The Cambridge Companion to Eugene O’Neill

This is a volume of specially commissioned essays containing studies of Eugene O’Neill’s life, his intellectual and creative forebears, and his relation to the theatrical world of his creative period, 1916–42. Also included are descriptions of the O’Neill canon and its production history on stage and screen, and a series of essays on ‘special topics’ related to the playwright, such as his treatment of women in the plays, his portrayals of Irish and African Americans, and his attempts to deal in dramatic terms with his parental family culminating in his greatest play, Long Day’s Journey Into Night. One of the essays speaks for those who are critical of O’Neill’s work, and the volume concludes with an essay on O’Neill criticism containing a select bibliography of full-length studies of the playwright’s work.

• Accessible collection of essays on a major, studied twentieth-century playwright • Provides thoughts and critiques of O’Neill by a team of specialists • Contains valuable review of O’Neill criticism

List of illustrations; Notes on contributors; Chronology; List of plays and poems; Introduction Michael Manheim; 1. \'Celebrant of loss\': Eugene O’Neill 1888–1953 Stephan A. Black; 2. O’Neill’s philosophical and literary paragons Egil Törnqvist; 3. O’Neill and the theatre of his time Daniel J. Watermeier; 4. From trial to triumph: the early plays Margaret Loftus Ranald; 5. The middle plays James A. Robinson; 6. The late plays Normand Berlin; 7. Notable American stage productions Ronald Wainscott; 8. O’Neill on screen Kurt Eisen; 9. O’Neill’s America: the strange interlude between the wars Brenda Murphy; 10. O’Neill’s African and Irish-Americans: stereotypes or ‘faithful realism’? Edward L. Shaugnessy; 11. O’Neill’s female characters Judith E. Barlow; 12. ‘A tale of possessors self-disposessed’ Donald Gallup; 13. Trying to write the family play: autobiography and the dramatic imagination Jean Chothia; 14. The stature of Long Day’s Journey Into Night Michael Manheim; 15. O’Neill and the cult of sincerity Matthew H. Wikander; 16. O’Neill criticism Michael Manheim; Select bibliography of full-length works; Index.