A Study Of "Escaper" In Eugene O'Neill's Plays

As one of the most famous playwrights in the 20th century of America, Eugene O'Neill is regarded as "the Father of modern American drama". O'Neill is the first significant person, who creates the play with a wide range of subjects..He not only makes a great contribution to American drama, but also wins a great honor for himself. O'Neill is so far the only American playwright to win the Nobel Prize for literature and the only dramatist to win four Pulitzer Prizes in the United States. O'Neill is also a productive playwright. He completed almost 50 plays in his art life, the theme of which involves society, family life, and human nature and so on. The common feature of O'Neill's plays is that he digs the roots of American society and exposes the sickness of it. Critics think his plays have an important social significance and they pay more attention to his works.This study is based on the theory of existential philosophy and tries to analyze the "escaper" in O'Neill's plays. There are a lot of escapers in O'Neill's works. The suffering of life makes them numb and irresponsible. They escape and are reluctant to face reality. It is well known that O'Neill is also an escaper in life. He broke off the relations with the outside world at his old age. The writer thinks that there are certain relations among many escapers appearing in O'Neill's plays and his self-closing in life. Based on O'Neill's life experience, the author try to make a thorough investigation on "escaper" in his five plays, including: Beyond the Horizon, Desire Under the Elms, The Hairy Ape, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey into Night.The thesis is composed of five parts.Chapter One is the introduction, which first gives the literature review of Eugene O'Neill study. It includes the current research of Eugene O'Neill at home and abroad. Secondly, it introduces the great influence of existential philosophy to Eugene O'Neill and his works.Chapter Two analyzes the elements influencing O'Neill's escape vision and his plays of different period. Chapter Three focuses on the analysis of "escaper" in O'Neill'plays. It discusses from three aspects:the characterization of "escaper", the reasons of their escape, the result of their escape.Chapter Four analyzes the "escaper" and modern people. Escapers live in an absurd world, while modern people live in a pressure world. Their living situation has similarity, but they adopt different saving ways:escape and face.Chapter Five is the conclusion of the thesis.