（英语语言文学专业论文）论尤金·奥尼尔悲剧思想的形成和发展.pdf

ii 摘 要 尤金 奥尼尔是 20 世纪美国现代悲剧的奠基人 他的悲剧思想一直是批评家 们所关注的主题本文详细分析了奥尼尔悲剧思想的形成和发展 奥尼尔的悲剧 植根于以信仰断裂为时代特征的二十世纪之交的资本主义社 会文化现实 继承了从古希腊悲剧到莎士比亚悲剧的伟大传统同时又汲取了西 方现代哲学和现代心理学的精神营养 他的家庭与个人悲剧则是奥尼尔悲剧思想 形成的内在基因本文以亚里士多德的诗学为讨论基础将奥尼尔的悲剧置 于西方两大悲剧传统中从悲剧人物悲剧情节悲剧效果悲剧根源四个方面 进行对比分析并指出奥尼尔的悲剧体现出西方现代悲剧的特征了解奥尼尔 悲剧思想的形成和发展对读者理解他的全部剧作的内涵是大有裨益的 最后本文得出结论由于受到多方面因素的影响奥尼尔的悲剧思想没有 形成一个静态的模式 而是经历了一个前后变化发展的历程其发展表现在奥尼 尔的悲剧突破了以亚里士多德的诗学所规定的悲剧的创作原则的束缚呈现 出与西方悲剧传统不同的西方现代悲剧的特征 关键词尤金 奥尼尔悲剧思想形成发展 iii abstract eugene oneill is regarded as the founder of american modern tragedy in 20th century, whose tragic thought has been a long-concerned topic by many critics. this paper illustrates the formation and development of oneills tragic thought. oneills tragedy roots in the capitalist social-cultural reality of belief breaking, inherits the great traditions from ancient greek tragedy to shakespeares and absorbs the nutrition of western modern philosophy and psychology. besides, oneills family tragedy and personal suffering also influence his tragic thought. the discussion of the thesis is based on aristotles poetics. through careful comparison of oneills tragedy with the two traditions of western tragedy from four aspects: tragic character, tragic plot, tragic effect and tragic cause, the thesis points out that oneills tragedy presents the conspicuous characteristics of western modern tragedy. knowing the formation and development of oneills tragic thought would benefit readers for their understanding the connotation of all oneills plays. finally, the thesis concludes that influenced by many factors, oneills tragic thought has experienced a developing process instead of forming a static mode. oneill has neglected many rules and regulations inherited from traditional interpretations of aristotles poetics and his tragedies embody the features of western modern tragedy which are different from those of the two traditions of western tragedy. key words: eugene oneilltragic thoughtformationdevelopment on the formation and development of eugene oneills tragic thought 1 introduction eugene oneill is the most prestigious playwright in america. his dramatic creation is closely associated with the development of american drama. strictly speaking, from the colonial stage to the beginning of 20th century, the playwriting and stage performance of american drama fell far behind the european drama, especially english drama, and did not form its own independent system until the first world war. hence, some critics pointed out that prior to oneills arrival, drama had been for the most part an undistinguished affair; while after his endeavor, the phrase “american drama” began to take on significance.1 oneill won four pulitzer prizes and was awarded nobel prize in 1936, “for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotion of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy.”2 eugene oneill has been the subject of more discussions than any other american in the history of theatre. according to john h.houchin, the life and work of oneill have been the focus of two groups of scholars: theatre critics and literary scholars. the theatre critics discussed the manner in which oneill dealt with the traditional elements of language, plot, characterization and scenography; his experiments with formal elements such as masks, asides, soliloquies and sound effects; and the controversial matters in his plays, such as misogyny, incest, matricide, patricide, abortion, alcoholism and drug addiction. the literary scholars, on the other hand, address oneills plays as literature rather than scripts to be performed. this literary criticism can be roughly divided into four categories: interpretative studies, comparative explorations, historical analysis, and biographical and psychobiographical research. the interpretative studies investigate topics such as biblical interpretations, symbolism of certain scenic elements, the female characters, examination of facial portrayals and discourses on various philosophical attitudes. the comparative explorations examine oneills relationship to other writers comparing sources, attitudes and influences. the historical analysis mainly traces development of certain writing projects or documents the staging of certain productions. the biographical and psychobiographical research attempts to 河北大学英语语言文学硕士学位论文 2 articulate how oneill translated his personal experiences into dramatic statements.3 from the early 1920s to the late 1930s, journalistic reviews were the chief category of oneill criticism in america. then, with the appearance of sophus winthers oneill: a critical study (1934), oneills position as a major and significant figure in american theater as well as in world drama was established.4 ever since, books of numerous topics on oneill and his works have been published one after another. among these studies, some stand out for their monumental significance. doris v. falks eugene oneill and the tragic tension (1958), which begins to see oneills works from a psychological perspective, is the first important study to use oneills monumental long days journey into night in its analysis of the playwright.5 doris alexanders the tempering of eugene oneill (1962) proves to be the first full-length biography of the playwright. however, the most noted studies in this category are louis sheaffers two-volume eugene oneill: son and playwright (1968) and eugene oneill: son and artist (1973).6 egil tornquists a drama of souls: oneills study in supernaturalistic techniques (1969) is the first book that deals with the playwrights emerging dramaturgical techniques.7 travis bogards contour in time: the plays of eugene oneill (1972) is a general study that has had “the greatest influence on thinking about oneill in the later twentieth century”.8 jordan y. millers eugene oneill and the american critics (1973) is the most comprehensive survey of what has been written on oneill until the year of its publication. this book is unique in giving equal attention to newspaper reviews and scholarly studies.9 john gassers eugene oneill (1965), normand berlins eugene oneill (1982), and virginia floyds eugene oneill: a new assessment (1984) are three excellent books that offer general introductions to the playwright.10 the first and the only full-length book that explores eastern ideas in oneills on the formation and development of eugene oneills tragic thought 3 plays is james r. robinsons eugene oneill and oriental thought (1982).11 one of the most original approaches to the playwright in recent years is normand berlins oneills shakespeare (1993), which explores oneills relationship to shakespeare.12 the latest work on oneill by now is undoubtedly the cambridge companion to eugene oneill (2000), a collection of critical essays edited by michael manheim. in china, the oneill studies began in 1930s, about ten years later than that in america. the earlier studies include translations of his plays and literary reviews. the early translators and their works are: gu youcheng, whose translations include the moon of the caribbees (1930), in the zone (1931), the rope (1931), and ile (1931), etc.; huang wu, whose translations include mourning becomes electra, beyond the horizon, and the hairy ape, etc. the early literary reviewers and their works are: chun bing, who wrote “oneill and strange interlude” (1929), “theatre today in england and america” (1929), etc; hong shen, who wrote “oneill chronology” (1934); xiao qian, who wrote “on eugene oneill” (1936). in 1987, the first “china national symposium on eugene oneill” was held in beijing and brought chinas oneill studies into a new stage: not only his plays were translated on a larger scale, but also some of the plays began to be performed. furthermore, two oneill colloquia have been published in ten years (1987-1997). the major oneill scholars in china include: wang yiqun, liao kedui, long wenpei, liu haiping and yang yanheng, etc.13 from the 1980s to the end of 20th century, more than 150 articles on eugene oneill written by various chinese scholars were published on the major national literary journals. these articles can be roughly divided into three groups: researches on the relationship between oneill and chinese literature and culture; focused analysis of one or two specific plays; discussion on specific themes such as symbolism, aesthetics, philosophy, dramatic language, masks, etc, basing on a group of plays. eugene oneills tragic thought has been an important topic discussed by some scholars and critics, such as louis sheaffer, john h. houchin, virginia floyd and so 河北大学英语语言文学硕士学位论文 4 on. discussions have often been concentrated on one or a few plays, so that it will be impossible to throw an insightful and enlightening light on this topic. therefore, the present dissertation attempts to make a thorough investigation of eugene oneills tragic thought and probe the reasons for the formation of these thought. furthermore, it intends to discuss the development of his tragic thought based on the two traditions of western tragedy, which may lead to a more acceptable and reasonable understanding. on the formation and development of eugene oneills tragic thought 5 chapter one eugene oneill and his tragic thought eugene oneill is generally considered as the foremost american dramatist whose works truly reflect the lives and pursuit of the american people in the 20th century and vividly reveal their inner world. in his lifetime, oneill wrote about fifty plays and won three pulitzer prizes for his three outstanding plays, namely, beyond the horizon (1920), anna christie (1921), and strange interlude (1928). in 1936, he was awarded nobel prize for his great contribution to world literature, which was a precedent in the dramatic history of america. three years after his death, oneill, for the fourth time, was granted the pulitzer prize for great theatrical success of his autobiographical play long days journey into night (1956). oneills contribution to american drama is closely related with the provincetown players, a dramatic organization developed under the influence of the little theatre movement in america. in the end of 19th century and in the beginning of 20th century, the american theatre was flooded with vulgar melodramas catering to the low tastes of the audience for commercial purpose. disappointed with this phenomenon, many young playwrights and amateurs of drama, with great enthusiasm, organized their own little theaters to protest the commercialization of the formal theaters. among the various little theaters whose aims were to improve the artistic quality of play and to reveal the truth of life, the provincetown players (founded in 1915) turned to be a key one with the joining of eugene oneill. divorced from the influences that have governed the theatre of broadway for three decades,14 oneill produced the first pile of serious plays in the dramatic history of america and became the key figure in the field of american drama. the oneill canon consists of fifty plays among which only one is a complete comedy ah, wilderness!. the rest are either one hundred percent tragedies such as beyond the horizon, desire under the elms, and long days journey into night or serious plays with solemn phenomenon such as the sea plays of the early practicing years. oneills tragic thought can be fully expressed in his three playwriting periods. in the first period (1913-1920), the young writer composed mostly one-act plays 河北大学英语语言文学硕士学位论文 6 among which bound east for cardiff, moon of the caribbees, and ile are comparatively popular. the style of these works is a mixture of realism and naturalism. among thirty plays, oneill provided different answers to explain the causes of the tragedies, such as fate, belonging sense and mysterious natural force. beyond the horizon, which was produced in 1920, is a work of transitional meaning among all the playwrights plays. it pushed oneill forward from the stage of composing simple short one-act plays to the stage of creating mature, deep multi-act plays. not only did it win the author his first pulitzer prize, but also it laid a solid foundation for his later full-length plays. here presents the comment from j. rankin towse, on new york post of february 4, 1920: “this is a genuine, reasonable, poignant domestic american tragedy, arising out of the conflict between circumstances and character, wholly unsensational but sufficiently dramatic, showing a sympathetic comprehension of elemental human nature and presenting a realistic study of an actual life.”15 this play consists of three acts, with each act containing two scenes: one in the farmhouse and the other outside it. covering a time span of eight years, the play tells the following tragic story. robert mayo, a poetic young intellectual eager to leave the constraint of the family farm, is about to ship out on a voyage with his uncle. his brother andrew, a typical farmer, is looking forward to his marriage to ruth atkins, a childhood sweetheart. when robert tells ruth he loves her, her response causes him to abandon his chance of fulfilling the dreams and to marry ruth, while andrew replaces robert on the sea voyage. robert proves incompetent and temperamentally unsuited to farming and brings the farm to slow ruin. besides the deaths of his father, mother, little daughter, robert experiences the betrayal of ruth, which proves a fatal strike to him. andrew returns at the moment robert is dying of tuberculosis. on his deathbed, robert still dreams of freedom beyond the horizon and a reconciliation between ruth and andrew. this play represents the main themes that appeared in oneills early plays: the importance of dream to encourage people; the conflicting value between an idealistic on the formation and development of eugene oneills tragic thought 7 poet and a materialistic businessman; the various conflicts of father-son, husband-wife, and brother-brother; mans always being fooled by the unknown fate, etc. in beyond the horizon, robert is lingering between ideal and reality, but belonging to neither. his indecisiveness and aloofness made him a victim of himself. at the early stage, deeply influenced by the fate concept of ancient greek tragedy, oneill considered that life contained an incredible and unknown power which propelled everything. therefore, he could not provide a solution for tragedy. with the increasing readings on western philosophy and psychology, oneills tragic thought tends to be mature and complicated in the middle period (1920-1934). works as all gods chillun got wings, desire under the elms, the great god brown, strange interlude, mourning becomes electra, lazarus laughed, and days without end all belong to this period. concerning tragic cause, oneill thought that the exterior factors played a minor role, while the interior factors, such as different moods, instinct and desire, interwove in peoples heart, and motivated people to take actions, which led to mans tragic fate and doom. desire under the elms, a play produced in 1924, enjoys high praise from most of oneill experts. travis commented that the play “fulfills the promise of oneills early career and the first important tragedy to be written in america.”16 virginia floyd ranked it “first truly american historical play” and “most naturalistic play”17.the highest comment came from john gassner, who wrote: “in any case, nothing comparable to this work in power derived from a sense of tragic character and situation had been achieved by the american theatre in the hundred and fifty years of its history.”18 the setting of the play is in the rocky countryside of new england in 1850. it is a stark drama of lust and love, greed and covetousness: ephraim cabot, an old, grim new england farmer, takes a third wife, the young and sensual abbie. eben, the third son of cabot, is filled with resentment that he will be thus disinherited from the farm which belonged to his deceased mother. he is attracted to abbie and succumbs to her seduction and fathers a child which old cabot believes to be his own. furious at 河北大学英语语言文学硕士学位论文 8 having been the instrument of his own disinheritance, eben inadvertently drives abbie to murder the child, which she feels is an obstacle to their love. after turning abbie over to the sheriff in horror, eben realizes abbies great love and gives himself up as her accomplice, determined to share in her punishment. in this play, people are possessed by two kinds of desires: desire of material wealth represented by gold and farm and desire of sex. it is the various desires that compose the basic dramatic conflicts and lead to the tragedy. oneill then again returns to realism in playwriting after the extremely innovative middle period. the third mature period (1934-1943) includes one one-act play hughie and three important full-length plays the lceman cometh, long days journey into night, and a moon for the misbegotten. the style of this period was raw, spare and utterly devoid of theatrical tricks and machinery. yet the plays stood the test of time. oneill drew such a picture in front of readers: man lived in an epoch without belief; mans dreams could not come true except in the illusions; all the pursuit and explorations meant nothing; life was bitter while death was perceived as the final solace. this picture mirrors the true spiritual crises of the american people in the 20th century. take the iceman cometh as an example. the play depicts the depressing situation of the man who falls i