4
THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1921
Eugene O'Neill--§n Appreciation
(By S. T. B.) few American writers who under- part of its work. In his one-act plays, his mind, through the crimes which he
"The American drama," says Mont- stands the writing of naturalism so it is always there, a living, moving- has committed and which have made
rose J. Moses in the introduction to that in the very beauty of the depres- almost a life-force-a thing which, him a fugitive from United States
his work on the history of native play- sion which it achieves, there shall be exerting a relentless appeal, is to be justice, and thence back through the
wrights and dramatic movements, "is art. O'Neill has done it-certainly as feared, even hated at times, but whose history of his race to the old savage
a fact; it has a body, whatever the no other American dramatist has done call is so strong that those who have days on the Congo with the voodoo
value of its spirit. In its local sense, -with a finish of which no American felt it cannot be freed from its spell. witch-doctor, the crocodile god, and all
it is a reflection of local condition and novelist can boast and has shown him- In "Beyond the Horizon" the voice of the mysticism of primitive worship.
type characteristics; in its technical self as the great hope of American of the Sea is still a moving force, It is an ingenius study, admirably
sense, it exhibits special mannerisms, literature, though the part which It plays is not worked out and one which has brought
and shows itself subjected to special .Not all of his work is good. Here an organic one. O'Neill's first full- considerable credit to its author.
influences." and there, among the flashes of length drama; it was produced with O'Neill has written three other long
Mr. Moses could hardly have charac- genius, there are spots which show considerable success in New York, and plays besides "Beyond the Horison"-
terized the American drama in general the immaturity of youth, but taken as is one of his most notable achieve- "Diff'rent, ""The Straw," and "Gold".
more clearly, more surely or more a whole, in O'Neill we have a firm ments. The play is a keen, gripping The first of these, sub-titled, "the story
exactly than in the above sentences. rock upon which to lay the foundations story of the struggle for existence- of a sex-starved woman" is to my own
Students who have surveyed the entire of an artistic American drama. True, always a losing one-which Robert mind the poorest of his works. The
field covered by "The American Dra- there have been native dramatists be- plays on a stony farm in New England. thought is perhaps good, but the
matist" would doubtless have difficulty fore O'Neill who have demonstrated Skillfully the dramatist carries for- characterization of the woman is so
in improving upon the definition and occasional evidences of latent ability- ward his tale-shows the boy, his exaggerated as to make it almost
likewise, in avoiding the apologetic evidences which have been all too soon poetic spirit calling him to the sea to burlesque. Our sympathy is never
tone of the author's remarks. The obliterated in the failure of the writers become a part of those magic things with her and even in the end, her
American drama is a fact: good-but to achieve the success which their which lie "beyond the horizon," stiffle contemplated suicide does not leave
clearly, it is not a fact of which we early efforts have promised for them. the dreams of his youth, persaude him- us at all convinced that she means to
may be proud. For it has adhered too But in O'Neill, we have the first Amer- self of their falsity, and marry a girl carry out her action.
closely to the "type characteristics" can dramatist who has really sounded who possesses nothing of the fineness, "The Straw" is written in a slightly
which Mr. Moses mentions, has ex- the note of artistic achievement in the which is inherent to him. And then the different vein from that of the general
hibited itself as too much of a local theatre. drabness of living; the day by day run of O'Neill's plays. It is the story
production, has lacked the depth of O'Neill first caught the public eye monotony of doing things which are es- of a girl afflicted with tuberculosis and
profound thought, and above all, has with a series of one-act plays, publish- sentially distasteful to him, and the the scenes, excepting that of the first
fallen short in the most important of ed under the title of "The Moon of the final crushing of all his hopes and his act are laid in a sanitarium. But the
all qualifications of good drama-in a Caribbees and Six Other Plays of the ultimate death. It is a simple story, sympathy with which the dramatist
word, it has lacked universality. Sea." Had he never written again. he but in it O'Neill sounds the cry of all handles his subject demonstrates con-
It is in avoiding all of the mistakes must surely have lived in American mankind to satisfy the craving of in- clusively that the atmosphere of the
of his predecessors that Eugene G. literature for "The Moon of the Carib- born desires-to reach out "beyond sea is not at all necessary to him. In
O'Neill has risen to the place of prom- bees, "Ile," and perhaps "In the Zone," the horizon"-and to take the birth- "The Straw" he has worked out an-
inence which he now holds among which many critics believe to be his right which their souls demand. other of his admirable phychological
American dramatists. Camparatively best work, though frankly, I cannot "The Emperor Jones" is one of the studies, this time using the thought-
a young man, he has already, because agree with them. It possesses just a most interesting and unusual physc- lessness of a discouraged newspaper
of a remarkable keenness of percep- bit too much of the theatrical element ological studies ever written. In it, man as the theme of his play.
tion and sympathetic understanding of and its effect, in the last analysis, is the dramatist places a negro in the In "Gold" the spirit of the sea again
all mankind, placed himself head and rather weak, jungles of a West India island, pur- sweeps in, this time more powerfully
shoulders above his nearest rivals. He O'Neill has himself followed the sea sued by a tribe of revolutionary na- than ever, and in one of his most
has revealed himself to be one of the'and its spirit permeates the greater tives. He shows us the reversion of (Continued on Page 7)
111II IlIl IHN IU lIIU I111111111111111111illtlillltlilllli111IlIIIIU I[lillillifl111111111i111 :
i.
ELECTRIC HEATERS FOR MID-
SEASON USE
Are you using up all your kindling to
build a fire in the furnace every morn-
ing?
Why not use an Electric Heater? It
costs only a minimum charge to oper-
ate and can conveniently be carried
from one room to another.
THE H EDLITE HEATER
is absolutely safe, being equipped with
an automatic circuit breaker which
acts in case of a fall.
The Detroit Edison Co.
Main and William
Phone 2300
PHONE 2508
Garnxent aeanii
"opany
ae }Com of 8nergine-
Phone 2508
FOR PROMPT SERVICE IN CLEANING,
PRESSING AND REPAIRING
We use Energine, the "Perfect Cleaning Agent,"
and satisfaction is guaranteed
WE CALL FOR AND DELIVER
Snsissilized Garments Stay Clean Longer
The Home of Energine
209 SOUTH FOURTH AVENUE
.itt1111t11t1i1U llip llltltlt lliililllltililltilli lll l lllltltlllilltt111t1llllttllill