Struggle And Frustration: Body Narrative Of Female Characters In Eugene O'Neill's Six Plays

Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) is regarded as the "father of the modern American drama" in the early 20th century of American history. He led the American drama out of the stage of mainly dramas and began to gain attention from the world.His plays show us the suffering and torture of female characters in American society. This thesis is mainly about the analysis of the female characters in O'Neill's six plays: Beyond the Horizon, Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, Mourning Becomes Electra, Long Day s Journey into Night, and A Moon for the Misbegotten which are from the different periods in O'Neill's plays. So the general idea of body narrative of female characters in his plays can be attained easily after analyzing these six plays.The embodiment of her female characters and basic instincts that derive from the body can be easily found in most of O'Neill's plays. However few people pay attention to the meaning of the body from the social and cultural aspects, especially from the angle of the body self. This thesis provides detailed discussion of O'Neill's six plays and employs theoretical approaches which give special attention to these three kinds of female characters'body. They are the struggling body, the frustrated body and the reborn body.In the introduction, after doing literature review on research about female characters in his plays not only abroad but also at home, it is known that no one finds the body narrative in O'Neill's plays. The body research in his plays reveals that he is a writer of narrating the body. The introduction reveals the process of the argument.Chapter one is O'Neill's understanding of females which are influenced by three aspects:the personal experience, the religious impact and the other playwrights. Chapter two focuses on the struggling body of female characters, which is demonstrated by the body, and emerged in various aspects:the body as a rebelling "weapon", the prostitute's body and the Madonna's body. By doing this, it is known that female characters in O'Neill plays fiercely attack the traditional morals and patriarchal ethics. The third chapter affirms his idea about the frustrated body of female characters. Based on the correlated social background of his time, this part focuses on the three aspects:the imprisoned body, the disciplined body and the injured body. They are the different forms of the frustrated body. It is contended that his notion the human body is hurt by the traditional society and patriarchy. Chapter four is engaged in the reborn body. There are two ways to rebirth:from the sea and from the love of being mothers. The reborn body gives females hope to live in the oppressed society.The conclusion sums up the characteristics of body narrative to illustrate O'Neill's usage of "the body" as the symbols of both struggle and frustration. His exposure of the female characters'bodies shows females'oppression from the traditional rules and patriarchal society. At the same time, O'Neill positively interprets the rebirth of female characters on body and gives hope to women.