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The Work of John Reed, Louise Bryant and Eugene O'Neill in the Context of The Provincetown Players
JEŽKOVÁ, Simona
he main aim of this thesis is to present the work of Eugene O'Neill, Louise Bryant and John Reed in the context of the Provincetown Players. The first chapter presents a picture of American society at the turn of the 20th century, shows the state in which culture and, above all theatre could be found, and, considering the previously mentioned, deals with the reason for the creation of one of the most important amateur theatres in America. The second chapter briefly presents the history of the Provincetown Players, their biggest achievements and the most important members. We then conclude the theory with a chapter mapping the life of O'Neill, Bryant and Reed before coming to Provincetown, their later stay in this seaside town, and also their mutual relationship, which affected them both personally and professionally. With this in mind, in the second part of the thesis, we study three selected works by those authors, namely The Game by Louise Bryant, The Eternal Quadrangle by John Reed and finally, Thirst by Eugene O'Neill. In this last chapter, we not only analyze the plot, motives, themes and form of individual plays, but we will also look for the links with the real world and the connection between the trio of those artists.
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Vertiginous relations in Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra
Landerová, Petra ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Wallace, Clare (referee)
The recurrent theme of inter-human family relationships in a state of loss and decay in plays authored by Eugene O'Neill arises in part from the author's own traumatic relationship with his parents and with his brother James. Trying to deal with his torturous memories, O'Neill seeks answers through his cursed characters, who partly derive from the writer himself, yet also offer a universal portrayal of humankind as a victim of his own mental being and system. Given O'Neill's profound interest in psychoanalysis, the plays mostly take place in the life process of the individual minds of the protagonists and of the animating effect they have on others who populate the play-texts; therefore it is essential for the understanding of the play-works under critical consideration to look at the inner lives and worlds of these enigmatic characters, and to evaluate to what extent they act on their own will and where, conversely, unconscious forms of desire from other characters, memories, wishes, objects and so forth are instead determinant. The canonical plays Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra offer an intriguing blend of the forms and of the contents of the classical-traditional and of the modern stage play, as they extend the heritage and the lineage of ancient Greek tragedy, although situated in...
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Vertiginous relations in Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra
Landerová, Petra ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Wallace, Clare (referee)
The recurrent theme of inter-human family relationships in a state of loss and decay in plays authored by Eugene O'Neill arises in part from the author's own traumatic relationship with his parents and with his brother James. Trying to deal with his torturous memories, O'Neill seeks answers through his cursed characters, who partly derive from the writer himself, yet also offer a universal portrayal of humankind as a victim of his own mental being and system. Given O'Neill's profound interest in psychoanalysis, the plays mostly take place in the life process of the individual minds of the protagonists and of the animating effect they have on others who populate the play-texts; therefore it is essential for the understanding of the play-works under critical consideration to look at the inner lives and worlds of these enigmatic characters, and to evaluate to what extent they act on their own will and where, conversely, unconscious forms of desire from other characters, memories, wishes, objects and so forth are instead determinant. The canonical plays Desire Under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra offer an intriguing blend of the forms and of the contents of the classical-traditional and of the modern stage play, as they extend the heritage and the lineage of ancient Greek tragedy, although situated in...
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