Abstract

Cao Yu and Eugene O’Neill are two excellent dramatists with great achievements and influence in the world. Although they lived in different national and cultural background, there are many similar conceptions of tragedy in their works. For example, they are both good at depicting the ordinary people, which break the traditional form of tragedy and make the subject of family tragedy gain wide social significance. In fact, Eugene O’Neill contributed a lot to the development of Chinese drama. Even though the two masters had never met each other, Cao Yu was influenced by O’Neill and Cao Yu also referred to O’Neill in his book The Spirit of Tragedy. What’s more, in Desire under the Elms and Thunderstorm, the main characters, such as Cabot and Zhou Puyuan, Abby and Fan Yi, Eben and Zhou Ping, all show something in common. However, due to the difference of the social background and family environment, there are some similarities between these characters in the two dramas, but there are also lots of different points worth discussing.  

Key Words: Desire under the Elms; Thunderstorm; Characters

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

2  Comparative Analysis of the Main Characters-5

2.1 Cabot and Zhou Puyuan: Representatives under Patriarchy-5

2.2 Abbie and Fan Yi: The Pursuit of Material and Freedom-8

2.3 Eben and Zhou Ping: The Misunderstanding of The Absence of Mothers-12

3  Conclusion-14

Bibliography-15

Acknowledgments-16