Expressionism, Truth And Beauty in American Modern Drama 'The Hairy Ape' By Eugene O'Neil

AuthorFlutura Boci
Pages112-119
Vol. 2 No. 2
June, 2018
European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences
IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria
ISSN 2519-1284
Acces online at www.iipccl.org
112
Expressionism, Truth And Beauty in American Modern Drama "The Hairy
Ape" By Eugene O'Neil
Flutura Boci
American drama it is well known for its dramatic "experimentalism". American drama
would not have been recognized as it is now without its various styles, characters and scenes
without this major change, giving it a special place in the last decades of the 19th century to
US theater, which was dominated by melodrama with naturalistic acting style. However, the
early American Modern Dramatists had their in uences from European constructs, such as
those of Chekov; in order to represent life within drama in a more realistic style. Known as
Modern Realism, he represented everyday reality in a style that would seem familiar to the
audience that had come to see these new performances. This style quickly became canonized,
and in particular it became more popular during the growing social and cultural changes
such as the escalation of immigration and poverty, women's rights, depression, the crisis of
religious belief, America's "mechanical" development, and ongoing e orts towards "American
Dream". Realism had an impact on the American scene in this period, but mostly in terms of
realistic scenes (Walker, 2009). This can be seen in Arthur Miller's works, especially at "A View
From A Bridge." The show shows all the realistic styles of a realistic drama, "The apartment,
clean, simple, welcoming with tables and windows with a naturalist approach as for example
a rocking chair. A more naturalistic background allows for less focus on action and the public
is able to follow the story and be involved rather than remain distanced, as another form of
experimentalism of that period, "expressionist drama". You will be able to experience history
as it is, a tragedy, rather than qui ing and analyzing the way expressionist dramas tend. The
dramatic language of realism was supposed to be close to everyday language. In "A View From
A Bridge " Miller uses the daily language of the Italian shipyard workers, as seen in Eddie, who
uses a typical naturalist slang of Brooklyn. His lecture is simple but full of hues. This allows
the audience to know closely and nd themselves in a society as theirs. For social issues that
Miller and other dramatists have commented during this period, such as family relationships,
American dreams, a realistic approach is more appropriate. Main purpose of this manuscript
is the analysis of Eugene O'Neil work, compared to other American authors.
Keywords: Expressionism, Truth, Eugene O'Neil, Arthur Miller.
Introduction
As realism took place in the American drama, expressionism began to become
a major part of the experimentalism that was happening during this movement.
"Expressionism on the American scene represents a critical stage in the development
of American Modern Drama" (Walker, 2009). Expressionism was a style that many
such dramatists such as Susan Treadwell and Edward Albee used to portray a
changing society as well as the oppression and misfortune that this new emerging
society had created, allowing viewers to see it critically. Tennessee Williams and
Arthur Miller used aspects of the form and “In doing so, they not only innovated a
new dramatic form, but re- de ned playwriting from a theatrical cra to a literary art
form, heralding the birth of American dramatic modernism” (Walker, 2009).

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