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Abstract:
Comparing Desire Under the Elms written by Eugene O'Neill with Thunderstorm written by Cao Yu, we can find a lot of' similarities between the two plays. The themes of the plays and the skills they relied on to describe the characters are quite the same. All the heroes and heroine are based on real life characters and have the same ideas and actions. Studying on these, we can get an idea of O' Neill's influence on Cao Yu.
Key words:O' Neill,；Cao Yu； influence
Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), Nobel laureate and four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is considered one of the most significant playwrights in history. He is regarded as the father of American drama. Through his experimental and emotionally probing dramas, he addressed the difficulties of human society with a deep psychological complexity. Desire Under the Elms is his most representative works which was published in1924. Cao Yu (1910-1996), one of the most famous modern playwrights in China. His first and famous works is Thunderstorm. Comparing two works, we can find that two writers share some similarities ideas. We can say that O'Neill has some influence on Cao Yu in creation.
First, the titles of two works are symbolical. O'Neill and Cao Yu use nature to show the feelings in characters' hearts. In Desire Under the Elms, we can find many emblems. Elms are the symbol of the potential strength, real life and the true love between Eben and Abbie. The elms represent the spirit of Eben's mother. To Peter and Simon, the stone walls are symbolic in their own way. To Ephraim Cabot, the land is a symbol to describe heaven. Influenced by O'Neill, Cao Yu also uses an emblem in his works——Thunderstorm. Thunderstorm is the symbol of depressing atmosphere both in the family and in society. It also symbolizes family conflicts that break out at once and the fate of heroine——Fan Yi. They also make use of the title to reflect the same topic—— love, hate, lust and greed are human nature.
Second, the structures of two works are cause and effect. That means past is a tragedy in now. In Desire Under the Elms, the hero—— Ephraim Cabot, an old man, got the farm after his wife died. He got married again to a young lady——Abbie——stepmother in order to have another inheritor. The old man's son—— Eben wants to revenge to his father through his stepmother. At last the result is that Eben fall in love his stepmother. They have a baby. Abbie killed her baby so as to show her true love to Eben. In Thunderstorm, Cao Yu creates cause and effect as well. One of the most important heroines is Si Ping. She was a very beautiful girl when he is young. So the hero——Zhou PuYuan loved her. Because they were not equal, they couldn't get married which leads to Si Ping's second and marriage. She was married to Lu DaHai——working class. That determined that their daughter, Lu SiFeng, had to serve in the rich family like her mother. She would follow the track of an overturned cart. Because of Si Ping leaving a son——Zhou Ping in Zhou family and Si Ping's daughter-Si Feng having the same mother with Zhou Ping, they met and love each other. When they know the truth, they couldn't accept this. As a result, they all died. All these are that having bad causes leads to bad effects. Life now is the tragedy of the past decisions.
Third, the heroes and heroines are common people. Both Zhou PuYuan and Ephraim Cabot are common people. Just because they are common people, we can know they are me, you and he or she in real life. We are deeply moved. John Nancy Garner said “Eugene O'Neill is the first man who introduces the common people into American drama. That is the unique contribution.” The influence is not only on American writer but also on Chinese writer——Cao Yu.
Fourth, the forms of the drama are family tragedies. The relations among father, stepmother and son are triangle. Zhou PuYuan→Fan Yi Zhou PingEphraim Cabot →AbbieEbenO' Neill and Cao Yu describe three group relations: husband and wife, father and son, son and stepmother. There are complex connection among father, stepmother and son. Father ruled the family according to rule stepmother. Eben and Zhou Ping inherited their fathers' characteristics. They all loved beautiful women. Zhou PuYuan loved Si Ping while his son——Zhou Ping loved Si Feng who was liked her mother——Si Ping. Though it is an apparent family tragedy, but it causes by the then unequal ill conditioning society. The inherit tragedy was not avoided.
Last, Cao Yu is influenced by O'Neill about naturalism. People's instinct——desire for love, desire for money, desire for revenge——leads to tragedy in life. Abbie and Fan Yi are the most unfortunate persons in the drama who tolerated their husbands. At first Abbie wanted to have a baby with Eben in order to get the treasure. Fan Yi desired to get love from Zhou Ping so as to take revenge Zhou PuYuan. Eben desired to avenge for his mother. He prevented his stepmother from having a baby with his father instead of himself. But at last Eben and Abbie fell in love. The father's desire is gone. With Abbie killing her baby, her desire was gone. From Thunderstorm, we know Cao Yu has effect on O' Neill. Because FanYi didn't get love with Zhou PuYuan, she had to desire for love from Zhou Ping. When she known Zhou Ping loved Si Feng, her desire was gone. Si Feng desired to be accepted her love by others. When she known they are brother and sister, her desire was gone. Zhou PuYuan kept all things the same with the past in order to memorize Si Ping. He often sat in the room to recall the happy times with Si Ping. Now and then she desired to meet Si Ping . When Si Ping stood in front of him, he refused to recognize her. Two dramas have the same model——when people try to desire the happiness, at last they can not get what they want with their efforts. Person tragedy leads to family tragedy. Life is a tragedy.
Although Cao Yu is influenced by O'Neill, he has his special aspects.Besides all these, in Thunderstorm there is a lot of coincidence. Zhou PuYuan seduced Si Ping then they had a son —— Zhou Ping. Si Feng is a servant but she is a servant in the family of Zhou. Zhou Ping and Si Feng are lovers, but they are in fact brother-sister. When the fact was clear, Zhou Ping and Si Feng were craze to run out of the door which leads to the innocent death of Zhou Chong. The death of Zhou Chong reflects to punish her mother. This is the same with O'Neill. In the Desire Under the Elms, in the end Abbie killed her baby to show her true love. The baby is innocent.
From Desire Under the Elms and Thunderstorm we can get many places which are the same. Two playwrights are in the different countries and they lived the different times, but they all have effect on Freudian and Henrik Ibsen. O'Neill's dramas break out the old style. He creates the stories which are based on reality. He introduces the common people into dramas and he pays attention to people's hearts. These all influence on Cao Yu's drama. The tendency of world drama makes O'Neill and Cao Yu walk together. O'Neill becomes the father of modern American drama while Cao Yu turns into a reformer in Chinese drama.
Works Cited：
〔1〕Michael Manheim。The Cambridge Companion to Eugene O'Neill，Cambridge University Press，2000．
〔2〕Pearson Education Limited， Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 〔M〕. Peking： Foreign language teaching and research press，2002．
〔3〕陈英. 曹禺和奥尼尔的悲剧人生观比较〔A〕.湘潭大学学报(哲学社会科学版)2007年第3期.
〔4〕常耀信. 美国文学简史(第二版)〔M〕．天津：南开大学出版社，2004．
〔5〕孟留军.郭德艳. 《雷雨》和《榆树下的欲望》中的人物心理行为比较. 〔A〕. 淮北煤炭师范学院学报(哲学社会科学版). 2006年l2月第27卷第6期.
〔6〕曹禺.《我所知道的奥尼尔——为奥尼尔剧作选写的序》，《外国戏剧》〔M〕.1985年第1期.
〔7〕郭洪涛.论尤金．奥尼尔悲剧中的欲望女性〔J〕．同济大学学报，2004．2．
〔8〕廖克兑.尤金奥尼尔戏剧研究论文集〔G〕．北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1997．
〔9〕张军．曹禺与奥尼尔悲剧观念之比较〔J〕．戏剧，1999，(4).
〔10〕王艳芳．《榆树下的欲望》剖析〔J〕．外国文学研究，1997，(4)．
Comparing Desire Under the Elms written by Eugene O'Neill with Thunderstorm written by Cao Yu, we can find a lot of' similarities between the two plays. The themes of the plays and the skills they relied on to describe the characters are quite the same. All the heroes and heroine are based on real life characters and have the same ideas and actions. Studying on these, we can get an idea of O' Neill's influence on Cao Yu.
Key words:O' Neill,；Cao Yu； influence
Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), Nobel laureate and four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is considered one of the most significant playwrights in history. He is regarded as the father of American drama. Through his experimental and emotionally probing dramas, he addressed the difficulties of human society with a deep psychological complexity. Desire Under the Elms is his most representative works which was published in1924. Cao Yu (1910-1996), one of the most famous modern playwrights in China. His first and famous works is Thunderstorm. Comparing two works, we can find that two writers share some similarities ideas. We can say that O'Neill has some influence on Cao Yu in creation.
First, the titles of two works are symbolical. O'Neill and Cao Yu use nature to show the feelings in characters' hearts. In Desire Under the Elms, we can find many emblems. Elms are the symbol of the potential strength, real life and the true love between Eben and Abbie. The elms represent the spirit of Eben's mother. To Peter and Simon, the stone walls are symbolic in their own way. To Ephraim Cabot, the land is a symbol to describe heaven. Influenced by O'Neill, Cao Yu also uses an emblem in his works——Thunderstorm. Thunderstorm is the symbol of depressing atmosphere both in the family and in society. It also symbolizes family conflicts that break out at once and the fate of heroine——Fan Yi. They also make use of the title to reflect the same topic—— love, hate, lust and greed are human nature.
Second, the structures of two works are cause and effect. That means past is a tragedy in now. In Desire Under the Elms, the hero—— Ephraim Cabot, an old man, got the farm after his wife died. He got married again to a young lady——Abbie——stepmother in order to have another inheritor. The old man's son—— Eben wants to revenge to his father through his stepmother. At last the result is that Eben fall in love his stepmother. They have a baby. Abbie killed her baby so as to show her true love to Eben. In Thunderstorm, Cao Yu creates cause and effect as well. One of the most important heroines is Si Ping. She was a very beautiful girl when he is young. So the hero——Zhou PuYuan loved her. Because they were not equal, they couldn't get married which leads to Si Ping's second and marriage. She was married to Lu DaHai——working class. That determined that their daughter, Lu SiFeng, had to serve in the rich family like her mother. She would follow the track of an overturned cart. Because of Si Ping leaving a son——Zhou Ping in Zhou family and Si Ping's daughter-Si Feng having the same mother with Zhou Ping, they met and love each other. When they know the truth, they couldn't accept this. As a result, they all died. All these are that having bad causes leads to bad effects. Life now is the tragedy of the past decisions.
Third, the heroes and heroines are common people. Both Zhou PuYuan and Ephraim Cabot are common people. Just because they are common people, we can know they are me, you and he or she in real life. We are deeply moved. John Nancy Garner said “Eugene O'Neill is the first man who introduces the common people into American drama. That is the unique contribution.” The influence is not only on American writer but also on Chinese writer——Cao Yu.
Fourth, the forms of the drama are family tragedies. The relations among father, stepmother and son are triangle. Zhou PuYuan→Fan Yi Zhou PingEphraim Cabot →AbbieEbenO' Neill and Cao Yu describe three group relations: husband and wife, father and son, son and stepmother. There are complex connection among father, stepmother and son. Father ruled the family according to rule stepmother. Eben and Zhou Ping inherited their fathers' characteristics. They all loved beautiful women. Zhou PuYuan loved Si Ping while his son——Zhou Ping loved Si Feng who was liked her mother——Si Ping. Though it is an apparent family tragedy, but it causes by the then unequal ill conditioning society. The inherit tragedy was not avoided.
Last, Cao Yu is influenced by O'Neill about naturalism. People's instinct——desire for love, desire for money, desire for revenge——leads to tragedy in life. Abbie and Fan Yi are the most unfortunate persons in the drama who tolerated their husbands. At first Abbie wanted to have a baby with Eben in order to get the treasure. Fan Yi desired to get love from Zhou Ping so as to take revenge Zhou PuYuan. Eben desired to avenge for his mother. He prevented his stepmother from having a baby with his father instead of himself. But at last Eben and Abbie fell in love. The father's desire is gone. With Abbie killing her baby, her desire was gone. From Thunderstorm, we know Cao Yu has effect on O' Neill. Because FanYi didn't get love with Zhou PuYuan, she had to desire for love from Zhou Ping. When she known Zhou Ping loved Si Feng, her desire was gone. Si Feng desired to be accepted her love by others. When she known they are brother and sister, her desire was gone. Zhou PuYuan kept all things the same with the past in order to memorize Si Ping. He often sat in the room to recall the happy times with Si Ping. Now and then she desired to meet Si Ping . When Si Ping stood in front of him, he refused to recognize her. Two dramas have the same model——when people try to desire the happiness, at last they can not get what they want with their efforts. Person tragedy leads to family tragedy. Life is a tragedy.
Although Cao Yu is influenced by O'Neill, he has his special aspects.Besides all these, in Thunderstorm there is a lot of coincidence. Zhou PuYuan seduced Si Ping then they had a son —— Zhou Ping. Si Feng is a servant but she is a servant in the family of Zhou. Zhou Ping and Si Feng are lovers, but they are in fact brother-sister. When the fact was clear, Zhou Ping and Si Feng were craze to run out of the door which leads to the innocent death of Zhou Chong. The death of Zhou Chong reflects to punish her mother. This is the same with O'Neill. In the Desire Under the Elms, in the end Abbie killed her baby to show her true love. The baby is innocent.
From Desire Under the Elms and Thunderstorm we can get many places which are the same. Two playwrights are in the different countries and they lived the different times, but they all have effect on Freudian and Henrik Ibsen. O'Neill's dramas break out the old style. He creates the stories which are based on reality. He introduces the common people into dramas and he pays attention to people's hearts. These all influence on Cao Yu's drama. The tendency of world drama makes O'Neill and Cao Yu walk together. O'Neill becomes the father of modern American drama while Cao Yu turns into a reformer in Chinese drama.
Works Cited：
〔1〕Michael Manheim。The Cambridge Companion to Eugene O'Neill，Cambridge University Press，2000．
〔2〕Pearson Education Limited， Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 〔M〕. Peking： Foreign language teaching and research press，2002．
〔3〕陈英. 曹禺和奥尼尔的悲剧人生观比较〔A〕.湘潭大学学报(哲学社会科学版)2007年第3期.
〔4〕常耀信. 美国文学简史(第二版)〔M〕．天津：南开大学出版社，2004．
〔5〕孟留军.郭德艳. 《雷雨》和《榆树下的欲望》中的人物心理行为比较. 〔A〕. 淮北煤炭师范学院学报(哲学社会科学版). 2006年l2月第27卷第6期.
〔6〕曹禺.《我所知道的奥尼尔——为奥尼尔剧作选写的序》，《外国戏剧》〔M〕.1985年第1期.
〔7〕郭洪涛.论尤金．奥尼尔悲剧中的欲望女性〔J〕．同济大学学报，2004．2．
〔8〕廖克兑.尤金奥尼尔戏剧研究论文集〔G〕．北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1997．
〔9〕张军．曹禺与奥尼尔悲剧观念之比较〔J〕．戏剧，1999，(4).
〔10〕王艳芳．《榆树下的欲望》剖析〔J〕．外国文学研究，1997，(4)．