Drama: Eugene O ‘Neill

Biography

Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was a renowned playwright and a Nobel winner in literature. His plays were among the first to be applied in American literature that introduced the realism technique in American drama. The plays he wrote involved application of speeches in American vernacular and he used characters that incorporated the real life in society. Most of his writings involved the hopes and aspirations of the society that later turned to misery and disappointment. His plays are known to include pessimism and disaster (Bloom, 2007).

O’Neill was born in a hotel room in Broadway Longracre square in Barret hotel, son to James O’Neill an Irish immigrant who specialized in acting (Tornqvist, 2008). Influenced by his father’s profession he was taken to a catholic school where he developed his passion for books. He did not complete his university education because he was suspended from Princeton University (Bloom, 2007). He then spent most of his life at sea where he suffered from hopelessness and alcoholism. He lost most of his family members at the beginning of his theatre career therefore; at the peak of prosperity from his career, he was alone without a family to support him through his success. Although he suffered from constant depression, he used the sea as the main theme for the most of his plays (Floyd, 2009).

With regard to family, O’Neill was married thrice during his life. The first marriage was with Kathleen Jenkins, which lasted from 1902 to 1912 (Floyd, 2009). He got one son through this marriage called Eugene O’Neill Jr. In 1918, he married a successful writer on commercial fiction called Agnes Boulton. They had two children Shane and Oona. In 1929 they divorced because O’Neill his wife and children for the actress Carlotta Monterey. After their marriage in 1929, they lived in central France nonetheless, in the 1930s they moved back in the United States where they lived in Georgia (Tornqvist, 2008). He then moved to California where he lived from 1937 to 1944 (Floyd, 2009).

During their early years of marriage, Monterey was responsible for ensuring O’Neill concentrated in his writing work. This made him more successful than ever. Nonetheless, their marriage was affected by his wife’s addiction to potassium bromide. They separated a number of times but they never divorced. O’Neill is known to have a poor relationship with his children, for instance he disowned his daughter Oona after marrying English director at the age of 18. Both of his sons committed suicide after being addicts of alcoholism and heroin respectively (Bloom, 2007). He suffered from a long-term depression and alcoholism, which later led to rigorous Parkinson, which resulted to his inability to write. He tried dictation as a result but this did not last long because he was not creative enough through dictation. Nonetheless, he wrote a number of plays for the last years of his life where he suffered from depression and alcoholism. In 1953, O’Neill died in a hotel room in Sheraton hotel in Boston. On his deathbed, he uttered his last words “I knew I knew it, born in a hotel room, and God damn it, died in a hotel room” (Tornqvist, 2008).

Discography of their representative works and style

O’Neill rote his works based on his life experiences. The play “long day’s journey into night” was written after he recovered from tuberculosis (Tornqvist, 2008).  He later got involved with Provincetown players in the mid 1916. He provided the group with numerous plays including “bound east Cardiff”. The Provincetown players applied O’Neill plays in their work. Through the plays wrote by O’Neill they moved from performing in downtown to Broadway (Floyd, 2009). His first published work called “beyond the horizon” received good reception in Broadway. “The emperor Jones” was released in Broadway in 1920 was a major hit and very popular especially when it was related to “US occupation in Haiti” and the heated debate that emerged due to that year’s presidential election.

The best plays that he wrote during his lifetime were “Anna Christie which received an award in 1922 (Gassner, 2007). Desire under the helms written in 1924, “strange interlude” which was also won an award in 1928 and “mourning becomes Electra” written in 1931. O’Neill also wrote only one comedy play called “Ah, wilderness” which he incorporated a youth he wished he had experienced (Floyd, 2009). The comedy also received good reception in the theatre market. In 1936, he was awarded a Nobel price for literature for his excellent work. Ten years later, he tried to revive his skills in writing plays but he failed miserably. During his career as a play writer, he joined modern movement that was responsible for stimulating the classical heroic mask from the known ancient Greek theatre. For instance, his play “Lazarus laughed” O’Neill included the classical theme in the play (Gassner, 2007).

Since his plays involved tragedy and pessimism. His works represented his experiences in life. He had a miserable life especially after suffering from depression and alcoholism. His pessimistic nature could be seen in his works especially his experiences in the sea. He was involved very vaguely in politics and did not include politics in his plays. He was not a family man either, after losing his father and siblings at the beginning of his career he did not have a close relationship with his children either. He was miserable and this resulted to alcoholism. Nonetheless, he still remembered for his excellent work in literature plays and drama. His contributions are still recognized to date in America’s literature.

References

Bloom, H. (2007). Eugene O’Neill. New York: Chelsea House.

Floyd, V. (2009). Eugene O’Neill: a world view. New York: sage publications.

Gassner, J. (2007). Eugene O’Neill. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Tornqvist, E. (2008). Eugene O’Neill: a playwright’s theatre. Massachusetts: Cengage learni