Eugene O'Neill's Inheritance Of And Transcendence Over The Greek Tragedy

American theatre experienced the most dynamic period from the end of World War I to the onset of the Great Depression. The mounting prosperity and a burgeoning urban, middle-class population stimulated the expansion of theatrical entertainment. Competition sparked by demand and the openness to invention and change forced the theatrical establishments to resort to innovative approaches for audiences and critical attention. Broadway, driven primarily by commercial, cared more about profit rather than artistic interests. Playwrights indulged in conducting fussy melodramas to satisfy audiences' senses. Criticism argued that the trend towards commercialism did little to elevate theatrical tastes and it was then impossible for American theatre to present plays comparable to those in Europe. Although popular entertainment held sway, a few plays of dramatic merits managed to draw audiences. Theatrical criticism in New York which was dominated by those who generally presented a traditional and conservational point-of-view at the turn of the century was handed to those critics who were generally receptive to theatrical experimentation and modernist thought by the early 1920s. The tension between the forces of tradition and those of change provided a perfect chance for Eugene O'Neill, who combined the tradition with modern thought successfully and made himself the greatest dramatist in American literature.Eugene O'Neill had an indissoluble bound to Greek tragedy and he claimed by himself the influence of Greek tragedy on him. O'Neill considered Greek tragedy the unsurpassed example of art and religion and he set it a goal himself to recreate Greek spirit in his own plays. As an inexhaustible origin, Greek tragedy inspired O'Neill in different respects as theme, style and artistic form. What's worth mentioning is that Eugene O'Neill, while absorbing and inheriting the attic spirit of Greek tragedy, endeavored to create of his own. To address the topic, this essay analyzes the ways in which O'Neill's creation was influenced by Greek tragedy and how Eugene O'Neill inherited and developed Greek tragedy.O'Neill's inheritance of Greek tragedy was first manifested in the theme of fate. O'Neill accepts the belief that man is dominated by his fate which is unavoidable and protagonists in his plays are, like those Greek tragedies, teased by their destiny and have no way out.O'Neill also borrowed plot from Greek tragedy. He applied tragic patterns of Greek tragedy to mirror modern life and combined Greek myths and modern American myths to explore human issues. Mourning Becomes Electra resembles Electra remarkable in clues and details. O'Neill criticized the Puritanism in America by representing the Greek story against the background of New England after the Civil War.O'Neill has also followed the ancient Greek tragedy in the artistic form and the creation technique. O'Neill developed Long Day's Journey into Night in the retrospective way with reference to the same structure of Oedipus. The play develops around the Tyrones' seeking reasons for their suffering. They let themselves immerse in complaint, resentment and remorse. They cannot get rid of the memory of the pass, which adds to their present suffering.O'Neill devoted to the dramatic innovation. He introduced into his plays interior monologue, mask and chorus. The utilization of mask and chorus, which was enlightened by Greek tragedy, enabled O'Neill's plays to possess an attic spirit.Nevertheless, O'Neill was not merely an imitator. While keeping the spirit of Greek tragedy, he assimilated the new development of his age to bring modern sense to his plays. He experimented into his plays expressionism, symbolism, stream of consciousness and psychological analysis. To some extent, he transcended Greek tragedy.As to the excavation of theme, O'Neill maintained that tragic causes are from internal rather than external. O'Neill devoted all his life to explore the "force behind the life" and he found that tragedy is caused by a fundamental conflict between the individual struggle for freedom from restraint and the suppression of these drives from society. So, O'Neill's tragedy is of psychological, biological and sociological significance.Protagonists in Greek tragedy are either gods from myth or those of noble birth, while O'Neill's heroes are common people such as sailors, prostitutes, poets and derelicts. Another factor that separates protagonists in Greek tragedy from those in O'Neill's is that motives and conduction of Greek tragic heroes conjure up the image of loftiness while O'Neill's heroes are vulgar zilches struggling for survival. However, the tragic fate of those common people is more shocking for they belong to audiences and we are watching our own tragedy. To plot great importance is attached by Greek tragedy. Eugene O'Neill, however, resorted more to internal world description. He broke through traditional realism by the utilization of psychological activity such as interior monologue.O'Neill's application of masks shifts from the purpose of denoting personality of character and creating ceremonial atmosphere to the emphasis on the relation between masks and the inner world of characters they present. Chorus doesn't merely function as a narrator of the story but a participant of the tragic events and even serves as the social background the tragedy set against.O'Neill was also indebted to Bernard Shaw and oriental philosophy in his efforts of tragic innovation. Purposed "repetition" and "circulative regression" are practiced to express his tragic philosophy: tragedy repeats itself in endless cycles and we can do nothing about it.Eugene O'Neill presented a panorama of modern America with his tragic talent. He inherited and developed Greek tragedy and to some extent transcended it and therefore made an incomparable contribution to the revival of American drama.