The Plays of Eugene O'Neill

The darkly autobiographical character of O’Neill’s plays and their oblique relationships to American culture continue to fascinate students of modern American drama. O’Neill’s plays, far from being relegated to the library since the author’s death in 1953, continue to be performed; and the appearance of each new posthumous work has received extraordinary attention. A recent biography of the playwright has enjoyed considerable success. Now John Raleigh’s highly original book on O’Neill’s plays combines a study of the autobiographical elements with perhaps the most comprehensive view yet taken of the mind and art of the playwright. Mr. Raleigh examines the whole of O’Neill’s cosmos and details the whole of his aesthetic.

Mr. Raleigh strictly concerns himself with an analysis and evaluation of the completed, published plays. He deals with the autobiographical elements and with the cultural genesis of the plays, but he is concerned primarily with the dramatist’s created world. He analyzes and discusses the beginning, middle, and final periods of O’Neill’s career, but relates them closely to the whole of O’Neill’s work and to the specific, American cultural strains he sees in O’Neill’s writings. He is most perceptive in demonstrating O’Neill’s character as an American writer, and leaves no doubt that O’Neill is one of our literary giants.

John Henry Raleigh is Professor of English at the University of California at Berkeley. His Ph.D. degree is from Princeton.