Eugene O‟Neill: the Constant Presence April 2017

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Eugene O‟Neill: the Constant Presence April 2017 Eugene O‟Neill: The Constant Presence April 2017 SOCIETY BOARD PRESIDENT IN THE U.S., ON STAGE IN IRELAND J. Chris Westgate [email protected] 10th International Conference VICE PRESIDENT July 19-22, pp. 10-13 Robert M. Dowling 1 Central Connecticut State University National University of SECRETARY/TREASURER Ireland, Galway 2 Beth Wynstra [email protected] INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY — ASIA: Haiping Liu [email protected] INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY — EUROPE: Marc Maufort [email protected] 5 GOVERNING BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR: Steven Bloom [email protected] 3 Jackson Bryer [email protected] Eugene O’Neill: Michael Burlingame [email protected] Ireland, the Constant Presence Robert M. Dowling [email protected] Thierry Dubost 4 [email protected] Kurt Eisen Photos: [email protected] 1. Chris Whitaker 2. A. Vincent Scarano Eileen Herrmann 3. Eugene O‘Neill Fdtn. [email protected] 4. Carol Rosegg 5. Stephanie Berger Katie Johnson [email protected] Daniel Larner [email protected] 1. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Geffen Playhouse, pp. 17-18. Cynthia McCown 2. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Monte Cristo Cottage, [email protected] pp. 19-20. Anne G. Morgan 3. Shell Shock & The Rescue, Playwrights‘ Theatre, Danville, [email protected] REMEMBERING pp. 28-29. David Palmer THE GELBS 4. The Emperor Jones, Irish Rep, pp. 21-22. [email protected] pp. 3-9 5. The Hairy Ape, The Armory, pp. 14-16. Robert Richter [email protected] EX OFFICIO What‟s Inside IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Jeff Kennedy Honorary board, special members . .24 President‘s Message . .2 [email protected] Conference Panels . .25 Remembering the Gelbs . .3-9 THE EUGENE O’NEILL REVIEW O‘Neill On Stage . 14-22, 26, 28 Conferences, CFPs . 26 Editor: William Davies King Eugene O‘Neill Foundation [email protected] 10th International Conference . .10-13 Member News Artists in Residence . 27-28 NEWSLETTER Editor: Jo Morello New website . 23 Playwrights‘ Theatre . .28-29 [email protected] The Eugene O’Neill Review . .23 Contributors . .30-31 Eugene O‘Neill Society Page 1 A Message from Society president J. Chris Westgate which is great! But we still need all our Dear O‘Neillians, M c N a m a r a and members members in good standing. If you It is with deeply mixed feelings that I of the execu- haven‘t renewed yet, I encourage you write this letter. The recent passing of tive commit- to do so soon. As always, you can re- Barbara Gelb is a great loss for the t e e a r e new online at the Society website. Eugene O‘Neill Society. Along with working dili- Arthur, who passed in 2014, Barbara gently on I hope you get a chance to see some was a great presence in the Society for making this of the productions of O‘Neill‘s plays so long that it is undoubtedly difficult conference that are happening right now. We to imagine the future without her. As an amazing have coverage on several important you will see in the remembrances of experience. productions in this issue (pages 14-22, them elsewhere in this Newsletter, 26, 28). They were so important to so many I should note that all the conference members of the O‘Neill Society and information is posted on our newly I just got back from New York City the study of O‘Neill‘s life that we redesigned Society website thanks to where I had the good fortune of see- should all take a moment to remem- Jeff Kennedy. (See page 23.) Please ing one of them, The Emperor Jones, at ber them—each of us individually and take some time to look through the the Irish Repertory Theatre. It was an together as a Society. amazing work that Jeff has put into the astonishingly visceral experience that website and send him thanks for his left the performers and the audience Yet the sadness we feel is mixed with hard work. overwhelmed. (See photos HERE.) enthusiasm for what lies ahead for the Society, including the Tenth Interna- Just glancing through the photographs Additionally, I got to see The Hairy Ape tional Conference on Eugene O‘Neill: from past conferences in New York at The Armory, which was truly enjoy- ―Eugene O‘Neill: Ireland, the Constant City and New London was a treat for able in the ways that the production Presence.‖ The conference‘s schedule me—seeing all of us gathered together experimented with the expressionism is now available on the Society‘s web- to talk about the life and work of of the play. site (www.eugeneoneillsociety.org/ O‘Neill. index.html) and, as you can see, we If you don‘t have a chance to see the have a lot of exciting things to look I would be remiss (and in trouble with play, click HERE to watch Rob forward to including lectures from Beth!) if I didn‘t take a moment to ask Dowling‘s interview with the director, Ireland‘s president Michael D. Higgins you to consider renewing your Society Richard Jones, and the leading actor, as well as scholars Declan Kiberd, and membership for next year. We‘ve had Bobby Cannavale. Gerardine Meaney; a lecture on the a great year for membership, with our Abbey Theatre and its archives; and a numbers up from the previous year— Until Galway…. Chris performance of Ronan Noone‘s The Second Girl. Below, The Hairy Ape. PHOTO: STEPHANIE BERGER. Right: The Emperor Jones. PHOTO: CAROL ROSEGG. Beyond that, the Galway Arts Festival is running during the conference, with offerings we can take in during some down time. As you saw in the email from our sec- retary/treasurer Beth Wynstra, regis- tration for the Conference is now available. Conference co-chairs Nelson O‘Ceallaigh Ritschel and Audrey Eugene O‘Neill International Society Page 2 April 2017 The End of an Era: The Passing of the Gelbs “What I am is a Writer”: Remembering Barbara—and Arthur by Sheila Hickey Garvey was legendary and apparently seeped into their family life right to the edge Barbara and then Arthur Gelb were of the crib. amongst my closest friends for almost thirty years. We often dined together, Barbara‘s sense of artistic integrity was had a mutual passion for the opera, indeed finely tuned. This is why Bar- indulged—just a bit—in gossip, bara and Arthur together spoke laughed a lot and also shared personal against director Jose Quintero and intimacies and concerns in a way that Donald Gallop (then curator at Yale‘s one can only do with the closest and Beinecke Library) for adapting—at most trusted of friends. Of course, the Carlotta‘s request—the incomplete primary tie was Eugene O‘Neill, as my text of O‘Neill‘s More Stately Mansions own writing and research builds on for performance on Broadway. Bar- Barbara‘s interviews with José bara and Arthur both took an unpopu- Quintero and Jason Robards in the lar position, one that appeared in The 1970s. New York Times just before the pro- duction opened. Because of this there Separating Barbara and Arthur was was friction amongst Quintero, Ro- challenging since they co-authored bards, Gallup and the Gelb for many much of their O‘Neill writing and (File photo, forwarded by Bette Mandl) years. were an inseparable couple as often as bara and Arthur were at the confer- possible. But I consciously made the ence to receive the Eugene O‘Neill From Barbara and Arthur‘s point of decision to focus on Barbara‘s unique Medallion, I asked Barbara to join the view, they had taken a stance on behalf professional identity in this remem- panel. After all she was also a play- of deceased writer Eugene O‘Neill, brance because it was almost too easy wright and should be thought of as who was unable to speak for himself to become caught up in Arthur‘s dy- such. With reluctance Barbara joined and was known to have instructed namic personality, exuberant nature my other guests and, of course, held Carlotta to destroy the unfinished and mesmerizing intellect. her own while Arthur sat in the audi- manuscript. To alter an artist‘s work ence asking Jason and José provocative without permission was, to Barbara, My first effort to spotlight Barbara was questions to rile them up. an ethical violation. in 1987 at the time her play My Gene premiered at New York‘s Public Thea- Barbara once said to me, ―what I am is During the Society‘s Sixth Interna- ter. The play, about Carlotta Mon- a writer.‖ To Barbara, being a writer tional Conference in Provincetown, terey O‘Neill, starred Barbara‘s friend meant being an artist. As the niece of Massachusetts, in 2005, Barbara, Ar- Coleen Dewhurst. I interviewed Bar- acclaimed violinist Jascha Heifetz and thur and filmmaker Ric Burns spent bara and wrote an article based on the step-daughter of successful play- the weekend with fellow O‘Neillians. that interview for The Eugene O’Neill wright S.N. Berman she well under- They had asked me to arrange the Newsletter. In 1995 Fred Wilkins, co- stood what being an artist truly meant. premiere presentation of selections founder of the Eugene O‘Neill Society from their then newly completed PBS and then-editor of The Eugene O’Neill She gave me an example to explain American Experience episode titled Review, asked me to be the chair for a some of her eccentricities by telling Eugene O’Neill, a Documentary Film. performance panel at an O‘Neill Soci- me that her Uncle Jascha would test all ety conference in Boston.
Recommended publications
  • JM Coetzee and Mathematics Peter Johnston
    1 'Presences of the Infinite': J. M. Coetzee and Mathematics Peter Johnston PhD Royal Holloway University of London 2 Declaration of Authorship I, Peter Johnston, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Dated: 3 Abstract This thesis articulates the resonances between J. M. Coetzee's lifelong engagement with mathematics and his practice as a novelist, critic, and poet. Though the critical discourse surrounding Coetzee's literary work continues to flourish, and though the basic details of his background in mathematics are now widely acknowledged, his inheritance from that background has not yet been the subject of a comprehensive and mathematically- literate account. In providing such an account, I propose that these two strands of his intellectual trajectory not only developed in parallel, but together engendered several of the characteristic qualities of his finest work. The structure of the thesis is essentially thematic, but is also broadly chronological. Chapter 1 focuses on Coetzee's poetry, charting the increasing involvement of mathematical concepts and methods in his practice and poetics between 1958 and 1979. Chapter 2 situates his master's thesis alongside archival materials from the early stages of his academic career, and thus traces the development of his philosophical interest in the migration of quantificatory metaphors into other conceptual domains. Concentrating on his doctoral thesis and a series of contemporaneous reviews, essays, and lecture notes, Chapter 3 details the calculated ambivalence with which he therein articulates, adopts, and challenges various statistical methods designed to disclose objective truth.
    [Show full text]
  • The Philosophy of Eugene O'neill
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1929 The Philosophy of Eugene O'Neill Judith Reynick Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Reynick, Judith, "The Philosophy of Eugene O'Neill" (1929). Master's Theses. 440. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/440 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1929 Judith Reynick THE FrlILO~OPHY OF EUG~~B O'NEILL JUDITH Ri!."'YN 10K A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements i'or the degree of Master of Arts in Loyola University 1929 Judi th Reyni ck University of Chicago, Ph.B., 1921 • . Teacher of English, Schurz High School. TABLE ·OF GON'r~ . I. INTRODUCTION . 1. ate. temen t of problem 2. Method of dealing with problem·: 3. Brief sketch of au thor GROUPING' Romantic or objective Xaturalistic and autobiographical 3. Symbolic and subjective OONOLUS,IONS IV. LIS T OF PLAYS RE.'V lEi/ED v. BIBLIOGRAPHY F'..;:;",.-o_-----------------:--------, Eugene O'Neill, the American playwrightl That these terms are almost synonymous is the conclusion one is tl forced to, if , to him, a study of contemporary dramatic criticism of the last fourteen years is any criterion.
    [Show full text]
  • George Bernard Shaw, the Fabian Society, and Reconstructionist Education Policy: the London School of Economics and Political Science
    George Bernard Shaw, the Fabian Society, and Reconstructionist Education Policy: the London School of Economics and Political Science Jim McKernan East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA “He who can does, He who cannot teaches” (G.B. Shaw) Introduction When four members of the Executive Committee of the newly founded Fabian Society 1 met at Sidney Webb’s summer house at Borough Farm, near Godalming, Surrey, on the morning of 4 August, 1894 there was exciting news. The four left-wing intellectual radicals present were: Beatrice and Sidney Webb, Graham Wallas, (of the London School Board) and George Bernard Shaw. Sidney told the breakfast group of a letter he had received the previous day from Henry Hunt Hutchinson, a Derby solicitor who left his estate, a sum of ten thousand pounds sterling, to be used by the Fabian Society for its purposes. It appears that Sidney Webb probably initiated the idea of a London Economics Research School, but had the sound practical support and advice of Shaw and later, the financial support of Shaw’s wife, Charlotte Frances Payne-Townshend, an Irishwoman from Derry, County Cork. This paper explores the social reconstructionist educational and social policies employed by both the Webbs and George Bernard Shaw in establishing the London School of Economics and Political Science as a force to research and solve fundamental social problems like poverty in the United Kingdom in the late Nineteenth Century. That schools might function as agencies for dealing with the reformation of socio-economic problems has been a prime tenet of reconstructionist educational theory . 2 Social reconstructionist thought as an educational policy emerged in the USA from the time of the Great Depression of the 1930’s until the Civil Rights period of the 1960’s and many see it as a pre-cursor to critical theory in education.
    [Show full text]
  • Biography of Eugene O'neill
    Biography of Eugene O’Neill Trevor M. Wise Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born on October 16, 1888, at the Barrett hotel in New York city, New York, son of James o’Neill, a well-known matinee idol, and Mary Ellen (Ella) Quinlan. Much of O’Neill’s youth was spent in the wings of the theater as he toured the country with his parents and older brother Jamie, watching his father perform his most famous role—the Count of Monte Cristo. When not touring the country with his family, O’Neill attended Catholic boarding school at St. Aloysius Academy at Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx borough of New York. he then spent four years at Betts Academy, a non-sectarian prep school in Stamford, Connecticut. O’Neill spent the summers with his family at the Monte Cristo Cottage in New London, Connecticut, the only permanent home O’Neill knew as a child. in 1903, at the age of fifteen, o’Neill became aware of his mother’s morphine addiction and was introduced to alcohol by his brother Jamie, setting him on a path of heavy drinking and alcohol abuse. in the fall of 1906, o’Neill enrolled in princeton University, only to be expelled in the following spring for his poor academic per- formance. in october 1909, o’Neill secretly married Kathleen Jenkins, his first of three wives. Shortly after the wedding, o’Neill set sail for honduras to prospect for gold, but found none. While abroad, O’Neill lived the life of a waterfront derelict, working odd jobs and drinking heavily, until he contracted malaria and was forced to return to the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Through the Looking-Glass. the Wooster Group's the Emperor Jones
    Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, nº 17 (2013) Seville, Spain. ISSN 1133-309-X, pp.61-80 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS. THE WOOSTER GROUP’S THE EMPEROR JONES (1993; 2006; 2009): REPRESENTATION AND TRANSGRESSION EMELINE JOUVE Toulouse II University; Champollion University. [email protected] Received April 26th, 2013 Accepted July 18th , 2013 KEYWORDS The Wooster Group; theatrical and social representation; boundaries of illusions; race and gender crossing; spectatorial empowerment. PALABRAS CLAVE The Wooster Group; representación teatral y social; fronteras de las ilusiones; cruzamiento racial y genérico; empoderamiento del espectador ABSTRACT In 1993, the iconoclastic American troupe, The Wooster Group, set out to explore the social issues inherent in O’Neill’s work and to shed light on their mechanisms by employing varying metatheatrical strategies. Starring Kate Valk as a blackfaced Brutus, The Wooster Group’s production transgresses all traditional artistic and social norms—including those of race and gender—in order to heighten the audience’s awareness of the artificiality both of the esthetic experience and of the actual social conventions it mimics. Transgression is closely linked to the notion of emancipation in The Wooster Group’s work. By crossing the boundaries of theatrical illusion, they display their eagerness to take over the playwright’s work in order to make it their own. This process of interpretative emancipation on the part of the troupe appears in its turn to be a source of empowerment for the members of the audience, who, because the distancing effects break the theatrical illusion, are invited to adopt an active writerly part in the creative process and thus to take on the responsibility of interpreting the work for themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • The Collective Unconscious in Eugene O`Neill`S Desire Under The
    Aleppo University Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of English The Collective Unconscious in Eugene O`Neill`s Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra and George Bernard Shaw`s Pygmalion and Man and Superman: A Comparative Study By Diana Dasouki Supervised by Prof. Dr. Iman Lababidi A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts In English Literature 2018 i Dasouki Declaration I hereby certify that this work, "The Collective Unconscious in Eugene O`Neill`s Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra and George Bernard Shaw`s Pygmalion and Man and Superman: A Comparative Study", has neither been accepted for any degree, nor is it submitted to any other degrees. Date: / / 2018 Candidate Diana Dasouki ii Dasouki Testimony I testify that the described work in this dissertation is the result of a scientific research conducted by the candidate Diana Dasouki under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Iman Lababidi, professor doctor at the Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Aleppo University. Any other references mentioned in this work are documented in the text of this dissertation. Date: / / 2018 Candidate Diana Dasouki iii Dasouki Abstract This dissertation explores the theory of the collective unconscious in Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra and George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and Man and Superman. The main objective is to study how the work of Jung has awakened interest in the unconscious and archetype psychology. The collective unconscious is a useful theory because studying literature, myth and religion through archetypes can reveal many deep and hidden meanings.
    [Show full text]
  • 6. Emperor Jones As Expressionist Drama
    EMPEROR JONES AS AN EXPRESSONIST DRAMA Vijayalakshmi Srinivas The Emperor Jones (written in 1920 and a great theatrical success) is about an American Negro, a Pullman porter who escapes to an island in the West Indies 'not self-determined by White Marines'. In two years, Jones makes himself 'Emperor' of the place. Luck has played a part and he has been quick to take advantage of it. A native tried to shoot Jones at point-blank range once, but the gun missed fire; thereupon Jones announced that he was protected by a charm and that only silver bullets could harm him. When the play begins, he has been Emperor long enough to amass a fortune by imposing heavy taxes on the islanders and carrying on all sorts of large-scale graft. Rebellion is brewing. The islanders are whipping up their courage to the fighting point by calling on the local gods and demons of the forest. From the deep of the jungle, the steady beat of a big drum sounded by them is heard, increasing its tempo towards the end of the play and showing the rebels' presence dreaded by the Emperor. It is the equivalent of the heart-beat which assumes a higher and higher pitch; while coming closer it denotes the premonition of approaching punishment and the climactic recoil of internal guilt of the black hero; he wanders and falters in the jungle, present throughout the play with its primeval terror and blackness. The play consists of a total of eight scenes arranged in hierarchical succession. The first and the last scenes are realistic in the manner of O'Neill's early plays.
    [Show full text]
  • O'neill and Nietzsche: the Making of a Playwright and Thinker
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1974 O'Neill and Nietzsche: The Making of a Playwright and Thinker Regina Fehrens Poulard Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Poulard, Regina Fehrens, "O'Neill and Nietzsche: The Making of a Playwright and Thinker" (1974). Dissertations. 1385. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/1385 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1974 Regina Fehrens Poulard 0 'NEILL AND NIEI'ZSCHE: THE MAKING OF A PI.A'YWRIG HT AJ.'JD THDl'KER by Regina Foulard A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 1974 ACKNOWLEIGMENTS I wish to thank the director of llzy" dissertation, Dr. Stanley Clayes, and llzy" readers, Dr. Rosemary Hartnett and Dr. Thomas Gorman, for their kind encouragement and generous help. ii PREFACE Almost all the biographers mention Nietzsche's and Strindberg's influence on O'Neill. However, surprisingly little has been done on Nietzsche and O'Neill. Besides a few articles which note but do not deal exhaustively with the importance of the German philosopher1 s ideas in the plays of O'Neill, there are two unpublished dissertations which explore Nietzsche's influence on O'Neill.
    [Show full text]
  • MGM Studio News (January 14, 1939)
    . STUDIO NEWS Eddie Cantor Signed by M-G-M Star in Big Musical Comedy 'PIP ID -J Sf g W To Eddie Cantor will return to the screen under the banner of Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer. A contract just signed assures exhibitors at least Published In the Interests of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Studios one big Cantor musical comedy during 1939 with the star of “Kid VOL. V—CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1939— No. 13 Boots,” “Whoopee,” “The Kid from Spain” and “Roman Scandals.” Although Cantor has not made a picture since “Ali Baba Goes to Town,” devoting Title Is Changed for all his time to radio, his activity on the New Nelson Eddy Film air has kept him closely associated with the As this issue of Studio News goes screen. to press, announcement is made His personal appear- that a new title has been chosen ances have been terrific for “Song of the West,’’ the Metro- successes in the Goldwyn-Mayer production star- and ring Nelson Eddy, with Virginia course of his radio work Bruce and Victor McLaglen. The he has constantly kept picture will be released as “The his audiences picture- Dusty Road.” minded with his screen discoveries. The latest is Cantor Terry Kilburn, the English boy actor who Wallace Beery scored in “Lord Jeff” and “Christmas Carol.” Cantor also was responsible to a Starts Work On great degree for the careers of Deanna Durbin and Bobby Breen. °Sergt. Madden' Detailed plans for Cantor’s first picture under his contract with M-G-M will be With “Stand Up and Fight” on its announced shortly.
    [Show full text]
  • Caroline-Study-Companion.Pdf
    The Jefferson Performing Arts Society Presents 1118 Clearview Parkway Metairie, LA 70001 504-885-2000 www.jpas.org 1 | P a g e Table of Contents Teacher’s Notes………………………..……………….………..……..3 Standards and Benchmarks…………………………....……….…..6 Background…………………………………….………….….……..……7 Family Portraits………………………………………..……….……..80 Children Who Changed the World, 1963…….………….…..101 Children Who Changed the World, 2017.……………….…..125 Reflections on Monuments…………….………….…..…………149 Monuments: Context and Creation……………….……………167 Set Design, Area, Perimeter and Circumference….………179 Additional Resources……………………………….…..….……...213 2 | P a g e Teacher’s Notes Book and Lyrics by Tony Kushner Music by Jeanine Tesori Produced in collaboration with the Loyola University Department of Theatre Arts Directed by Dr. Laura Hope Musical Director Donna Clavijo Set in 1963 Louisiana, a provocative story of political change, social change… and pocket change. In 1963, the Gellman family and their African-American maid, Caroline Thibodeaux, live in sleepy Lake Charles, Louisiana. Caroline is drifting through life as a single mother of four working in a service job to a white family. A fragile, yet beautiful friendship develops between the young Gellman son, Noah, and Caroline. Noah’s stepmother, Rose, unable to give Caroline a raise, tells Caroline that she may keep the money that Noah leaves in his pockets. Caroline balks and refuses to take money from a child but her own children desperately need food, clothing and shoes. Outside of the laundry room, some of the greatest social advancements that the country has seen are being set in motion, and change is knocking on the door. “Caroline or Change” offers opportunities for connection. Two Louisiana families, the Gellman family and the Thibodeaux family are the “Everyman,” average, ordinary people moving through the day-to-day moments of their lives.
    [Show full text]
  • The Influence of Psychoanalysis Theory on Eugene O'neill
    IRWLE Vol. 9 No. II July 2013 1 The Influence of Psychoanalysis Theory on Eugene O’Neill Sabareen Fathima "Eugene O’Neill is one - and the most important one - of the dramatists who have made present - day tragedy possible. Without him contemporary tragedy would be virtually abandoned, deprived of force and impetus, of polemic discussions and models of realities"(Alfonso 98). In the shadow of O’Neill, tragedy had a stronghold despite the repressive presence of apathetic and phlegmatic society. Sastre Alphonso iterates that"iIn the shadow of Eugene O’Neill, it is possible to write a tragedy in today's world (98). Though born into an Irish Catholic family, O’Neill (1888-1953) grew up in a world of unsolicited free will, courtesy his parents who extensively travelled, emanating a sense of solitude within the child, who every time craved for his mother's affection. He was then sent to an ascetic world, where children were rigorously governed by nuns and priests. The sense of intimacy towards his family, lead to cultivate a tendency within O’Neill, that was ought to be subjective and idiosyncratic. Black is very frank about the fact that though "Unconformity seemed to hold Eugene back, nevertheless, it was always tolerated. Long before he could have known in any disciplined way what knowledge is, he had the cast of mind that might suit a future psychoanalyst or a philosophical skeptic or a poet." (60) The larger themes of O'Neill's work, their intensity and robustness, find magnificent reflection in the architectonic and well-pitched anatomy of his dramas.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rhetorical Analysis of Eugene O'neill's Strange Interlude
    This dissertation has been 61-4507 microfilmed exactly as received WINCHESTER, Otis William, 1933- A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF EUGENE O'NEILL'S STRANGE INTERLUDE. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1961 Speech-Theater University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF EUGENE O'NEILL'S STRANGE INTERLUDE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE ŒADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY OTIS WILLIAM WINCHESTER Tulsa, Oklahoma 1961 A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF EUGENE O'NEILL'S STRANGE INTERLUDE APPROVEDB^ DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PREFACE Rhetoric, a philosophy of discourse and a body of theory for the management of special types of discourse, has been variously defined. Basic to any valid definition is the concept of persuasion. The descrip­ tion of persuasive techniques and evaluation of their effectiveness is the province of rhetorical criticism. Drama is, in part at least, a rhe­ torical enterprise. Chapter I of this study establishes a theoretical basis for the rhetorical analysis of drama. The central chapters con­ sider Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude in light of the rhetorical im­ plications of intent, content, and form. Chapter II deals principally with O'Neill's status as a rhetor. It asks, what are the evidences of a rhetorical purpose in his life and plays? Why is Strange Interlude an especially significant example of O'Neill's rhetoric? The intellectual content of Strange Interlude is the matter of Chapter III. What ideas does the play contain? To what extent is the play a transcript of con­ temporary thought? Could it have potentially influenced the times? Chapter IV is concerned with the specific manner in which Strange Interlude was used as a vehicle for the ideas.
    [Show full text]