A Study On The Relationship Between The Self And The Other In Eugene O’Neill’s Late Plays

Eugene Gladstone O’Neill(1888-1953)is a famous American playwright.His late plays are mainly realistic dramas in which the characters immerse in fantasy,escape from reality and fall into great mental suffering.This thesis takes O’Neill’s three late plays,“A Touch of the Poet ”,“A Moon for the Misbegotten ”and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”,as objects of research from the point of view of the relationship between the self and the other,and traces these characters’ mental suffering.The thesis consists of five parts.The introduction begins by presenting the subject matter and motivation for this study,through an overview of Eugene O’Neill’s theatrical career,his representative late plays,and the theme of “the Other”.The current domestic and international research status on Eugene O’Neill’s plays is also summarized.Finally,the necessity and innovative significance of studying the relationship between the self and the Other in O’Neill’s late plays from the perspective of the Other is discussed.The first chapter focus on “A Touch of the Poet”.In conjunction with Lacan’s theory of the mirror stage and theory of desire,it explores the dependence of the self on the other in the process of self-identification.Melody’s self was influenced by his father as the other at the beginning of his life.The ideal self he aspired to in his life is an “Other” that is different from his real self,which is the result of alienation.Secondly,in real life he desperately strives for the acknowledgment of the Other and constructs himself according to the requirements of the Other,which leads to the second stage of alienation.Having failed to achieve the acknowledgment of the Other,his ideal self has been severely compromised.The self-identity splits so much that he kills the substitute-the white horse of the ideal self,and completely transforms into“the Other”.The second chapter focuses on “A Moon for the Misbegotten.” It explores the constructive role of others on the self by combining Freud’s theory of depression,Foucault’s theory of power,and Judith Butler’s theory of the subject.Tyrone’s mother died due to illness,and he refused to accept reality,mourn,withdraw the libidinal investment,and suffered from depression.He turned his love for his mother into hatred for himself,losing himself along with his mother.He objectified himself from the perspective of others,observing his behavior through the body and criticizing himself with the mind.Under the action of the death drive,his moral introspection becomes self-torture.Under the power discipline of intellectual discourse,he regarded the body as an irrational symbol of the Other.He disciplined the body with concepts,summarized,defined,and judged his own body,and made the body’s reaction become the object of judgment by the mind.Finally,he admitted his vulnerability in Josie’s arms,expressed it in words,communicated with“the other,” and acknowledged his vulnerability,saving each other.The third chapter focuses on “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”.By combining Levinas’ theory of the other,it explores the “heterogeneity” that the other is different from the self,and on this basis,the ethics of the other in the process of getting along with the other.Although the Tyrones are relatives of each other,they are also others.They treat each other as “the Other”,demean the definition and discipline others through the violence of language;suspect,explore,and monitor others through the violence of eyes;the home becomes the concentrated field of power discipline—prison,and the family becomes the object of inquiry—Others.The otherness of Others is manifested in the elusiveness of their language.They escape from reality.Behind the negative language is recognition,behind the ironic language is despair,and the limitation of language makes communication between others impossible to achieve smoothly.They are each other but do not realize that the relatives who are the other have the alterity,and still understand the incomprehensible other different from themselves from their perspective,which is doomed to the failure of communication.Family members resent each other,cannot understand each other,and are each other.This situation is broken again and again not because they truly understand each other but because facing the fragile face of the other,under the ethical call of using softness to overcome rigidity,the subject is aroused to be ethically responsible for the Other.The epilogue concludes that the spiritual pain experienced by the characters in O’Neill’s late plays is inseparable from the relationship between the self and the other.The formation of the self,self-identity,and the relationship between the self and the other are reflected in O’Neill’s late plays,as well as the important role of language and the body in portraying these themes.Lastly,O’Neill’s three late plays present a range of issues related to the relationship between the self and the other in the world.