"The Hairy Ape" by Eugene O'Neill is a play set in the early 1900s, centering on Yank, a burly coal stoker, as he struggles with his sense of self and belonging in a world sharply divided by social class. The story begins in the grimy depths of a transatlantic ship, where Yank finds pride in his physical strength and essential role keeping the engines running, living among his fellow workers who try to numb their hard lives with drink. This rough existence is contrasted by the wealthy passengers, especially Mildred Douglas, who is horrified when she glimpses Yank. Her rejection triggers an existential crisis in Yank, sending him on a journey to find his place and purpose, or if mankind even needs him, in a society that seems to have no place for him.
The Hairy Ape
By Eugene O'Neill
A coal stoker's pride turns to rage and despair as he searches for identity in a world that despises his existence.
Summary
About the AuthorEugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier associated with Chekhov, Ibsen, and Strindberg. The tragedy Long Day's Journey into Night is often included on lists of the finest U.S. plays in the 20th century, alongside Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. He was awarded the 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature. O'Neill is also the only playwright to win four Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier associated with Chekhov, Ibsen, and Strindberg. The tragedy Long Day's Journey into Night is often included on lists of the finest U.S. plays in the 20th century, alongside Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. He was awarded the 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature. O'Neill is also the only playwright to win four Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.
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