Eugene O'neill Bio

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Added: October 19, 2009 This Presentation is Public 
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Eugene O’Neill :Fall 2009, English 12LAW David Vega, MA English Eugene O’Neill Nobel Prize for Literature 1936


Family - Parents :Family - Parents Father = James O’Neill Famous touring actor - The Count of Monte Cristo Strict Catholic Mother = Ella O’Neill Followed husband around country Pious mystic Drug addict


Family - Brother :Family - Brother Brother - James O’Neill Dies of alcoholism in adulthood


Birth and Youth :Birth and Youth Born in hotel Spent early childhood in hotel rooms, trains and backstage Hated difficult touring life


Educational Life Experiences :Educational Life Experiences Boarding schools Summers spent in New London, Connecticut Princeton University - 1 yr (dropped out) 6 years at sea (his “real” education) Seaports: Buenos Aires, Liverpool, New York City Became alcoholic Attempted suicide at 24 Works as reporter and poet Contracts tuberculosis Finally experiences “rebirth” - quits drinking


Relationships :Relationships 3 wives (2 divorces) Elder son (w/1st wife) commits suicide at age 40 Younger son (w/2nd wife) becomes emotionally unstable Only daughter (w/2nd wife) becomes estranged when she marries Charlie Chaplin at age 18 O’Neill disowns her.


Controversial Plays :Controversial Plays Prostitutes Derelicts Lonely sailors God’s injustice to man


Literary Influences :Literary Influences Greek tragedy and themes Infanticide Incest Fateful retribution Psychology Personal unconscious (Freud) Collective Unconscious (Jung) Art German Expressionism


Pulitzer Prizes :Pulitzer Prizes Anna Christie Strange Interlude Long Day’s Journey into Night Beyond the Horizon


Nobel Prize for Literature (1936) :Nobel Prize for Literature (1936) 1st and only American playwright to win Considered “Father of American Drama” 1st American dramatist to consider the stage as a literary medium.