On The Formation And Development Of Eugene O' Neill's Tragic Thought

Eugene O'Neill is regarded as the founder of American modern tragedy in 20th century, whose tragic thought has been a long-concerned topic by many critics. This paper illustrates the formation and development of O'Neill's tragic thought.O'Neill's tragedy roots in the capitalist social-cultural reality of belief breaking, inherits the great traditions from ancient Greek tragedy to Shakespeare's and absorbs the nutrition of western modern philosophy and psychology. Besides, O'Neill's family tragedy and personal suffering also influence his tragic thought.The discussion of the thesis is based on Aristotle's Poetics. Through careful comparison of O'Neill's tragedy with the two traditions of western tragedy from four aspects: tragic character, tragic plot, tragic effect and tragic cause, the thesis points out that O'Neill's tragedy presents the conspicuous characteristics of western modern tragedy. Knowing the formation and development of O'Neill's tragic thought would benefit readers for their understanding the connotation of all O'Neill's plays.Finally, the thesis concludes that influenced by many factors, O'Neill's tragic thought has experienced a developing process instead of forming a static mode. O'Neill has neglected many rules and regulations inherited from traditional interpretations of Aristotle's Poetics and his tragedies embody the features of western modern tragedy which are different from those of the two traditions of western tragedy.