasefromGaylordhestartedtowrite,usinghisownlifeexperiencesascreativematrix.Hisdevotiontohisownpersonal“dramaofsouls”neverceased,andhencewritingexactedatremendousphysicalandpsychologicaltoll.

Likehisfather,O’Neillwasanautodidact.HisPrincetonyear（1906-07）wasessentiallyoneofself-directedstudy,becausehedespisedhiscourseassignments,beingsuspendedfor“poorscholarship.”Helearnedfromwide,undisciplinedreading,ratherthanacademicinstruction,claimingthattheonlyresultofhisyearinGeorgePierceBaker’sEnglish47Workshop（1914-15）atHarvardwashispracticeoffirstwritingascenarioandthenthedialogue,whichhedidthroughouthisproductivelife.[1]

Hisearlyexperimentalplays（1913-24）demonstratethestructuralinfluenceofhisfather’stheatreofmelodrama,inhisinstinctiveabilitytobuildasceneoractiontowardasometimesexplosiveconclusion,skillfullyvaryingthepaceofaplay.

Theinfluenceofthevaudevilleskitisalsoobviousinhisveryfastplay,AWifeforaLife（1913）writtenduringhispost-sanitariumresidenceinNewLondon,basedonO’Neill’smiserableminingexperiencesinHonduras.

“Thirst”andOtherOne-ActPlays（1914）,thefirstpublishedcollectionofO’Neill’splays,areimportantasindicatinghisfuturedevelopment.Thesefiveplaysareimportantforwhattheyareandwhattheyprefigure.Thirst（1913）,portraysaraftasamicrocosm,withitsthreeunnamedshipwrecksurvivorsofDancer,Gentleman,andWestIndianMulattoSailor.Whileintroducingthethemeofwomanaswhore,alongwithinterracialandclassconflict,italsoportraysthebehaviorofindividualspushedtotheiremotionalandphysicallimits.InFog（1914）alifeboatservesasamicrocosm,thistimewithaPoet,aManofBusiness,aPolishPeasantWomanandherdeadchild.Fogisusedtoevokemood,andalsoasenseofsupernaturalmystery,whenapassingsteamerturnsasidefromitscourseafterthesailorshearthecryofthedeadchildoverthenoiseoftheirengines.ThisisO’Neill’sfirstforayintotheeerieworldofsupernaturalfantasy.Thethreeotherplaysofthisgroupwerewrittenin1917-18.IntheZoneisaconventionalsubmarine-warfarepotboiler,spicedwithsomeviolence,withSmittyasthealcoholiclover,afailuredriventoseabyawoman’srejection,whileTheLongVoyageHomeisapredictableShanghai-ingdrama,includingthereappearanceofthedream-forever-deferredthemeinOlson’swishtoretiretoafarm.Thegreatestadvance,however,comeswithMoonoftheCaribbees（1918）whereO’Neill,inadditiontodevelopingmood,alsoexperimentswiththeimpactofblackcultureuponwhites,andhisfirsttrulymulticulturalplay,foreshadowsalsohisinterestin“totaltheatre”.

Aswithinseveraleventsintheauthor’slife,therewasheavyironyintheoccasion.