A Study Of The Female Image In Eugene O’Neill’s Plays

Eugene O’Neill is one of the most representative American dramatists in the first half of the 20 th Century,and he is the only dramatist to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.His writing career can be divided into three periods: early,middle and late.In these plays,he shaped lots of female images with distinct personality and unique temperament.During the road to adulthood,the female images under his pen becomes more and more important.They promoted the plot and influenced the fate of themselves and other characters.As a male writer,O’Neill has a unique perspective to shaping the female image.Starting from O’Neill’s representative plays,this essay analyzes the characteristics of female images in his plays in different periods and in the background of the times and female movements.From the perspective of playwright theory,this essay explores the subjective and objective reasons for shaping images.From the point of view of playwright theory,this essay probes into the subjective and objective reasons about the writer’s image-building.The birth of female images in O’Neill’s plays is influenced by their physiology,psychology and social culture.Their images are vivid and stereoscopic,and they can be seen in real life,other literary and psychological models.By analyzing the differences between men and women in the physiology and social culture,this essay explores gender differences in O’Neill’s plays.And we will compare and analyze the plays of writers with similar styles and times,and find the similarities and differences of their female images.