A Study Of The Narrative And Structural Functions In Mourning Becomes Electra

Today Eugene O’Neill is generally acknowledged as the father of Americanmodern drama. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in1936mostly for his playMourning Becomes Electra, which is a trilogy written during his middle period. Of all hisplays, Eugene O’Neill considers Mourning Becomes Electra as his most successful one.This thesis analyzes the narration of Mourning Becomes Electra and explores thestructural functions in this play.The thesis firstly introduces Eugene O’Neill and his Mourning Becomes Electra,then reviews the studies on Mourning Becomes Electra and states the synopsis of thisthesis. Chapter One analyzes the narrative pattern and structure of Mourning BecomesElectra. Chapter Two explores the function of duplicate narration which renders theunderlying structure and the theme more apparent. Based on the narrative analysis, thethesis studies the binary oppositions in the text, explores the theme of this tragedy as anexistential tragedy, and unfolds the existential predicament of the individual. Through theanalysis of binary oppositions in the text, this thesis concludes that the underlyingopposition in this play is between the bondage of society and people’s desire for freedom.Though there are defects in structuralism itself, it still offers a helpful insight forreading classics. The author hopes, through close reading of the text and the structuralreinterpretation of Mourning Becomes Electra, to explore the profoundity of classicworks.