Play " The Hairy Ape "

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☆About  the  Eugene O’Neill : 

click here   Eugene O’Neill’s work was at the centre of that artistic and popular revival. He first experienced the American theatre as a young child at the end of the 19th century, when he accompanied his father, an actor, touring as the lead in The Count of Monte Cristo. As an adult however, he rejected the kind of popular theatre that his father had made a living from. He looked for inspiration from the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and Swedish writer August Strindberg, who he later described as the people who “first gave me the vision of what modern drama could be”. Theatre historians have suggested O’Neill’s play Beyond the Horizon could be considered the first “native” American tragedy. That play emerged from his association with the Provincetown Players, one of many so-called “little theatres” that developed in the 1910’s to provide an alternative to the commercial drama of the time. The Provincetown Players and Another group the Theater Guild also produced plays by poets and writers such as Edna St. Vincent Millay, Paul Green, Elmer Rice and Maxwell Anderson. 

These playwrights embraced character and realism, eschewing clichés and the stock heroes and villains that often populated American drama. They offered Americans a chance to see themselves on stage for the first time.O’Neill’s plays included challenging subjects such as race relations, adultery and individual alienation, which often attracted protests and efforts at censorship over material that some found objectionable and scandalous. Most of the efforts to censor his work generated publicity and popularity for the productions, and none of the complaints restrained him from continuing to produce provocative narratives. O’Neill told newspapers that theatre audiences didn’t want plays weakened “by an ignorant and stupid censorship which knows and cares nothing about drama”, and his plays found enthusiastic audiences, and provoked strong reactions on Broadway. This was a key reason that producer Arthur Hopkins staged his work. “I want people to leave my theatre actually quarrelling about what they have seen,” he said. “There is nothing more tragic to me than the complacent, unmoved faces that pour out of our Broadway theatres after a play”.

Most of his productions ran for more than 100 performances, with many running for more than 200. Strange Interlude, a nine-act play that examines a woman’s tormented love life, played for more than 400 performances and earned O’Neill a then-blockbuster. Critics championed serious works, as did organizations like the Drama League of America, formed in 1909 to stimulate interest in modern drama. By the time O’Neill’s early plays premiered, American audiences were ready to follow their European counterparts in considering the theatre more than just a pleasant distraction.Eugene O’Neill was writing during a period of American history which was defined by great social and economic change. His difficult and complex life provided much of the inspiration for his plays, but the wider context of the period also greatly influenced the themes and content of his work, very differently to the light entertainment audiences were used to. His work dramatically altered the world of American theatre, and paved the way for the serious drama of his successors, such as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee.Eugene O’Neill was writing during a period of American history which was defined by great social and economic change. His difficult and complex life provided much of the inspiration for his plays, but the wider context of the period also greatly influenced the themes and content of his work, very differently to the light entertainment audiences were used to. His work dramatically altered the world of American theatre, and paved the way for the serious drama of his successors, such as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee; and more recently diverse writers that continue to explore difficult social and personal issues such as David Mamet, August Wilson, and Tony Kushner.

☆ Main  theme  of " Hairy Ape " : 

Industrialisation

During O’Neill’s lifetime, industrialisation had a huge effect on the lives of workers as manufacturers developed production lines and mass produced products. The workers in the ocean liner have been reduced to “machines” programmed to do one task, turned on and off by whistles, and not required to think independently. This has then caused a general deterioration of each person into a Neanderthal or ape like state, which O’Neill describes explicitly in his stage directions “The men themselves should resemble those pictures in which the appearance of Neanderthal Man is guessed at. All are hairy-chested, with long arms of tremendous power, and low, receding brows above their small, fierce, resentful eyes.”

Belonging

The motif of who “belongs” and the idea of “belonging” are continually reinforced throughout. At the start of the play Yank feels secure in who he is, and draws a feeling of power from the fact that he “belongs” to the ship, as opposed to the passengers in first class who are merely “baggage”. Yank also associates “belonging” with someone’s usefulness and functionality. The firemen “belong” because they make the ship run and are essential to its workings.Mildred is privileged, but seems to feel she does not belong either and wants to test the boundaries of her identity. When they meet, Yank is particularly disturbed by Mildred because she presents a world and class which he cannot belong to. After their meeting, the play follows Yank in his quest to find belonging, finally leading him to the monkey-house at the zoo. 

Class

Mildred and Yank are representative of the highest and lowest societal classes as Long would describe them, the bourgeois and the proletariat. However, while Mildred and Yank’s lifestyles are extremely different, They share similar complaints about class. Mildred describes herself as the “waste product” of her father’s steel company. She has reaped the financial benefits of the company, but has felt none of the energy or passion that created it. Mildred yearns to find this excitement, to touch “life” beyond her cushioned, bourgeois world. Yank, on the other hand, has felt too much of the “life” Mildred describes. He desires to topple the class structure by re-inscribing the importance and necessity of the working class. 

Thought

For Yank, thought is the ultimate boundary. He begins the play as the least understanding character and undermines his colleagues who question the rest of the world around them. Thought only becomes necessary after he encounters Mildred. Mildred and her class present a new threat that Yank cannot get rid of through physical force, and as the play continues he begins to realise how little he knows or understands about anything outside of his world. His inability to think not only reveals his regression to a lower ape-like form, but also means he is unable to adapt to or defend himself in the world beyond the ship.

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