The Development Of Taoism In Eugene O’Neil’s Plays

Eugene O’Neil has long been crowned as " The Father of American Drama." His plays not only reveal the inner world of the modern generation in America, and also reflect the core values of the American people as well as their living status. After stepping into the 20th century, the industrial development of the Western Capitalism contributes to the immense material prosperity and in the mean time brings the spiritual crisis. Thus, many well-learned scholars casted their eyes on the remote oriental world in the hope of drawing inspiration and even find a way to cure the social crisis in the West. O’Neil is such a representative, he perused the translated version of the cannons from the Oriental Buddhism, Hinduism as well as the Taoism, and made efforts to apply what he absorbed in his own playwriting process. As a result, the oriental philosophical elements can be seen in his plays frequently. Among which Taoist elements are the most distinct. This is also proved by his own acknowledgement of being influenced mostly by Taoism rather than other oriental philosophies. In a way, O’Neil’s plays can be regarded as textual carriers of the integration of the Western and Eastern wisdoms. His works display both the communication and the conflicts between the East and the West. In the setting of the accelerating globalization trend, the conflicts and communication between the East and the West are becoming more and more frequent, in this regard, it’s of vital and realistic importance that we should further study the oriental elements in O’Neil’s works, which can not only offer us a new perspective to conduct further researches on O’Neil but also enables us to realize the unique values and importance that the Oriental cultures bear for social development. Many scholars home and broad have carried out research and studies on O’Neil’s Taoism, however, the comprehensive studies of the combination of O’Neil and Taoism are rarely touched upon. This is due to the profoundness and extensiveness of Taoism, besides, the richness and depth of O’Neil’s own works also add to the difficulties. This thesis is intended to get a thread out of the general trend of how O’Neil’s Taoism gradually evolve during his different playwriting periods after fully and systematically sorting out the important subject of O’Neil and Taoism.This thesis consists of five chapters, starting with an introduction. In Chapter One we will discuss the affinities O’Neil had for Taoism. Chapter Two, Three and Four are the major body of this thesis, selecting and analyzing some of his tour-de-force from his public-recognized three writing periods:the early period(1913 -1921), the middle period (1921-1933), and the late period(1937-1953)Chapter Two will interpret O’Neil’s Taoism by analyzing three of his early sea plays Beyond the Horizon, Anna Christie and The Hairy Ape. The Taoism in these plays is on its embryo stage and often so indefinite and vague that it can also be interpreted by Christianity perspective.The following chapter aims to lay emphasis on the three plays Marco Million, The Fountain, Mourning Becomes Electra, and Desire Under the Elms during his middle period when his mind was going through a Taoist transition. During this time, with his constant and systematical perusal of the Taoist Cannons, the Taoism in his works gradually grows to be definite. Besides, the techniques that he employed Taoism in his creation was improving step by step.The Fourth chapter will mainly discuss on two of his most prominent Tao House plays such as The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey Into the Night. During this timespan, O’Neil’s playwriting techniques returned to the simplicity of realism after inexhaustible trials of experimental devices. His early pompous forms obtained by using a series of dazzling experimental devices finally gave way to the self-alluring depth of the contents of his late plays, which proves the ripeness of his Taoism.The thesis ends with the fifth Chapter as a conclusion of summarizing the gradual development of his Taoism manifested in his works, which can be divided into three steps: the embryo in the early period, the evolution in the middle period and the ripeness in the late period.