Eugene O’Neill: One of the Most Famous Playwrights Essay

Introduction

Eugene O’Neill was one of the most famous playwrights ever known in the history of America. His masterpiece, “Long Day’s journey into the night”, is at the tip of several outstanding plays the writer had. Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born in New York City in 1888 (Selman & Zainal 444). His talent for piercing and poignant dramas came from a life glaring with challenges. After being born, his mother, Mary Ellen, had undergone difficult childbirth and was given morphine to assist her. However, she developed an addiction to the drug as she was also grieving for O’Neil’s older brother, who had been infected by measles and died three years earlier.

On the other hand, his father was a stage actor who, at the time, had a role in a touring production of a particular film. Most of O’Neil’s early life was spent on the road, in hotel rooms, trains, and backstage (Otto). He was then sent to a boarding school at seven years old and would grow up to blame his father for the rough and challenging time the family led. As a child, he was brought up with two influences that were mainly in a dramatic conflict; his father’s peasant Irish Catholicism and his mother’s genteel mystical piety. Therefore, Eugene O’Neil had theatre in his blood, and his high sense of drama and his struggle with religion and God (all depicted in his play) were a result of his parents.

Writing Career and Plays

O’Neil never finished his formal education, but he would later attend a playwriting class at Harvard. He tried several careers, such as writing as a journalist and working on steamer ships as a seaman. After being diagnosed with tuberculosis, Eugene O’Neil reflected on his life and goals and decided to enter into playwriting. This saw the surfacing of a theater writer who would in the coming years, grow to be one of the most admired playwrights. A very small theatre group called the Provincetown Players acted in Eugene O’Neil’s earliest plays which mostly entailed the years he spent as a seaman (Selman & Zainal 443). They consisted of a series of one-acts that largely contributed to O’Neil’s quick push into the writer’s first triumphant period as a playwriter. He then became a full-time author of many full-length plays, including the famously known “Strange Interlude”, “Anna Christie”, and “Beyond the Horizon”. Aside from this, the writer also worked on other plays that brought new standards to the modern stage of America through the use of Greek drama to paint present world characters.

Eugene O’Neil’s Themes

Among the constantly noticed themes in Eugene O’Neil’s pieces are those of death and mourning. This is majorly due to his experiences and the sadness he sustained in his life. For instance, the writer had to deal with his closest family within a short period. He lost his parents and brother between the years 1920 to 1923 (Rahimipour 45). Eugene was not able to deal with the death of their parents well, but his older brother was unable to cope with this loss as he succumbed to destructive alcoholism (alcohol abuse) and died later at 45 years old.

Some of the central themes of O’Neil’s works are those of family life and being masked. Many of O’Neil’s works, such as “Long Day’s Journey into Night”, are centered on family and the struggles of family life. The play displays how dysfunctional families can be by giving honest descriptions of his family (Rahimipour 47). Another common theme by the writer is that of actors wearing a “mask.” This theme is used as a symbol to show what his characters are hiding. Through his plays, Eugene O’neil significantly contributed to the revelation of the problems faced by humanity at the time, including a morality crisis within the deep parts of society and family.

O’Neill’s work made him famous to date as he was exceptionally known for his dramatism. Through his writings, he was able to bring alive moments within his writings that showed the aspects of his character’s emotions. Through him, psychological and social realism were introduced to the stages of American plays (Dubost). His skills in writing made him win prizes such as the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize for drama. One of his greatest plays that made him famous is “Long Day’s Journey into Night”. His plays are considered the pinnacle of 20th-century American theatre (Ibrahim et al.). Through his masterpieces, he made lots of sales, and for nearly 20 years, his work continued to inspire other dramatists. Most of O’Neil’s writing had not been converted into plays, but almost half of them were converted.

O’Neil’s Nobel Prize

O’Neill received his Nobel Prize for literature in 1936 during his visit to Seattle. He won it because of the honesty, power, and deep-felt emotions in his dramatic work that made it possible to display an original concept of a tragedy (Ibrahim et al.). Earning the Nobel Prize made him the first and only American playwright to be given the Nobel for Literature. Before his Nobel Prize, he had written nearly 60 plays but, 35 of his plays were the only ones produced (Dubost). Through his Nobel Prize, O’Neil was able to build his house, which he later called the Tao House.

On the day of receiving the Nobel, O’Neill was unable to attend as he was sick. Due to his sickness, he was advised by his doctor that he had to isolate himself for a while. As such, in his absence, he had sent a letter to Sweden. In his letter, he had written a speech to be read in front of the Swedish audience (Morash 115). He expressed his apologies for not attending the festival to receive his award and his appreciation for winning the award. In his statements, he stated that the Nobel Prize was a recognition of his work and the efforts of all his colleagues in America (Lee 196). He also hoped that the Nobel Prize would be used as a symbol of recognition by Europe for the coming-of-age of American theatre. In his final statement, he felt pride and gratitude to the Swedish people and to his influencer Strindberg who inspired O’Neil’s skills through his work.

Conclusion

In my opinion, O’Neill deserved the Nobel Prize because of his efforts throughout his career. Although he came from a family of theatre, he stood out and did not gain his glory out of his family’s history. Moreover, in his writing, he was able to bring out the drama in a realistic context so that his readers could feel all the emotions involved as they read. This made his work unique and exciting to read. Having this kind of ability to lure the audience and perfect one’s work deserves appreciation. Therefore, his win is justified by his efforts to write plays that will be outstanding for generations.

Works Cited

Dubost, Thierry. Eugene O’Neill and the Reinvention of Theatre Aesthetics. McFarland, 2019.

Ibrahim, Haider, Abdullah Mohd Nawi, and Ansam Ali. “The Use of Metaphor as a Tool in Depicting Tragedy in the Literary Works of Eugene O‟ Neill.” International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation 24.1 (2020). Web.

Lee, E. Andrew. “The Melodramadness of Eugene O’Neill by Virgil Geddes.” Eugene O’Neill Review 42.2 (2021): 194-197. Web.

Otto, Megan. “Loss, Sadness and the Influences of Eugene O’Neill.” Explore the Art, Web.

Morash, Chris. “Hughie dir. by Eric Fraisher Hayes, Eugene O’Neill.” Eugene O’Neill Review 40.1 (2019): 114-117. Web.

Rahimipour, Saeid. “The Detection of Morality Crisis in Eugene o’neil’s the Rope.” Journal of English Literature and Cultural Studies 2.3 (2019): 42-48. Web.

Selman, Haider Al-Selman, and Zaidah Zainal. “The Use of Metaphors and Tragic Pictures in Eugene O’Neill ‘S American Drama.” International Journal of Engineering & Technology 7.2.29 (2018): 443-445. Web.