奥尼尔的《悲悼》与母性神话

Contents

Abstract.............................................................................................................................I 摘要...........................................................................................................................III Introduction. (1)

Chapter One The Origin of O’Neill’s Preference for Motherly Women (8)

A. Short of Maternal Love in Dysfunction Family (9)

B. Shaping Motherly Women under the Influence of Psychoanalysis (13)

C. Spiritual Home for Those Who Have Lost Faith (18)

Chapter Two The Subversion of the Mythos of Motherhood (21)

A. The Abnormal Relationship Between Mother And Son (21)

B. The Loss of Motherhood in Culture Collision (25)

C. Mother’s Struggle under the Persona (30)

Chapter Three The Reconstruction of Motherhood (35)

A. Island Mother’s Potential Force (36)

B. The Eden Full of Maternal Love (39)

C. Soul Aegis from Island Mother (44)

Conclusion (47)

Works Cited (49)

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Mourning Becomes Electra and the Mythos of

Motherhood

Abstract

Eugene O’Neill, an outstanding American playwright in the twentieth Century, wrote numerous domestic plays full of memorable women characters. Whether the women protagonists have motherhood or not is his permanent measurement of commenting and criticizing the female. From the image of the mother Christine in Mourning Becomes Electra, not only the subversion of the mythos of motherhood will be analyzed, but the relationship between maternal power and natural power implied in the drama will also be elucidated in this paper. O’Neill has been regarded as “Modern Moses” in the history of the American drama. After the emergence of the spiritual predicament symbolized by faith breaking in the 1920s, his reconstruction of the mythos of motherhood has a profound significance.

This thesis is composed of three parts. The first part contains a brief introduction to the research methods, the author and his writings. Then it critically summarizes the scholarship on Mourning Becomes Electra, which is classified into three trends: comparative studies, psychoanalysis and tragic aesthetic investigations.

The second part is divided into three chapters, which are: the origin of O’Neill’s preference for motherly women, the subversion of the mythos of motherhood and O’Neill’s reconstruction of motherhood in Mourning Becomes Electra. In chapter one the origin of O’Neill’s preference for motherly women is discussed. From the female characters portrayed in O’Neill’s plays, we can see the playwright eulogizes the great motherhood from the perspective of maintaining the traditional social culture. The reasons for him to give a strong motherhood instinct for the female in his works are related to the playwright’s own life experiences and family environment as well as historical context of the twentieth century that was filled up with the spiritual crisis. O’Neill, a playwright, attaches much importance to pure love. He thinks that tragedy, most likely, results from selfish or utilitarian love. With maternal love as an effective

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