EUGENE O'NEILL: DESIRE UNDER ELMS (With Text)

Desire Under the Elms is a tragedy of passion, and has generally been regarded as one of O‘Neill’s finest works. It is a tragedy, according to the strict definition of that word, and has the cathartic effect that Aristotle associated with tragedy. Ephraim Cabot, the father, and the owner of the farm, is a figure of tragic stature, causing his downfall by his own pride, yet expressing in himself the permanent values for which he stands. Against him are set the young and passionate lovers, whose love is bound up with the land-hunger which motivates Cabot, but is finally released from it. The lovers, too, rise to tragic dignity at the end, even though their passion is undoubtedly sinful and illicit. Nobody will justify the illicit passion of Abbie and Eben, and yet at the end we cannot help feeling a profound sympathy for them. This play has been regarded as one of the first classics to produced by the American theatre. The present critical study seeks to analyze and examine the multi-layered text in all aspects to make it more accessible to students in our universities. Shakti Batra has been Vice-Principal, Dyal Singh College (University of Delhi). He has also taught at the Kabul University and The International University of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek as well as students from the Tibetan Public Service Commission, Dharamsala, and Kiyushu University, Japan.

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