论文总字数：29674字

摘 要

《榆树下的欲望》是尤金·格拉斯通·奥尼尔笔下一部伟大的悲剧。以弗洛伊德的精神分析理论为基础，为了爱情，他们可以舍弃一切，包括他们一直想要的农场和他们的孩子，从某种意义上来说，是他们爱情的伟大的胜利。本文旨在通过对伊本身上俄狄浦斯情节产生的原因以及在其影响之下伊本和爱碧之间的关系的分析，深刻揭示俄狄浦斯情节引起的悲惨结局并指出伊本的俄狄浦斯情节是其自身悲剧产生的根源。

关键词：尤金·格拉斯通·奥尼尔；《榆树下的欲望》；俄狄浦斯情节

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Eben’s Oedipus Complex in Desire Under the Elms 2

3.1 Eben’s material love for his mother 2

3.2 Eben’s hatred to his father 3

3.3 The mixed emotions between Eben and Abbie 5

4. The Tragic Result of Eben’s Oedipus Complex 7

4.1 The tragedy of the father-child relationship 7

4.2 The tragedy of brotherhood 7

4.3 The tragedy between Eben and Abbie 8

5. The Causes of Eben’s Oedipus Complex 9

5.1 Eben’s family background and experiences 9

5.2 The influence of social environment 10

6. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 12

1. Introduction

Eugene Glastone O’Neill (1888-1953)，as one of the most important writer of American drama (Tao 206), he writes many famous plays including Desire under the Elms. "Desire under the Elms,a tragedy in three parts by Eugene Glastone O’Neill is the last of O’Neill’s naturalistic plays and the first in which he re-created the starkness of Greek tragedy."(Encyclopadia Britannica).

The Oedipus complex originates from the Greek mythology. The double crime of Oedipus didn’t come to light until at last a plague breaks out in Thebes with the oracle being consulted. Jocasta put an end to her own life, and Oedipus, seized with madness, tore out his eyes and wandered away from Thebes. And this is the legend of King Oedipus and the origin of Oedipus Complex, which refers to a person who loves his mother, unnaturally.

Oedipus Complex is a term in psychoanalytic theory put forward by Sigmund Freud. In Interpretation of Dreams, Freud defines the Oedipus Complex as “sexual impulses toward our mothers, and impulses of hatred and violence toward our fathers”(157). That is, during the period of children’s sexual development, they begin to seek sexual subjects from the outside world. Their parents are their first choices with mother as the boy’s choice and father as the girl’s choice. However, it isn’t negative. Freud believes that most men can conquer their Oedipus Complex, because we “have since our childhood succeeded in withdrawing jealousy of our fathers”(157).

The structure of the paper is as follows. In Chapter One, Introduction includes a brief introduction of the work and the author,and Sigmund Freud’s psychic analysis method; In Chapter Two, Literature Review presents the analysis of the researches on the work from home and abroad; In Chapter Three, Eben’s Oedipus Complex in Desire under the Elms involves Eben’s love for his mother, Eben’s hatred to his father and the mixed emotions between Eben and Abbie; In Chapter Four, the Tragic Result of Eben’s Oedipus Complex consists of the tragedy of the father-child relationship, the tragedy of brotherhood and the tragedy between Eben and Abbie; In Chapter Five, The causes of Eben’s Oedipus Complex studies Eben’s family background and experiences and the influence of social environment; In Chapter Six, Conclusion.

2. Literature Review

Since the publication of the play, many critics and scholars studied it from different angles, for example,the roots of his stories and characters, the features of his langue, his opinions of Greek tragedy, as well as his relationship to other writers. Most of them concentrate on the comparative study on O’Neill and other writers. The western scholars mainly study the tragic root in this play, such as "Eugene O’Neill and the Tragic Tension: An Interpretive Study of the Plays" written by Doris V Falk. Agnes Boulton’s work Part of a Long Story, Doris Alexander’s The Tempering of Eugene O’Neill have studied O’Neill from the aspects of his life experiences. Other scholars have still stressed the apparent relationship between O’Neill and other writers. Edwin A. Engel’s The Haunted Heroes of Eugene O’Neill and the Tragic Tension(1958) studies the relationship between O’Neill, Freud, and Jung. Because of the women’s movement and feminist criticism, the scholars express an interest in Eugene O’Neill’s works, due to his attitude to women and his complex characterization of them. Among the excellent scholars working in this field are Trudy Drucker, Doris Nelson, Judith Barlow, Suzanne Burr, and so on; most of them hold negative views about O’Neill’s vision on the female, and only a few of them hold positive outlooks about it.

In China, many scholars have conducted researches on Desire under the Elms from different aspects. Some analyses its linguistic features from the aspect of drama language, while some analyses the symbolism in it. In addition, some focuses on the analysis of the tragic roots in Desire under the Elms, especially the tragic root of woman character, Abbie.

"The control of the Oedipus Complex over Eben is obvious in the play, so is the the irresistible power of sexual attraction"(Huang 374). Huang pointed out the role Oedipus Complex plays in understanding the play. Based on this, the play can be divided from the aspect of the Oedipus Complex over Eben and the tragic results caused by it. The objective of this paper is to study the Oedipus Complex of Eben to give an interpretation of the ending of the work, based on the author’s background and life experiences, as well as Freud’s psychic analysis method.

3. The Oedipus Complex of Eben in Desire Under the Elms

Oedipus Complex is proposed by Sigmund Freud. Everyone is born with Oedipus Complex. It refers to a person who loves his mother, unnaturally.

3.1 Eben’s material love for his mother

Eben’s mother did not appear in the whole play, but we can feel her existence from other characters in the play. She never left Eben although she died several years ago. She was like a shadow or a ghost that lived in Eben’s heart, making Eben believe that her death was caused by his father. Eben "has obsessive love for his mother and is proud of being her son"(Ju Dongmei). Eben’s mother was kind to Eben, and sometimes she sang for him. In Eben’s memory, she was soft and easy, which made Eben miss her so much after her death. Eben once said: "I’m Maw---every drop o’ blood!" "I’m her---her heir." Even Eben’s half brother Peter also said: "She was good t’ Sim’ n’ me. A good Step-maw’s scurse." Simeon also said: "She was good t’ everyone." However, Cabot slaved his mother to death, and even stole her mother’s farm after her death. Therefore, Eben showed hostility to his father all the time and was determined to seize back her mother’s farm at any cost with his dead mother as his motivation. Eben’s Oedipus Complex is reflected by his love for his mother and hatred to his father.

The Oedipus Complex on Eben also partly reflected O’Neill’s love for his own mother. From the author’s background, we can see O’Neill’s shadow on Eben. And to some extent,

Eben’s Oedipus Complex originates from the O’Neill’s Oedipus Complex. Eben is just like O’Neil, who loves his mother, who also married a man older than her. The auther’s father like Eben’s father was very hard on his son and his wife. Until O’Neil’s death, he said to his third wife she had been his mother ( Zhang Huixia).

It’s Eben’s great love for his mother that Abbie took advantage of to seduce Eben and drives Eben to do anything he can to take revenge on his father for his dead mother.

3.2 Eben’s hatred to his father

In the play, Cabot has a farm and three sons, but all his sons hate him because of his apathy and greed. Cabot shows no emotion to his families and keeps them working day and night to make sure of his property. Among all the people, Eben, the youngest son of Cabot, hates him most, because Eben always believes that Cabot slaved his mother to death and stole her farm.

When talking about Eben’s mother, Peter’s words "She was good even t’ him" make Eben agitated. He fiercely answers: "An’ fur thanks he killed her!" He cries out for his mother’s grievances and believes her kindness came to no good. "He resents his father for making his mother work hard to death, and the seed of hatred to his father has been planted in his heart since his mother died"(Ju Dongmei).

When talking about the farm, Peter said: "Two thirds belong t’ us"(Part I, Scene Two). Eben jumped to his feet, saying: "Ye’ve no right! She wa’n’t yewr Maw! It was her farm! Didn’t he steal it from her? She’s dead. It’s my farm"(Part I, Scene Two). Eben believes the farm belongs to his mother and his father stole the farm after her mother’s death. Eben shows strong desire for the farm, believing that he is the only and rightful heir to his mother’s farm. He thinks his father stole something of his. All of these add to his hatred to his father for he not only killed his mother through overwork, but also stole his property.

After his mother’s death, Eben transfers his affection from his mother to the farm. Eben regards the farm as the materialized mother, and in his subconsciousness the farm is the extension of his dead mother. That is, after his mother’s death, the farm has become the bone of contention between Eben and his father.

Eben shows his hatred to his father throughout the play, and he says more than once: "I pray he’s died." He even didn’t admit Cabot is his father, "I hain’t his’n---I hain’t like him---he hain’t me!" When Peter remind him "He’s our Paw", Eben denies violently: "Not mine!" Eben is filled with inveterate hatred to his father for the loss of his beloved mother and the farm which is rightfully his. He blames his mother’s death on his father and determines to do anything he can to compensate for her loss and misery. So when Simeon tells Eben that Minnie had an affair with their father before, "An’ Paw kin tell yew somethin’ too! He was fust!" "Ay-eh! We air his heirs in everythin’!", Eben at first is very angry, but later becomes indifferent to everything, as he thinks: "By God A’mighty she’s purity, an’ I don’t give a damn how many sins she’s sinned afore mine or who she’s sinned ‘em with, my sin’s as purity as any one on ‘em"(Part I,Scene Two). In his subconsciousness, his affair with Minnie, once his father’s woman, is also a form of revenge on his father. It is also his determination to take revenge for his mother that drives him to make love with Abbie, his step-mother, when she wants to seduce him. That is, everything or everyone which his father has or once had, such as the farm, Minnie and even Abbie, are all targets that Eben can make use of as forms of revenge on his father.

3.3 The mixed emotions between Eben and Abbie

The emotion between Eben and Abbie is very sophisticated. Eben always believes that his father stole his mother’s farm and he will do everything he can to get his mother’s farm back. After succeeding in buying out his brothers who head off to California, Eben thinks he will get the farm after Cabot dies. However, Abbie’s appearance as his step-mother ruins his hope. So when Abbie first introduces herself to Eben, he responds to her with hostility "No, damn ye!" Even after Abbie shows friendliness to him, Eben still shows hostility to Abbie, "Yew kin go t’ the devil!"

For Eben, at first, he hates Abbie just like he hates Cabot, believing she will take the farm of his mother. However, when Abbie shows her weakness and confesses her miserable life to Eben, Eben sympathizes a bit with Abbie which he doesn’t want to admit. Just like the words O’Neill uses to describe Eben, "fighting against his growing attraction and sympathy" (Part I,Scene Four). To some extent, Eben and Abbie get a lot in common. They both lose their mother several years ago, and their life is full of endless work without freedom. It is the similarity of them that makes Eben show sympathy to Abbie, and Abbie knows where Eben’s weakness is and take advantage of it to improve her relation with Eben. However, this feeling doesn’t exist long for Abbie’s declaration of ownership of the farm, saying: "This be my farm---this be my hum---this be my kitchen!"(Part I,Scene Four). This hits the most sensitive part of Eben, making him furious, "as if he were going to attack her". For Eben, his mother’s farm is inviolable, no matter who he is. Eben firmly believes Abbie got married with his father just for the purpose to steal his farm. "I mean the farm yew sold yourself fur like any other old whore---my farm!"(Part II,Scene One). Eben’s aversion to Abbie is obvious and hasn’t changed until Part II, Scene Three, when Abbie wants to seduce Eben in his mother’s patrol. Abbie takes advantage of Eben’s love for his mother, making Eben believe she can replace his mother to love Eben. At that moment, Eben’s Oedipus Complex makes him accept the love of his thirty-five-year-old step-mother. His love for Abbie combines with his love for his mother, and he partly takes Abbie as a stand-in of his mother. As the play progresses, Eben breaks out completely after the birth of the baby, realizing Abbie’s trick to get the farm through their baby, making Cabot believe the baby is his son. Eben is so angry, believing he was deceived by Abbie, that he goes for the Sheriff to inform against Abbie. Nevertheless, when he knows that Abbie kills their son to show her love for him, he finally realizes he has already fallen in love with Abbie, feeling guilty for killing the baby and confesses his complicity.

For Abbie, her marriage with the seventy-five-year-old Cabot is just for one purpose, to get his property, as she says in Part I, Scene Four: "Waal---what if I did need a hum? What else would I marry an old man like him fur?" However, when she first comes to the farm, she just can’t help being attracted by Eben’s strong body. At the same time, she is dominated by the desire to own the farm, so she considers Eben as an obstacle to achieve her purpose. She even slanders Eben for his lust for her in the front of Cabot to set Cabot against Eben. The friendliness and motherly care she shows to Eben are just part of her trick to get a baby from Eben to help her inherit the farm. Hereto, Abbie pretends to treat him as a means for her plan, without realizing something has already changed in her mind. After the baby is born, Abbie’s emotion to Eben begins to appear. She finally bravely admits her love for Eben under his query. In order to prove her love, she murders the son of her and Eben’s without hesitation. She loves Eben more than the baby, believing everything will remian the same between them without the baby. Abbie confesses to Eben: "But I loved yew more--an’ yew was goin’ away--far off whar I’d never see ye agen, never kiss ye, never feel ye pressed agin me agen--an’ ye said ye hated me fur havin’ him--ye said ye hated him an’ wished he was dead--ye said if it hadn’t been fur him comin’ it’d be the same’s afore between us."(Part III,Scene Three).

The emotion between Eben and Abbie is Complex, combining with aversion and then great love to each other. In the end, both Eben and Abbie realize the love between them which makes them have the courage to share the consequence of their sin. Eben says to Abbie: "I want t’ share with ye, Abbie--prison ‘r death ‘r hell ‘r anythin’! [...] If I’m sharin’ with ye, I won’t feel lonesome, leastways."

4. The Tragic Result of Eben’s Oedipus Complex

4.1 The tragedy of the father-child relationship

Eben’s Oedipus Complex directly causes the tragedy of the father-child relationship. Eben firmly believes that his father has killed his mother through overwork and steals the farm of his mother after her death. He hates Cabot for slaving his mother to death and depriving the property belonging to him. Eben even feels ashamed to be the son of Cabot, saying "I’m Maw---every drop o’ blood!"

On the other hand, Cabot’s cruelty and greed also deteriorate the father-child relationship. He has little emotion with his families and is very hard on Eben. Cabot hopes he can live up to one hundred years old, even saying: "But if I could, I would, by the Eternal!" Even if one day, he is dying, he will not give the farm to others. Instead, he will burn the whole farm into ground, as he tells Abbie: " ‘R if I could, in my dyin’ hour, I’d set it afire an’ watch it burn--this house an’ every ear o’ corn an’ every tree down t’ the last blade o’ hay! I’d sit an’ know it was all a-dying with me an’ no one else’d ever own what was mine, what I’d made out o’ nothin’ with my own sweat ‘n’ blood!" For Cabot, the farm is everything to him and he will not allow anyone to take it from him. "So the farm causes the conflicts between him and his family. His greed and selfishness destroy his family and also deprive of his own happiness."(Ju Dongmei). Eben’s hatred to Cabot and Cabot’s cruelty and greed cause the tragedy of the father-child relationship.

4.2 The tragedy of brotherhood

Under Cabot’s cruelty and indifference, Eben and his two half-brothers, Peter and Simon, should stand together for their mothers who were slaved to death through overwork. They all hate Cabot, praying him to die earlier, and want to get the farm. However, Eben will never allow anyone to share his mother’s farm, even though they are his brothers. Eben regards the farm as the materialized mother and the extension of his dead mother. So, the farm belongs to him alone. In order to achieve this aim, Eben induces Peter and Simon out of their inheritance to the farm. He persuades his two half brothers to leave for California for gold, giving them some money in exchange for their inheritance to the two thirds of the farm. By doing so, Eben removes two competitors for the farm.

"It is division of parents’ estate and property that becomes a turning point of the brothers’ relationship."(Du Yan). The desire for the farm, which is driven by Eben’s Oedipus Complex to take revenge for his mother, destroys his relationship with his brothers.

4.3 The tragedy between Eben and Abbie

The relationship between Eben and Abbie is also a tragedy caused by Eben’s Oedipus Complex, which goes through a series of courses, from hostility to attraction, doubt and at last to true love.

Under the influence of his Oedipus Complex, Eben shows hostility to Abbie at the beginning for her existence is a great threat to his ownship of the farm. At the same time, Abbie seduces Eben by words and body to have a baby for the sake of the farm. Although Eben resists to and struggles against his emotion to Abbie, he finally sinks into incest with Abbie, because it is his potential nature to long for mother and conquer her. It is Eben’s Oedipus Complex that works. Abbie knows Eben’s emotion to his mother and takes advantage of it to conduct her trick. However, after the baby of Eben and Abbie is born, everything changes. Eben queries Abbie for her intention, but what he doesn’t know is that in the struggle for the ownship of thr farm, they have already fallen in love with each other. Nevertheless, their desire for the farm adds a trace of distrust to their love, making Abbie kill their son to prove her love for Eben. It is when the Sheriff is taking Abbie to get punishment of the Law that Eben finally realizes "he even falls in love with her, feeling guilty for killing the baby and confesses his complicity"(Ju Dongmei).

At the end of the play, Eben decides to bear the consequences of their sin together with Abbie. Eben’s great love for Abbie heals his Oedipus Complex. He fully understands what is true love, and to this extend, it is the new beginning for Eben.

For Abbie, her behaviour is also a great victory of love. Abbie can have two choices: having the baby to get the farm; or killing the baby to prove her love for Eben as the consequence of losing the farm and even her life. Abbie chooses the latter. In this way, what she kills is her desire for wealth, which is a sharp contrast to her greedy when she first came to the farm. By experiencing all of these, Abbie’s spiritual world is no longer blank as she gets her love. Although she has to be punished by Law, she will not be afraid with Eben’s love and company.

5. The Causes of Eben’s Oedipus Complex

5.1 Eben’s family background and experiences

Eben was born in a small village in England in 1850s. This small village is the origin of the tragedy of the desire and passionate love. Eben is the child of Cabot and the second wife. He is a young man with repression and possession. He inherits not only his mother’s dream of beauty and desire of love, but also his father’s cruelty, greed and lasciviousness. His love to his mother results in his hatred to his father,because his mother is tired to death due to his father. However, when he hears the curse to his father by his brother, he think they couldn’t say that. And this indicates that he inherits his mother’s kindness, lenience, sensitivity and acracholia. His kindness decides that he must be defeated by his father, and his sensitivity just indicates that he will eventually be infatuated by Abbie.

Eben was born with his love and loyalty to his mother. And he translates the love into the form of seizing back the farm, and later his passionate love to Abbie.

Unlike Simeon and Peter, Eben plans to take control of the farm long time ago. He manages to let his two brothers sell their shares to him,and then persuades them to leave for California for gold rush. After that, he stays and continues to work for the farm,looking forward to inherit the farm for his dead mother.Unfortunately,his stepmother Abbie comes,and therefore becomes his biggest enemy.However, with the time going, they develop an incestuous love.As a result, they have a son.But Eben misunderstand that Abbie wants this son only to drive him away from the farm.Then Abbie has to kill the son to prove her genuine love to Eben.Eben finally knows the truth and at last they come to the prison together.

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