Long Day’s Journey Into Forgiveness: Eugene O’Neill’s Traumatic Memory And Changing Attitudes Towards Females

Since the1920s, American drama has begun to boom with the most prominent nativeplaywright Eugene O’Neill. For a long time, O’Neill study, both home and abroad, hasbeen in the ascendant. O’Neill portrayed many suffering tragic heroes in his plays,including all kinds of female tragic characters: mother, wife, and daughter, etc. Somecritics regarded O’Neill as a misogynist, but actually this is a misunderstanding of O’Neill.On the basis of close reading of Beyond the Horizon, Strange Interlude and LongDay’s Journey into Night, the female characters Ruth, Nina and Mary are analyzed toexplore O’Neill’s changing attitudes towards females. And the thesis aims to find out thereasons behind the changes from the perspective of trauma, based on O’Neill’s personalexperiences and traumatic memories.The thesis consists of five chapters:Chapter One gives a general introduction to Eugene O’Neill and trauma theory, thenthe literary reception of O’Neill both at home and abroad especially in the light offeminism is clearly illustrated as well as the purpose of the thesis. Chapter Two introducesO’Neill’s early life and analyzes the influence of traumatic memory on the composition ofthe female character Ruth in Beyond the Horizon. Chapter Three goes on with O’Neill’slonging for love and final release in middle life. With the forgiveness and understanding ofhis mother, O’Neill portrayed the both incompetent and dauntless Nina, at the same time,benevolent and destructive, which made a close and rational analysis of the diversity andinner petitions of females. Chapter Four focuses on O’Neill’s brave confrontation with thepast and Mary’s desperate and helpless revolt against the patriarchal society. Chapter Fiveconcludes traumatic memories were like knots in O’Neill’s stomach and if he didn’t speakout, he might feel suffocated. Thus, O’Neill expressed his feelings and emotions forfemales in the form of tragedy. Playwriting, for O’Neill, is not only the outcome of his trauma, but also the tool to heal wounded hearts. Although most of the plays by O’Neill aretragedies, he is still a charitable humanist who has a zest for life and sympathy for woman.