An Analysis of Symbolism in The Hairy Ape_英语论文

摘要

尤金.奥尼尔是著名的美国剧作家，其作品的深刻性和创造性使其成为美国迄今唯一获得诺贝尔文学奖的剧作家。《毛猿》是尤金.奥尼尔的代表作之一，主人公扬克是一个在豪华邮轮锅炉舱工作的烧火工。他一直自豪于其自身的力量，认为工人远比资本家有价值，而钢铁大王的女儿米尔德丽德的到访击破了他自我满足的幻境，使其产生了身份认识危机，从而试图在资本主义的压迫下找到自身的归属。

象征主义创造手法是剧作《毛猿》的特色之一。本文旨在分析剧本中远洋油轮、监狱与毛猿笼这三大场景，黑白两色以及扬克与米尔德丽德这两大主要人物角色等三个方面的象征意象，进而探讨这些意象如何反映主人公扬克的悲剧根源及作品的深刻内涵。

关键词：《毛猿》；象征；场景设定；颜色；人物

Abstract

Eugene O’Neill is a famous American playwright, the only playwright who has ever won the Nobel Prize of Literature due to the profundity and creativity of his works. The Hairy Ape is one of O’Neill’s masterpieces. The protagonist, Yank, is a fireman who works in a luxury cruise ship. Yank has been proud of his own power and firmly believes that workers are far more meritorious than capitalists. However, the visit of Mildred, who is the daughter of the manager of steel, breaks his illusion of self-contentment, leading to his cognition of identity crisis. Therefore, he tries to seek out a sense of belonging under the capitalists’ oppression.

Symbolism is a distinctive feature of this play. This paper aims to analyze the symbolic implications of three settings—the ship, the jail cell and the cell of apes, the colors—white and black, as well as two major characters—Yank and Mildred, and thereby to explore the roots of Yank’s tragedy and the profound connotation of the work.

Key Words: The Hairy Ape, symbols, settings, colors, characters 

Contents

1. Introduction1

2. Demonstration2

2.1Symbolic implications of the settings2

2.1.1 The ship: the cage of spirit’s palsy.3

2.1.2 The jail cell: the cage of freedom’s confinement.4

2.1.3 The cage of ape: the cage of returning to nature4

2.2 Symbolic implications of the colors5

2.2.1 Black: the proletariat6

2.2.2 White: the bourgeoisie.6

2.3 Symbolic implications of characters.7

2.3.1 Yank: the lost self.8

2.3.2 Mildred: the warning9

3. Conclusion.10

Works cited.11

Bibliograpy.12