Major works:
Anna Christie • The Emperor Jones • The Hairy Ape • The Iceman Cometh • Hughie • Long Day’s Journey into Night
“Most of the important creators in the American arts since 1865 are crude; O’Neill is no exception. He was trying to embody a life experience through material that was part of our common American history—a history that moved so fast, and was, so to speak, devoured so rapidly, that it seemed to disappear before it was absorbed. When that history was confronted rather than exploited for purposes of entertainment, O’Neill found in it a violence and pathos that even today act as a shock in the theatre.”
—Harold Clurman (1952)
The Iceman Cometh
Eugene O'NeillWhat is it? It’s the No Chance Saloon. It’s Bedrock Bar, The End of the Line Café, The Bottom of the Sea Rathskeller! Don’t you notice the beautiful calm in the atmosphere? That’s because it’s the last harbor. No one here has to worry about where they’re going next, because there is no farther they can go. It’s a great comfort to them. Although even here they keep up the appearances of life with a few harmless pipe dreams about their yesterdays and tomorrows, as you’ll see for yourself if you’re here long.
Books
