A Study Of Ecological Awareness Of Eugene O’Neiil In The Hairy Ape

Eugene O’Neill is regarded as one of the greatest dramatists in the history of Americandrama. Through his lifetime, he has received four Pulitzer Prizes and was once awarded theNobel Prize for Literature in1936. With his unique style and artistic techniques, his plays enjoya world-wide reputation and above all have a profound social and ecological significance.The Hairy Ape is a representative work of Eugene O’Neill. The play was created in his earlyyears when the world order was smashed because of the1stworld war. The US was entering fromdemocratic capitalism into monopoly capitalism and with the advancement of science andtechnology and the extension of the production scale, guided by unreasonable values ofanthropocentrism and consumerism, the balance of ecological system is disturbed and humanbeings are confronted with the existence crisis. As a serious dramatist, O’Neill regards it his dutyto reflect all these natural and social problems, so his plays are full of his ecological awareness.In addition to this, his early sea experiences and the impact of Chinese Taoism also contribute tohis ecological awareness.From the perspective of ecocriticism, this thesis aims to dig out O’Neill’s ecologicalawareness. In this play, O’Neill attacks on science and technology, displaying alienatedrelationship existing between machines and workers; negates human’s unreasonable value ofconsumption—which leads to the swelling of man’s desires and brings about the infiniteconsumption of natural resources as well as the destruction of ecological system. In addition,through the portrayal of Yank, O’Neill also reveals modern men’s spiritual dilemma: the lost ofidentity and the quest for belonging. His concerning for man’s spiritual world also constitutes animportant aspect of O’Neill’s ecological awareness. Based on those issues revealed in this play,the author has an in-depth reflection and further explores O’Neill’s ecological awareness. Thisthesis can be divided into seven parts.Chapter One is mainly about Eugene O’Neill’s life experiences and his artistic achievementsin the field of play. Besides it also probes into the formation of O’Neill’s ecological awareness.Chapter Two can be divided into two parts. The first part reviews the researches about TheHairy Ape at home and abroad. The second part surveys the development of ecocriticism andalso some relevant ecological awareness.Chapter Three focuses on O’Neill’s reflection on science and technology—the trigger andthe impulse of the industrialization. In The Hairy Ape, O’Neill vividly demonstrates theconsequences of the industrialization.Chapter Four displays O’Neill’s ecological awareness through his criticism of consumerism.Chapter Five discusses the anthropocentrism reflected in The Hairy Ape. The contamination of the environment and the maltreatment of animals are two manifestations of anthropocentrism.Chapter Six shows O’Neill’s concerns for men’s spiritual ecology. Spiritual ecology is alsoan important aspect constituting O’Neill’s ecological awareness.Chapter Seven is a conclusion which summarizes the main content of this thesis. Theexploration of O’Neill’s ecological awareness is of great value for human beings to reflect theiractivities.