Unit 18 Eugene O#39; Neil(尤金奥尼尔).ppt

Unit 18 American Drama Eugene O’ Neil (1888-1953) American Drama--- Overview 17th century to the present: --- American drama begins in the American colonies in the 17thcentury and continues to the present. Before the mid-18th century: --- little theatrical activity : 19th century --- British influence; --- melodrama （独幕剧）(the most pervasive dramatic genre of the 19th century; typically overflowing with emotion, set in mysterious locations, and peopled with stereotypical characters: heartless villains, heroines in distress, and strong heroes who faced almost insurmountable(不能克服的） odds in rescuing those heroines.) --- American drama was not born until the end of World War I. American Drama--- Overview late-19th-century and early 20th century --- psychological realism in European theater (Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen). --- American playwrights began to move in the direction of Ibsen. 1900s --- Realism: dominant trend of the 20th century American drama --- New levels of psychological realism (Ibsen); experimental devices of the expressionists (Strindberg) Eugene O’Neill: America’s first dramatist of world stature; before him, American drama was considered of minor significance; revolutionized American theatre by inspiring other playwrights to write serious and challenging scripts for the stage. Tennessee Williams: most important dramatist after the W.W.II. Arthur Miller: along with Tennessee Williams, led the postwar new drama American Drama--- Overview Three giants that represent the best of American theatre in the 20th century: Eugene O’Neill(1888-1953 ) ---The Hairy Ape(1922), The Iceman Cometh (1946), --- Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1940) Tennessee Williams(1911-1983) --- A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) Arthur Miller