The Return Of The Great Soul

Eugene O'Neill is the greatest playwright in modern America, and his plays explore the inner world of modern men and represent the life and spirit of America in the 20th century. He led the modern U.S theater into the mainstream of the world drama and was the father of American drama. American critic Carpenter thinks that Orientalism is one of the most important and distinctive aspects of O'Neill's art. Among the Oriental thoughts, Chinese Taoist influence on him was profoundest and lasting. This thesis studies on O'Neill and Taoism systematically and extensively. By reading the representative plays in his different creative periods, it analyzes the general trend of O'Neill's Taoist ideas. It puts forward and proves that the Tao of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu is O'Neill's lifelong quest and the "behind-life force" in his plays. The Tao is the ultimate pursuit of O'Neill's attitude towards life, way of life and faith.The thesis is divided into four chapters besides introduction and conclusion. It analyzes the texts of the twelve plays written by O'Neill in his three creative periods. On a horizontal level, each play represents the Taoist influence on O'Neill. On a vertical level, his near-thirty-years creative career reflects the development of his Taoism. The analysis of four representative plays in each period proves the development of O'Neill's Taoism systematically.Introduction is about O'Neill's life, artistic achievement and close contact with Chinese Taoism. It discusses its research value and the critical tendency athome and abroad. It points out the theme of the thesis—the Tao is O'Neill's ultimate pursuit.Chapter One is the extrinsic research of O'Neill and Taoism and falls into two sections. Section One discusses O'Neill's affinities with Taoism. Section Two is about the wisdom of Taoism on the philosophical level and it focuses on the Taoist cores of "the Tao", "Yin and Yang", "Cycle", "Returning to the root", "Tranquility", "Non-action" and "Butterfly dream".The body of the thesis is from Chapter Two to Chapter Four. It is the intrinsic research on O'Neill's Taoist influence. These three chapters are the textual analysis of the representative plays in O'Neill's three creative periods respectively.Chapter Two is the reading of the four sea plays Beyond the Horizon, "Anna Christie", The Emperor Jones and The Fountain in his early period (1913-1924). O'Neill learns the Oriental thoughts from the Western thinkers indirectly and the sea plays give the hints of the Taoist ideas.Chapter Three is the analysis of the Taoist ideas in the plays Marco Millions, Lazarus Laughed, Strange Interlude, and Mourning Becomes Electra in his middle period (1925-1935). O'Neill's Taoism developed gradually in this period.Chapter Four is the analysis of the four Tao House plays The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey into Night, Hughie and A Moon for the Misbegotten in his late period (1935-1943). It proves that the Tao is O'Neill's ultimate pursuit of his art.Conclusion generalizes the tendency of O'Neill's Taoist influence in his whole creative career. O'Neill's Taoist concepts developed from "Cycle" in his sea plays to "Return" in his middle plays then to "Non-action" in his Tao House plays. Then it discusses O'Neill's Taoist idea of "Returning to the root" from his writing technique, theme and life. It points out that Taoism is the faith which he sought toreplace his lost Catholicism. The Tao is the medicine to cure modern Western spiritlessness. The title of the thesis highlights the theme that the life of O'Neill is a process of the return and transcendence. The Tao is the ultimate pursuit of O'Neill, the great soul in American and world drama.