Thirst

by Eugene O'Neill

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was born on October 16, 1888 in a hotel bedroom in what is now Times Square, New York. Much of his childhood was spent in the comfort of books at boarding schools whilst his actor father was on the road and his Mother contended with her own demons. He spent only a year at University - Princeton - and various reasons have been given for his departure. However whatever his background and education denied or added to his development it is agreed amongst all that he was a playwright of the first rank and possibly America's greatest. His introduction of realism into American drama was instrumental in its development and paved a path for many talents thereafter. Of course his winning of both the Pulitzer Prize (4 times) and the Nobel Prize are indicative of his status. His more famous and later works do side with the disillusionment and personal tragedy of those on the fringes of society but continue to build upon ideas and structures he incorporated in his early one act plays. Eugene O'Neill suffered from various health problems, mainly depression and alcoholism. In the last decade he also faced a Parkinson's like tremor in his hands which made writing increasingly difficult. But out of such difficulties came plays of the calibre of The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Eugene O'Neill died in Room 401 of the Sheraton Hotel on Bay State Road in Boston, on November 27, 1953, at the age of 65. As he was dying, he whispered his last words: "I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room and died in a hotel room."

Genres: Plays

43 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

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

[Youssef Al Brawy · Rating 3 out of 5]

يوچين أونيل في ظاهر هذه المسرحية قد يبدو ساذجًا، يجسد الميلودراما في قالب غير قالبها، لكن في جوانبها سنجد التراجيديا الشبيهة برسوم الماندالا تمامًا، تبدو جميلة لكن لا نعرف أين بداية الرسمة من نهايتها. وأحداث المسرحية على بساطتها تعالج فكرة فلسفية تسبب الكثير من الاختلاف وهي معضلة الأخلاق، فالفتاة هنا من أجل شربة ماء تخلت عن مبادئها، والبحار تفكّك تماسكه وفعل ما فعل، فما فعله الاثنان يعتبر بعيدًا عن الأخلاق بالنسبة لفكرة إيمانويل كانت عن التعليل الأخلاقي المطلق، وعلى الجانب الآخر هو عين الأخلاق بالنسبة لفكرة چيرمي بنثام عن التعليل الأخلاقي المرتبط بالعواقب، فمن هو الصحيح أو على الأقل الأقرب للصحة؟

توقعت أن يدلي أونيل بأي تعليق ولو بسيط عن هذا الموضوع، لكن بين كل هذه التساؤلات والتحليلات، أنهى أونيل المسرحية بطريقة غير متوقعة نفت كل ما كان في رأسي من حلول سيقدمها، وأظهرت شيئًا مختلفًا تمامًا لم يكن في الحسبان.

يوچين أونيل مسرحيٌّ جيد، ممتن لفيلم وودي آلن: عجلة العجائب لأنه دفعني كي أقرأ له بدلًا من تجاهلي التام لأعماله.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short, interesting play (vignette?) by O'Neill--it is discussed in the other book I'm reading (Race, Politics, and Irish America: A Gothic History) so I had to track it down. Strange scene of three people on a life raft, survivors of a ship wreck, slowly (or not so slowly going insane from the heat and thirst.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conceptually, this play comes from a great place, but it is dated rather unfortunately by racism and sexism. It has a couple great monologues in it, but those can't redeem the piece overall.

[Book Enchanted · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it.

[Debashis Bandyopadhyay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome drama...enjoyed very much.