An Interpretation Of The Carnivalistic Features In The Iceman Cometh

Eugene Gladstone O’Neill (1888—1953) was the leading playwright in Americaduring the first half of the20th century. As a forerunner of modern drama, he playedan important role in leading the American theater to the world stage, and wasregarded as “Father of Modern American Drama”. During his entire artistic career, hecompleted more than50plays. His plays probe into the inner world of modern men,depict the real life of the twentieth century America and reflect the universal concernsof human beings, and thus lay the solid foundation of modern American drama.As one of his important late masterpieces, The Iceman Cometh is considered byO’Neill himself as perhaps “the best” of all his plays so far and hence it has caughtmuch critical attention at home and abroad. Scholars have studied this play fromdifferent angles, including its themes, characterization, dramaturgy, genre forms andsocial significance. The diverse critical approaches and multiple research perspectivesreflect the openness of the carnivalized literature. However, most studies focus on thetragic elements such as the serious and gloomy overtone in this play; therefore,digging into the carnival elements that permeate in it will prove to be a new point ofview. This thesis presents a new interpretation of The Iceman Cometh in the light ofBakhtin’s poetics of carnivalization, so as to explore the profound meaning of theplay for the readers.Besides the introduction and conclusion, this thesis is divided into four chapters:The Introduction mainly includes a brief introduction to Eugene O’Neill and hisworks, the literature review on The Iceman Cometh, the general introduction to theresearch purpose and layout of the present thesis, as well as the primary carnivalisticfeatures of Bakhtin’s theory.Chapter One focuses on the carnival square in the play. Harry Hope’s saloon andits backroom are the places tinted with carnivalistic color, serving as the carnivalsquare in a sense. A group of carnival collective on the carnival square is vividlyportrayed; they laugh and joke with each other, get rid of the normal rut of life, and deviate from the accepted norms. The play is full of square languages such as vulgarslangs, witticism, and epithets, intimate and obscene messages, even swearing andcursing. Dualistic feature of carnival speech is manifested in its praise that combinedwith contempt; this feature directly reflects the unofficial characteristics of thecarnival square, which is in sharp contrast with the single truth and seriousness inofficial world. The carnival collective is leading “a life outside of life” on the carnivalsquare.Chapter Two explores the carnival rituals in the plot composition of the play.During the symbolic ritual of crowning and decrowning of the carnival king Hickey,Hickey has experienced a dramatic change in his fate within a short period, creating acarnival atmosphere. Everything is undergoing changes and shifts, destruction iscombined with reconstruction, and birth is accompanied with death. This relativity ofchanges and shifts is the very core of the carnival sense of the world.Chapter Three makes a thorough analysis of the carnivalistic characters in theplay. This chapter elaborates on two protagonists with the ambivalent carnivalisticcharacteristics, Hickey and Larry, aiming to reveal the Janus-faced image of thecarnival characters. Hickey is trapped in the ambivalent love and hate towards hiswife Evelyn, as well as the conflicting unconsciousness between the preachment ofpeace-achieving salvation and his own restlessness. Larry is struggling in theHamlet-like dilemma of “to be or not to be”, and to be positive or negative, swayingbetween two poles of philosophical detachment in the grandstand and the empatheticinvolvement with earthly affairs. Both Hickey and Larry are lost in the thick fog oftheir ambivalent carnivalistic characteristics.Chapter Four analyzes the spirit of subversion running throughout the wholeplay, mainly manifested in the sarcasm and parody of religion and society. Puritanismand Christian sermonizing that stifle people’s thought are satirized and parodied bythe characters in this play; the orthodox image of the official world is subvertedthrough the mocking of the Anarchist movement, the military heroism, the politicaland legal realms, as well as the social status. The spirit of subversion displays thecarnival sense of the world to its fullest.The conclusion sums up the major arguments of the whole thesis, and affirms the carnivalistic nature and artistic value of The Iceman Cometh. This is a novelized playpermeated with an atmosphere of carnival. The typical people symbolize the humanbeings on the whole. Beneath the carnival life exist profound meaning of life, andO’Neill’s deep concern about the modern men’s predicament. On the surface, the playconveys a negative atmosphere of defeat and frustration. However, it is thecarnivalistic overtone in the work that repels the seemingly serious and gloomyatmosphere, and the unrestrained carnival life of the denizens has demonstrated thatconsolation and mutual support, as well as the pipedreams are indispensable formodern men in plight to continue their life.