The Intangible Power

Strange Interlude is a famous female psychological play by "Father of Modern American Drama" Eugene O’Neill. The play is a female tragedy represented by Nina. It was completed in1927and had its premiere in New York City the next year, which not only brought O’Neill enormous economic profit but also won him the third Pulitzer Prize for drama.In the play, the heroine Nina was healthy and lively at first, but suddenly becomes rebellious, obstinate and wayward as a result of her sweetheart Gordon’s death in the war. She takes full advantage of her own charm and body and succeeds in taking dominance of the men around her through crazy tactics, but all these men leave her one by one in the end.Throughout the play, Gordon has not appeared on the stage, but he is the motivation of Nina’s deeds,"the power behind the life". Both Nina and the other characters, including the readers and audiences could have a sharp sense of the off-stage character’s presence on the stage ever and again. This effect attributes to the playwright’s deep understanding of the modern psychology and accurate management of the characters’minds. Meanwhile, it aims to make the modern people beware of the fact that there is unharmonious undercurrent below the seemingly calm surging in human society. Although the undercurrent is silent, it accumulates tremendous energy and unstable factors. The thoughts of male domination have been rooted in all aspects of the society: Whether the male are present or not, they make the female, the second sex, feel frightened."The Law of Father" forces women to act in accordance with the male’s will in their hearts. Oppression will incur resistance from the oppressed, but the women like Nina will never jump out of the patriarchal ideology by all possible means. This kind of revolt determines that the resistance is not complete and is doomed to fail. The tragic end of the play demonstrates that there is only one way out for women, that is, they should set up a kind of relationship of interdependence, mutual understanding and mutual love with men while maintaining the intrinsic value of the female.Based on the Feminist perspectives, this thesis intends to analyze the off-stage character’s influence on the characters on the stage, especially Nina, and the enormous power behind him. The thesis falls into six parts:Introduction, four chapters and Conclusion.The Introduction briefly introduces the life of Eugene O’Neill and the plot of Strange Interlude, summarizes the study of domestic and foreign researches on this play, and then points out the research purpose of the thesis.Chapter One concentrates on how Gordon becomes the off-stage character and his influence on Nina. Before his departure for the front, Gordon and Nina had a deep affection for each other, which became the envy of others. After Gordon’s death, Nina’s behaviors become eccentric suddenly. She has become quite a different person, which not only makes the other characters in the play puzzled about her great changes, but also makes readers and audiences feel surprised. This functions as a tactful suspense in the play.Chapter Two illustrates the intangible presence of the off-stage character Gordon in the play. Although Gordon was killed in the battle before the play begins, his influence persists, which pushes Nina to make a series of crazy decisions: rebellion against her father, sacrifice to the wounded soldiers, manipulation of the men around her, naming her son after Gordon. In addition, the other characters in the play have a keen feeling of Gordon’s existence in spite of his death.Chapter Three analyzes the power behind Gordon. Despite of his physical absence in the play, Gordon exerts considerable influence on the on-stage characters. There must be some reasons for it. In this play, Gordon is no longer a single man, but becomes a symbol that stands for the patriarchal ideas in human beings’ subconsciousness. It is the real forces that have a profound influence on the characters in the play.Chapter Four studies the way out for the women represented by Nina in the patriarchal society. Faced with the all-mighty force, she has no choice but to abandon the male-centered thoughts, regain her ego and respect on her own, which is the only way for her liberation.The last part, Conclusion, points out the importance of gender equality on the basis of summarizing the whole thesis. In reality, many social problems result from gender inequality and, therefore, men and women need to work together in order to achieve gender equality, eliminating the inharmonious elements in modern society.