The Rope

by Eugene O'Neill

From the Eugene O'Neill Newsletter: "O'Neill's script begins with preparations by the niggardly father, Abraham Bentley, for the return of his prodigal son, Luke. Old Bentley hid the remainder of the family fortune at one end of a rope he arranged in the barn--the noose at the other end is in plain sight. He receives the young man with a mixture of obvious joy and of inarticulate urgings for Luke to hang himself. Young Bentley does not become aware of the morbid joke below the surface of his father's mutterings, and nearly kills the old man before storming out in a rage. It is the halfwitted granddaughter, Mary, who finds the gold at the end of the rope and chucks it piecemeal into the ocean."

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

American playwright Eugene Gladstone O'Neill authored Mourning Becomes Electra in 1931 among his works; he won the Nobel Prize of 1936 for literature, and people awarded him his fourth Pulitzer Prize for Long Day's Journey into Night , produced in 1956.

He won his Nobel Prize "for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy." More than any other dramatist, O'Neill introduced the dramatic realism that Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish playwright August Strindberg pioneered to Americans and first used true American vernacular in his speeches.

His plays involve characters, who, engaging in depraved behavior, inhabit the fringes of society, where they struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair. O'Neill wrote Ah, Wilderness! , his only comedy: all his other plays involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism.

Reviews

[Nourhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

الحبل، يوجين اونيل، ١٩١٩م، ترجمة نعيم عطيه

تبدأ القصة عندما يعود الابن، الذي كان غائبًا لفترة طويلة، إلى منزل عائلته في المزرعة. يجلب معه حبلًا طويلًا ويدعي أنه يمكن استخدامه لاستخراج كنز دفين في البئر المهجور الموجود في المزرعة. هذا الادعاء يثير الطمع داخل العائلة، حيث يبدأ كل فرد في السعي لتحقيق مصالحه الخاصة، مما يؤدي إلى تصاعد الصراعات والمواجهات بينهم.

على مدار المسرحية، يتم الكشف عن الحقد والأنانية داخل الأسرة، حيث تتلاشى الروابط العائلية تحت ضغط الطمع والخداع.

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great one-act by Eugene O'Neill. It was written in his early career before his first Pulizter, and you can tell that he is still figuring out his voice and his style. It is written in a realistic style, and somewhat reads like a mystery novel. He weaves the story very carefully and the end is definitely a good payoff. I also left thinking about the father for many days after, how you hate that character at the beginning of the play because of how all the other characters talk about him, so when he asks his son to hang himself, you have no idea that it is only a joke, and, actually a gift for the prodigal son's return. However, the tragedy is that the son will never know that, and the father, the audience assumes will be dead. Also, the description of the father's hurt as his son beats him, is not fully understood until the secret is revealed at the end. So few plays leave such an indelible mark in my memory of a moment missed or a beautiful humanity that will never be known. I liked it for the shadows it left in my mind after I read it, and I will continue to like it for that.

[Maho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ana babaya saygı kalmamış. Yazık...herkes bir prodigal son vah ki ne vah, mala me şeviti

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This play is full of surprises. To start off, there is not one really likable character in this one act play. Despite that fact, you are pulled into their story and care about what happens to the characters. Allusion is used heavily in this play, but it is turned on its head. And you will not see the ending coming. It is utterly mind blowing. I highly recommend this.

[Tejas Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dreary one-act play, steeped in darkest cynicism. Didn't really enjoy it though it's reasonably well-written. Possibly would have better impact as a staged production, but I don't think I care enough to find out.