Symbolic Image of Sky in Desire under the Elms

杜曼丽 石军辉

摘 要：《榆樹下的欲望》是美国剧作家尤金·奥尼尔的代表作之一。奥尼尔在《榆树下的欲望》中不仅以现实生活为蓝本， 更揉入了许多寓意深刻的象征成分。本论文从象征主义的表现手法方面分析欣赏奥尼尔的著名悲剧《榆树下的欲望》，通过对作品中天空的象征意象的研究，使我们加深对奥尼尔戏剧的创作思想及其作品的主题意义的理解，同时更有利于寻找现代悲剧的创作根源。

关键词： 奥尼尔；《榆树下的欲望》；象征意象

Abstract：Desire under the Elms is one of the master pieces of Eugene ONeill. The work reveals a tragedy of spiritual and survival desire of human being. Under the influence of modernism which appeared in the early 20 century， ONeill also adopt the symbolic techniques to disclose cruelty of real life in the play. The thesis will analyze symbolic images of sky，to highlight the destructive power of improper desires in Desire under the Elms，which can help us have a deeper understanding of ONeills thoughts and the thematic meaning of his play.

Key words： ONeill Desire under the Elms symbolic images

1.Introduction

Desire under the Elms is the representative work of American playwright Eugene Gladstone ONeill （1888—1953）. The work reveals a tragedy of spiritual and survival desire of human being. Under the influence of mordenism which appeared in the early 20 century， ONeill also adopt the symbolic techniques to disclose cruity of real life in the play. In the play， ONeill revealed material and wealth desire in capitalist society in a roundabout way by applying symbolic images. With the help of many vivid symbols， he demonstrated abstract conceptions and unfathomable senses concretely， created fresh and stark images subtlety， set unexpected plots naturally， and made the drama successfully. In the tragedy， ONeill applied many symbols to reveal the smothering Puritan life， Freudian psychology and American dream about wealth. This thesis tries to deal with the symbolic images in Desire under the Elms. It aims to give a more comprehensive and better interpretation of the play， find his motion of creation and try to find the root of tragedy of modern people.

2.Symbolic Images in Desire under the Elms

And in this famous tragic play， the symbolistic way is fully applied， especially the symbol of elms. The introductory words of the general scenery in the beginning of the play establish the overwhelming grim atmosphere of the whole play. The color of the stonewalls is“sickly grayish”，the green of the shuttles is faded，and above all，the two enormous elms standing on each side of the home imply the evil in the family： “They brood oppressively over the house. They are like exhausted women resting their sagging breasts and hands and hair on its roof. And when it rains their tears trickle down monotonously and rot on the shingles” People 1iving under these uncommon elms are possessed by two kinds of desires： desire of material Wealth represented by gold and farm and desire of sex.

2.1Symbolic Image of Sky in Desire under the Elms

As the father of American drama， ONeill is the first man who proverb serious theme of the play and who test the traditional play. For him， the misfortune of mankind is not only the result of imbalance of the society.The tragedy scene which troubles ONeill is not only embodied by a tragic ending in the play.He needs something more powerful and more mysterious in a form which can state that man not only has relationship with society but also with the universe which is bigger than the mankind and society. ONeill depicts and outlines the image of sky as the symbol of universe and God with a heavy writing. When Eben appears on the scène for the first time， he is described as： He puts his hands on his lips and stares at the sky.He sighs with a puzzled awe and blunts out with halting appreciation： “God！ Purty”. The sky symbols the true beauty， the great power and the eternal vast world which gives the hope， dream， even illusion to people on the earth. Ebben feels confused about life，he seeks into the nature in the hope to find out the mysterious power which control the world.The sky in the play is the representation of universe， is the embodiment of the God. Compares with the time-transcendent universe and sky， the span of mans life is shot， fragile and negligible.Mans veneration and appreciation to the sky shows their constant pursue for supreme beauty and power， their longing for freedom， their reverence for the mysterious and vast universe， and their comply and devoutness to the God who lives in the heaven sky. So the main character of the play constantly looks at the sky and praise the beauty of the sky.The sky makes them think about the meaning of life.

To be concrete， in Caborts eyes， sky symbols as God from whom he seeks power， courage， guide and hope. Especially when he talks his past to Ebbie in dialogue，several times he mentions： “--Purty，haint it？--The sky feels like a wam field up ‘thar.--Gods hard， not easy！”. To Simeon and Peter， Caborts two senior sons，the endless sky is the symbol of freedom for which they go to panning in California.In the first scene of the play， looking at the gorgeous sunset， Peter thinks the gold in western American.He also wants to pan for wealth in western to realize the dream of money success. Eben usually airs his depression to sky to seek console，help and dream.

At the end of the play，the true love between Eben and Ebbie overcome the greedy material desire.Cabort step out of the farmhouse，looking at sky，his depressed feeling has been vent out： “—God othe old！， God othe lonesome！”.Eben once hopes Ebbie to escape，but Ebbie doesnt agree： “I got ttake my punishment—tpay fur my sin.”Eben says： “—then I want tshare it with ye—I get tpay fur my part othe sin！—Iwant tshare with ye—Ebbie—Prisonr death rhellr anythin！—I wont feel lonesome，leastways.”When coming out from the farmland hand in hand， Eben points at the rays of the morning sun in the sky： “—Suns，a-rizin.Purty，haint it？？” “-- yes， it is” They stare at the ringing sun with uncertain and pious expression. The sky is the symbol of their beautiful image for happy life no matter what has happened or what would happen in their life.The sky is so mysterious to capture，so obviously， the image of sky hints the tragic ending of the play on some degree.