The Role Of Women In Eugene O Neill

Eugene O’Neill has been celebrated as one of the most influential dramatists from America. He wanted to imbue modern American theater with the poignancy of Greek drama and therefore the tragic struggle of his dramatis personae and their moral conflicts can be traced back to the olden times when individual suffering touched the heights of heroic grandeur in its nobility and sheer helplessness. Although he substituted the role of fate and Gods with modern psychological theories to make his tragedies resonate with contemporary milieu, yet the portrayal of women did not change much. Through an analysis of the characterizations of women in the plays of Eugene O’Neill and in Greek culture and drama, this paper attempts to prove that while much has changed in over two millennia, yet virginity, motherhood and self-efficacy are the qualities that men seek in women. Men feel betrayed when women do not conform to the stereotypical gender roles of mother, wife or daughter.Inability of women to meet the criteria of self-denial, sacrifice and chastity as per the expectations of the male protagonists has been a major cause of tragedy in Greek drama as well as in the plays of Eugene O’Neill. Just like Greek period, O’Neill cannot conceptualize women as mentally and socially independent human beings. Thus, O’Neill might be celebrated as …show more content…
“It is only males who are created directly by the gods and are given souls. Those who live rightly return to the stars, but those who are ‘cowards or [lead unrighteous lives] may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation’. This downward progress may continue through successive reincarnations unless reversed. In this situation, obviously it is only men who are complete human beings and can hope for ultimate fulfilment; the best a woman can hope for is to become a man” (Plato, Timaeus 90e).” (Dickason,