Eugene O’neill and the the Rebirth of Tragedy a Comparative Survey on Mourning Becomes Electra and Oresteia

Eugene Gladst maven ONeill is one of the superlative American capriolewrights, he is known for defends such as Long Days jaunt into Night ,Beyond the Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922), St swerve Interlude (1928), lament Becomes Electra(1931)and The iceman Cometh (1946). His plays probe the American Dream, race relations, class conflicts, sexuality, human aspirations and psychoanalysis. He often became immersed in the modernist movework forcets of his time as he primarily sought to perform modern American drama that would rival the great works of European modernists such as Ibsen, Strindberg and G.B. Shaw. ONeill was a great admirer of upright theatre and as a young man he had memorialize Friedrich Nietzsches work ab step to the fore the origin of Greek tragedy, in issue he was very familiar with the subject and the techniques of representation. The ideas of the German critique and philosopher channelize his dramatic works, in which he manifested the ability to adapt the defining characteristics of the incorrupt tragedy to a modern script and audience.Thus, it is not surprising that we skirmish God Dionysus in Lazarus Laughed (1928) or an adaptation of Oedipus character in go for Under the Elms(1924). As for melancholy Becomes Electra (1931), ONeill explores Greek tragedy, attempting to modernize it. The play is based on Aeschyluss trilogy The Oresteia (though it is closer to Sophocles Electra than to Aeschylus plays). In a 1931 letter to drama critic Brooks Atkinson, ONeill wrote, Greek criticism is as remote from us as the art it criticizes.What we need is a translation of Modern and not Classical Tragedy by which to guide our judgments (Letters 19886 390). The play (a trilogy made up of three plays) examines a post- gracious fight American family. The scope in Mourning Becomes Electra is laid on a c atomic number 18fully elect setting- a city in New England, immediately after the Civil War. It is remarkable whatsoever that ONeill set t he dapple against such a historical background that had been previously chosen for the setting of great American novels by writers such as W. Faulkner or Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is well known that the southeasterly was the cradle of American aristocracy, which after the Civil War underwent a dreadful decay, gum olibanum providing a suitable climate for recreating a Greek tragedy. . The plot of the first two move of the trilogy- Homecoming and the The Hunted closely follows the prescript of the events described in Agamemnon and the The Libation Be arrs (Choephoroi) Ezra Mannon (Agamemnon) who ad just come back from the fight was killed by his wife Christine (Clitemnestra) with the help of her lover, captain Adam Brant(Aegisthus) further on Lavinia (Electra), the Mannons daughter, forces her br otherwise Orin(Oreste) to punish the murder of their father. The Erinnyes1 take the shape of madness in Orins case, as he feels responsible for the last of his mother and he is haunted by the feelings of guilt and remorse. The third part of the trilogy differs at rough extent, as Orin kills himself while Oreste is exonerated of his guilt.There be many other details that are different from Aeschylus trilogy for instance, Ezra Mannon didnt sacrifice Iphigenia before leaving, his death and that of other characters is besides different the sword is replaced by the poison, and the matricide was a suicide caused by the sons conduct. However, in spite of both these differences, ONeill largely maintains the plotline of the Greek trilogy. Besides the plot, ONeill preserves elements of Oresteia such as the use of masks, which enables him to individualize the sad heroes from that of the anonymous group of the Chorus.All of the Mannons are described as having a very peculiar expression which reminds of a mask, just their eyes seem to have a certain pushHer face is unusual, one is struck at erstwhile by the singular impression it gives in repose of being not living f orm but a wonderfully liveliness-like pale mask, in which only the recessed eyes are alive(the description of Lavinia, p. 7) these masks that they naturally bear are a mark of their hero-like status which places them above the rest of the community, formed of characters such as servants or neighbors.It is remarkable how ONeill contrives to preserve the Chorus, which is a entire element of the Greek tragedy. Although it is not as dramatic as the tragic Chorus of the innocent Greek plays, each and every of the three parts of Mourning Becomes Electra begins with the performance of a chorus formed of different men and women that comment upon the Mannons, the history of their family, revealing to the audience details about the conduct and the character of the heroes.Moreover, the setting chosen by ONeill is analogous to the innocent one used by the Greeks. It is known that in Aeschylus times a wooden smother was used as a background of the setting, the wall usually stood for a pa lace or a temple and this exactly the same as in ONeills trilogy, as the superlative part of the action takes place in front of the Mannons sign of the zodiac which is described as being an enormous stone mansion that has the brass of a Greek temple(the temple of god Apollo) with a white wooden portico, with six tall columns2.However that was the typical construction for a signaling that belonged to an American aristocratic family in the XIX century. In Mourning Becomes Electra, ONeill brought into consonance the fundamental traits of the Greek tragedy and the specific elements of modern theatre, thus creating a modern tragedy that would please the contemporaneous audience. The tragedy of the signboard of Atreus is relocated in New England, at the end of the Civil War (the action of the play takes place mingled with 1865 -1866), creating in this way an enamor atmosphere.There are also allusions regarding the Gold Rush (p. 31), the assassinate of prexy Lincoln (p. 82) or the abolition of slavery (p. 256). Given this historical framework, Mourning Becomes Electra has a series of both thematic an stylistic elements that provide a modern like character, making a tragedy of our times out of it. First of all, one can observe how the puritan environment that surrounds the characters, enables ONeill to have a modernist approach to the Greek expression of Fate.Quite similar to the Greek tragedies in which there is an obvious interference of the gods in the life of the mortals, or the tragic flaw or the hubris are put on the explanation of a supernatural force, and the mistakes of the ancestors inflict upon the present, in ONeills work the presence of a power that prevails above all is also encountered. One the one hand, it is the history of the Mannons that triggers the tragedy(Adam Brant comes to revenge his father, who was disinherited), the portraits of the Mannons hanged throughout the field of operations play an important part as they seem to observe an d harness the percentage of their descendants.On the other hand, the characters seem to accept quite naturally the rigor of destiny, for instance, Mrs. Hills, one of the members of the chorus that performs in the beginning of the second part, blames the Destiny for the death of Ezra Mannon, although she also casts a spiritual and divine shadow perhaps it is fate. You remember, Everett, youve always said about the Mannons that pride goeth before a determine and that someday God would humble them in their sinful pride3.In between the lines 469-470 of Agamemnon the same matter is dealt with, as the chorus speaks about the endangerment of receiving too much praise, referring to Agamemnon who victoriously came back to ArgosThere is peril in the praise Over-praised that he hears For the thunder it is hurled from Gods eyes4. Mrs. Hills is the wife of Everett Hills, a attend of the North-American Congregational Church, so apparently, Zeus took the shape of a puritan god.It is a god th at handles the threads that control the humans (according the Puritan belief in predetermination), a god of justice who punishes those who transgress the strict moral scratch of New Englands puritan rules of order. There are several innuendoes that endlessly remind us that we deal with a Puritan milieu Christine hates the nursing home she lives in because of its Puritan grey ugliness(p. 34), she calls Lavinia Puritan maiden(p. 78) and her abuse towards Ezra Mannon is put on account of his Puritanism which prevents him to fully satisfy his wife in their love relationship. (p. 102).Even though ONeill inserted the idea of Fate and predestination in his trilogy, this is just the surface layer, a pretext to conceal the legitimate human frailties that are the source of tragic. The tragic flaw or the hubris are in position of a different nature than that in the serious music Greek plays (Fate), it is the heros weak and instinctual nature that urges him to commit pitiful deeds such as murder or incestuous behavior. In his eagerness to adapt the classical legend to the modern times, ONeill took into account the psychological developments of his time, especially when creating the heroes.One can foresee in his characters the protrusion of Sigmund Freuds and Carl Gustav Jungs theories about the importance of the subconscious, infantile sexuality, and the relationship between parents and children. In Mourning Becomes Electra we can observe a wide range of emotional disorders that trouble the characters in their family relationships Orin obviously manifests Oedipus complex, as the main resolve of his revenge (him killing Aegisthus) is not that of making justice, but rather his proclivity to get rid of his mothers lover.Subsequently, once the mother is dead, the incestuous feeling develops towards his sister, Lavinia, given her physical resemblance with her mother, Orin displaces the love he once had for his mother to Lavinia. As far as Lavinia is concerned, she cl early suffers of Electras complex, as she passionately loves her father and permanently looks up to usurp her mothers place. The origin of this disorder has its roots in Lavinias childhood as she was rejected by her mother ever since she was born. In her pursuit to befall upon her mothers position she unconsciously yearns for the love of Adam Brant(who physically resembles her ather, Ezra Mannon). Her feelings for Adam Brant and the hatred that she feels for her mother are in fact the true reasons of her revenge. Lavinia comes to acknowledge this in the end of the play when her subconscious plays her a trick (she calls her fiance, Peter, by the name of Adam) and commits what Norman Berlin calls a Freudian teddy5. Although ONeill denied to have had a deep knowledge of the theories that stood at the reason of psychoanalysis6, it is beyond doubt that these principles surround the entire work, enhancing the characters with peculiar traits and motivations.Thus, it results a classical legend in modern psychological terms that were widely disseminated among the society of the XXth century, in consequence easy to understand for the contemporaneous spectators. Moreover, it is obvious that Mourning Becomes Electra does not have the poetic quality of Oresteia, as ONeill doesnt use the verse as a means of expression although at times the tone might seem solemn and dignified, we deal with a work that is written in colloquial prose, full of phrases and idiomatic expressions grab to the social class that the heroes belong to.Even the lecture of the chorus reflects the dustup of the American working class of the time, with their peculiar syntax, vocabulary and pronunciation. Although some case literary figures wrote theatre in verse7, the contemporary audience was not much accustomed to attend such a performance. ONeill does not frustrate his audience in this matter.In conclusion, Eugene ONeill encompasses in Mourning Becomes Electra all the aspects of modern civiliza tion such as the Puritan environment, psychology and language attached to the distinctive features of Greek tragedy that he preserves from the fender the plotline, the masks, the chorus and the setting that convey an attractive uniqueness, which makes the play to be one of the most popular and praised works of the American literature.If Oresteia enabled Aeschylus to get the first lucre of the drama contest held in Athens in 458 A. D. , Mourning Becomes Electra contributed to the laurels of Eugene ONeill with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936.