O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms is
indeed an example of naturalism in theater--or--naturalistic theater. In fact, critics
acknowledge this play as O'Neill’s last naturalistic play. The characteristics of
naturalism in theater are several. Naturalism is built from Darwinian principles which
accord animalistic and subconscious forces to humanity and human behavior. Originated by
Emil Zola, naturalism endeavors to reveal the affects of determinism so that a person's
fate is seen as governed by naturalistic heredity and environment. Naturalism eschews
(i.e., avoids) the psychological manipulation of symbolic characters who are created to
be sympathetic and prefers characters whose instincts and drives lead them into
encounters with ungovernable fate, the objective being to reveal how believable
characters behave and react to unknown or novel or extreme
situations.
Desire Under the Elms
fulfils each of these defining characteristics. The characters, from Eben to Abbie, all
act based on animalistic and subconscious drives: There are no higher motives to temper
desire and instinct. Darwinian subconscious forces are at work in each instance of
action, such as Eben's manipulation of Ephraim and Abbie's infanticide. The underlying
desire for revenge that Eben claims at the start of the play ("her vengeance ... so’s
she kin rest quiet in her grave") and the remote setting, devoid of any civilizing
influence, underscore the idea that Ephraim's fate of eventual exile on the farm is the
result of hereditary and environmental forces. It can realistically be argued that the
characters in this play are not made to appear sympathetic through psychological or
symbolic treatment of their development--they appear in their crudest reality and work
out their animalism-driven fates without a blush or a sigh. O'Neill shows how
individuals operating at a naturalistic Darwinian level behave without higher order
motivations in the extremely compelling and novel circumstances on Ephraim's
farm.
No comments:
Post a Comment