An Eco-criticism Approach To The Tragic Theme Of The Hairy Ape

Eugene O’Neill is one of the greatest American dramatists who won the Nobel Prizefor the Literature and four Pulitzer Prizes. The Hairy Ape is one of Eugene O’Neill’srepresentative works. It was created in his early years and told a story of Yank, astoker on a liner, about his painful experience of seeking his social identity. The playwas created when the US was entering into monopoly capitalism with thedevelopment of science and technology, the balance of ecological system wasdisturbed and human beings were confronted with the existence crisis. Therefore, thisplay has a profound social and ecological significance.In recent years, most scholars study this play from the application of expressionism,image, theme of belonging and so on, but this thesis tries to analyze the the tragictheme of the play with an eco-criticism approach, to explore the deep significance ofthe harmonious relationships among human beings, the society and the nature. Thisthesis will interpret the tragedy of natural ecology, social ecology and humanspiritual ecology in The Hairy Ape. Through the analysis of the severe consequencesof anthropocentrism, the author of the thesis displays the tragedies of environmentpollution, the maltreatment of animals that happen in natural ecology. This thesis alsoreveals human’s expansion of desire and the detriment of social justice through thedescription of the alienated society and alienated human beings in The Hairy Ape.Moreover, tragedies of human’s spiritual world are also an inseparable part in thetragic theme of the play.Based on those issues revealed in this play, the author of the thesis has an in-depthreflection of the tragedies depicted in The Hairy Ape from the perspective ofeco-criticism. The purpose of this thesis is to study the play from a new point of viewand explore the modern significance of the harmonious relationships amongecological systems.