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

Contents

1. Introduction............................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration........................................................................................................2

2.1Symbolic implications of the settings....................................................................2

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 nature................................................4

2.2 Symbolic implications of the colors......................................................................5

2.2.1 Black: the proletariat..........................................................................................6

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 warning..........................................................................................9

3. Conclusion.............................................................................................................10

Works cited.................................................................................................................11

Bibliograpy.................................................................................................................12

An Analysis of Symbolism in The Hairy Ape

1. Introduction

Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), the founder of American modern drama, is undoubtedly one of American greatest playwrights. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature four times and is the only playwright who won the Nobel Prize (1936). “With the Whitman, the United States really had a poem; with O'Neill, the United States really had a drama” (余54). In his early period of writing career, he published plays like Cardiff, The Moon of the Caribbes, and Beyong the Horizon. Thereinto, Beyong the Horizon brought him his first Pultizer Prize. After that, he wrote The Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape, Desire under the Elm, and Mourning becomes Electra. He won national recognization and another two Pulitzer Prizes due to Strange Interlude and Anna Christies. Although he won Nobel Prize in 1936, O’Neill fell silent on the stage several years. It was not until after his death that the plays of his last period gained recognization. A Long Day’s Journey into Night which won his fourth Putlizer Prize, The Iceman Cometh, and A Moon for the Misforgotten are considered his finest and greatest and the peak of his achievements.

The Hairy Ape, created in the twentieth century, is one of Eugene O’Neill’s famous works. Yank, the hero of the play, is a rough and reckless laborer who tries to find a sense of belonging and social identity in the areas controlled by the rich class. Initially, Yank is satisfied with being recognized as a leader of firemen on the luxury ocean liner, and is highly confident of his power, his strength and his superiority. But everything has changed since Mildred Douglas who is the daughter of the manager of steel trust suddenly visits the boiler compartment. The terrible atmosphere of the boiler cabin and Yank’s cruelty really shock Mildred, and she regards Yank as a dirty beast, which makes Yank's inner peace and superiority broken. Therefore, Yank becomes irritable and withdrawn, and he begins losing himself. He leaves the cruise, wandering in the streets of Manhattan, but he finds himself belonging to neither the celebrities of the Fifth Avenue nor the workers organization. Eventually, he comes to the zoo and sees the ape that makes him feel they are similar, so that he determines to fight side by side with the ape. But when he opens the cage, he is killed by the ape.