Symbolism in the Hairy Ape
The Hairy Ape is an expressionist play by Eugene O'Neill and was produced and published in 1922. It is a symbolic work that deals with the themes of social alienation and search for identity in the presence of technological progress (Cardullo 258). The play speaks to the industrialization that was taking place during that era. In an expressionistic play, the number of characters is kept minimal and attention is focused on a central figure with other supporting characters included but not individualized or fully developed. They serve merely as background voices to help highlight the central character's conflict. Most characters are simply representative types or members of groups and symbolic of class structures in society.
Yank, the central character and hero of The Hairy Ape, is a representative of modern workers who felt socially alienated and questioned their purpose and position in larger society. O'Neil uses Yank and other characters to symbolize all the ways in which industrialized man has lost his sense of harmony with nature and his overall purpose. Yank is symbolic of modern humanity in an industrialized society - a comment about the ways modern civilization has affected psychological well-being and robbed mankind of pride in his work.
Yank is presented as the brutal, ignorant and profane leader of the stokers huddled in the cramped living space of a transatlantic liner. All of the stokers symbolize the end-product of a society that has become passive in an age of machines. They do not recognize that their quarters resemble the steel framework of a cage or that they themselves...
Eugene O'Neill's play, "The Emperor Jones (1921)," is the horrifying story of Rufus Jones, the monarch of a West Indian island, presented in a single act of eight scenes of violence and disturbing images. O'Neill's sense of tragedy comes out undiluted in this surreal and nightmarish study of Jones' character in a mighty struggle and tension between black Christianity and black paganism (IMBD). Jones is an unforgettable character in his
Trifles as Feminist Literature American drama studies often neglect the influence of female writers and focus primarily on writers such as Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller. However, women often worked in collaboration with their male playwright counterparts, and in fact, helped to establish and propagate various dramatic movements in the United States. Among these influential women playwrights was Susan Glaspell, who along with Eugene O'Neill, George "Jig" Cram Cook,
Lottery" by Shirley Jackson The meaning of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' "It isn't fair, it isn't right." These are the last words expressed by the victim in Shirley Jackson's short story 'The Lottery', which provides a unique but shocking perspective of the innate evil that is part of human nature. The story starts off by describing a town scene that could not be more commonplace or predictable. The descriptions provided by
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now