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Anna Christie
Eugene O'Neill's 1922 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, "Anna Christie," is the story of a young woman who following an illness decides to visit and spend some time with her father, a coal barge captain who she hardly knows. During this time she meets a sailor, Mat, who is looking to settle down, and the two fall in love. "Anna Christie" is a gripping drama of a woman torn between the expectations of two men, her father and her lover, and the shocking confession of her past life that this conflict evokes.
49 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 1921
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About the author
Eugene O'Neill
530 books1,242 followersAmerican 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.
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.
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March 6, 2020 مسرحية " آنا كريستي" للكاتب الأمريكي " يوجين أونيل" ..
لا أدري من أين أتيت بكل هذه الدموع التي بللت وجهي من أجلك يا "آنا" ...، أشفقتُ عليكِ كثيراً..
لقد شاءت الأقدار أن تهديكِ حباً صادقاً مخلصاً ليحرركِ من لعنة كانت توسمكِ وتضيق بكِ ذرعاً، لقد طهركِ الحب يا " آنا" ولربما يكون سبباً ليبدد تعاستك ويحيلكٍ امرأة وقد نفضت يديها مما كان ، و انقشعت الغمامة عن قلبها المسكين إيذاناً لحياة جديدة بإنتظارها...
لا أدري من أين أتيت بكل هذه الدموع التي بللت وجهي من أجلك يا "آنا" ...، أشفقتُ عليكِ كثيراً..
لقد شاءت الأقدار أن تهديكِ حباً صادقاً مخلصاً ليحرركِ من لعنة كانت توسمكِ وتضيق بكِ ذرعاً، لقد طهركِ الحب يا " آنا" ولربما يكون سبباً ليبدد تعاستك ويحيلكٍ امرأة وقد نفضت يديها مما كان ، و انقشعت الغمامة عن قلبها المسكين إيذاناً لحياة جديدة بإنتظارها...
September 11, 2019
I'd never seen nor read this 1922 Pulitzer Prize winning play, which was also awarded a Tony Award for best revival in 1993, but I listened to a good audio version this morning. I suspect--having seen a few of O'Neill's plays years ago, that this will not be considered one of his best, but it was engaging.
Old Chris, a sailor, meets his daughter Anna whom he hasn't seen for 15 years. Thy both have lied about their past. Mat Burke, another sailor, gets rescued and Anna and Mat fall in love. There's a struggle for control of Anna between the two men, who leave together on a boat bound for Cape Horn, both committed to return to her.
The Big Reveal (sorry, spoiler alert) that would have be shocking I imagine in a 1922 play, is that when Anna left home she left because she had been raped by a relative, was thus "unable to marry" and lived life as a prostitute. All of the principal characters have lied about their pasts, though, so the basic move of the play is forgiveness of each other.
I have been reading/listening to a lot of great drama; this doesn't quite measure up to some of the others I have been reading, but Anna is an interesting, strong, complex character, maybe especially given the time it was written.
Old Chris, a sailor, meets his daughter Anna whom he hasn't seen for 15 years. Thy both have lied about their past. Mat Burke, another sailor, gets rescued and Anna and Mat fall in love. There's a struggle for control of Anna between the two men, who leave together on a boat bound for Cape Horn, both committed to return to her.
The Big Reveal (sorry, spoiler alert) that would have be shocking I imagine in a 1922 play, is that when Anna left home she left because she had been raped by a relative, was thus "unable to marry" and lived life as a prostitute. All of the principal characters have lied about their pasts, though, so the basic move of the play is forgiveness of each other.
I have been reading/listening to a lot of great drama; this doesn't quite measure up to some of the others I have been reading, but Anna is an interesting, strong, complex character, maybe especially given the time it was written.
March 23, 2016
This award winning play by Eugene O'Neill was brought to the stage in the 1920's in both New York and London. It has been revived several times over the years and was also made into a movie. It's the story of a young girl returning home to her seafaring father, trying to rebuild her life, trying to find a safe harbor from a world of prostitution, and maybe even find real love somehow.
It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1923. It also won a 1993 Tony Award in the US and an Oliver Award in England for best revival of a play.
It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1923. It also won a 1993 Tony Award in the US and an Oliver Award in England for best revival of a play.
June 30, 2021
کوتاه و ساده و جمع و جور
با پایانی که نفهمیدم چی به چی شد
با پایانی که نفهمیدم چی به چی شد
December 21, 2016
مسرحية درامية مفعمة بالمشاعر، في ثمانين صفحة فقط يناقش أونيل الفقر وعلاقة الأب بابنته والدين والحب بحوار رائع ومميز، المسرحية فقيرة في مشاهدها ولا تمثل تحدي يذكر لمن يرغب في تقديمها على المسرح ولكنها في حاجة لممثلين على أعلى مستوى لأن تعتمد أساساً على الحوار المفعم بالمشاعر. على غير العادة نهاية المسرحية سعيدة وإن كانت تفتح علامات إستفهام حول مستقبل أبطالها.
قراءتها بالإنجليزية ولكن توجد ترجمة عربية لـ د/ عبد الله عبد الحافظ متولي في سلسلة من المسرح العالمي.
قراءتها بالإنجليزية ولكن توجد ترجمة عربية لـ د/ عبد الله عبد الحافظ متولي في سلسلة من المسرح العالمي.
November 6, 2016
As is the case with Eugene O'Neil's plays, Anna Christie is sad, depressing and makes you run for whiskey just like the way Greta Garbo immortalized the line: "Give me a whiskey, ginger ale on the side and don't be stingy, baby."
June 26, 2021
A freebie for Kindle from Amazon. As you would expect from O'Neill drinking and bars figure heavily here. It won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize and the play was also awarded a Tony Award for best revival in 1993.
O'Neill writes the dialogue in a Swedish dialect which may have helped the actors but was hard to follow. At times I had to speak the lines out line to figure out what was being said, py jingo. A bo'sun stands for a boatswain, a petty officer that is the seniormost rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull.
Who played the main character in 1930?
O'Neill writes the dialogue in a Swedish dialect which may have helped the actors but was hard to follow. At times I had to speak the lines out line to figure out what was being said, py jingo. A bo'sun stands for a boatswain, a petty officer that is the seniormost rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull.
Who played the main character in 1930?
September 28, 2025
Reading Nobel writers really has its rewards sometimes. I probably wouldn't have come across this play anytime, but it is really impactful and it packs a punch. Wonderful audio version as well.
July 10, 2015
Most people know Anna Christie as the Garbo movie where the actress demanded "Give me a whiskey, ginger ale on the side --and don't be stingy, baby."
The acerbic line comes straight from O'Neill's play, but the real salt comes from Anna's father, a cartoonish sailor with lines written in Swedish Chef-style dialect (he says "pooty" for "pretty.")
Anna's love interest is a nasty lout, and he's plenty despicable.
A pat ending on top of the 2D characters keeps this from being great O'Neill, but (like the example above) there are some fun one-liners.
Worth reading out loud, if you can keep a straight face.
The acerbic line comes straight from O'Neill's play, but the real salt comes from Anna's father, a cartoonish sailor with lines written in Swedish Chef-style dialect (he says "pooty" for "pretty.")
Anna's love interest is a nasty lout, and he's plenty despicable.
A pat ending on top of the 2D characters keeps this from being great O'Neill, but (like the example above) there are some fun one-liners.
Worth reading out loud, if you can keep a straight face.
December 23, 2014
This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama from 1922 was surprisingly modern in its language. I read this whilst listening to the Librivox recording, which I found helpful for the Swedish & Irish accents -- sometimes I had no trouble understanding the spoken word when the written dialect was difficult.
In terms of plot, it seemed strangely similar to Ibsen to me (except for being set in America).
In terms of plot, it seemed strangely similar to Ibsen to me (except for being set in America).
January 20, 2015
And it has even an extraordinary happy enfing!!!
April 23, 2022
The best part of this Eugene O’Neill play is the title character, Anna Christie. Strong, compelling, and sympathetic, she demands our attention while surrounded with cliche characters and a pot boiler plot. Both other principal characters, her Swedish immigrant father and Irish rogue love interest are as flat and one dimensional as the stage accents their dialogue is written in. The plot is standard fallen woman/redemption, and the happy ending is too pat and unrealistic for the set up. Yet despite all these flaws the play is worth the reading for Anna Christie herself.
December 30, 2022
Another Nobel Prize winner - and a Pulitzer winner as well for this work.
I enjoyed the theatrical production of this audiobook - as well as the play itself. In some ways old-fashioned, but I guess the woman telling the two sailors (her new-found dad and her suitor) that none of them owns her but her is a bit more modern.
I enjoyed the theatrical production of this audiobook - as well as the play itself. In some ways old-fashioned, but I guess the woman telling the two sailors (her new-found dad and her suitor) that none of them owns her but her is a bit more modern.
November 6, 2019
This American play, written in 1921, was one of two little Eugene O'Neill volumes that I decided to read back to back.
The first scene opens with Chris Christopherson, more commonly known as "Old Chris," relaxing at a pub, and telling fellow drinkers and friends about his daughter, Anna Christie, who is coming to visit him. Chris hasn't seen his daughter since she was two years old, which was 15 years ago. Chris' ex-wife was driven mad by her husband's occupation as a sailor, and came to hate the sea and any men having anything to do with it. And so, long ago, she took their child and moved to a safely landlocked state. Now, Anna is coming to visit her father for the first time, and he isn't at all sure what to expect or how to act.
Anna arrives in town just a few pages later, strolling into the same local pub that her father has just exited. Her father, knowing that Anna's mother will have brought her up to loathe the sea, has lied to her and told her that he is a janitor, but it doesn't take very long for Anna to discover that in reality, her father is captain of a coal barge. The scene ends with her being horrified, and vowing that she will never stay with her father if it means living on the water.
When the next scene opens, apparently some time has passed, and Anna seems to be taking to sea life very well. She is enamored by the sea, and loves to simply stand on the deck for hours taking in the water, the fog, and the salty air. Chris, rather than being pleased, does all he can to rid his daughter of this enchantment, doing his best to portray the ocean and sailors in the worst light possible.
Shortly after, a marooned sailor is rescued from the water and brought aboard the ship. The man, whose name is Burke, takes an immediate fancy to Anna, but it isn't until she sends him sprawling over the deck with a good punch (for flirting) that he falls in love.
Anna, though she has similar feelings, is plagued by her knowledge that nothing can ever work out between she and Burke, due to her past as a prostitute.
This play had an interesting enough storyline to keep me reading, and I finished it quickly in one sitting. The characters are all simple, realistic people that you can easily imagine as people - whether on a stage or in real life. And because the play is relatively short, O'Neill doesn't waste any time moving from one scene to another.
I found the underlying character of the sea interesting: Chris, a man of the sea himself, apparently agrees with his ex-wife's sentiments about its evil. Though he has held some respectable ranks as captain and bosun on other vessels before, he is ashamed rather than proud of these accomplishments, and is agonized when he hears his daughter boasting about them. Rather than be happy that Anna discovers a love for the sea, he is horrified. He tells her dark tales of people being drowned, terrible storms, and portrays all sailors as duplicitous, unscrupulous scoundrels. Most of all, he warns her against marrying a sailor, who he says will only leave her for his first love - the sea.
The sea is portrayed as an addictive mistress that is both loved and hated.
Of course, in the end, Anna does end up with a sailor. He promises that he will never leave her for very long, that he will take her with him on voyages when he can, and that he will never even look at any of the other women in seaside ports. But we have to wonder if this is true, or if Chris is right.
Of the two plays by O'Neill that I read (the other being "The Emperor Jones") I liked this one best.
The first scene opens with Chris Christopherson, more commonly known as "Old Chris," relaxing at a pub, and telling fellow drinkers and friends about his daughter, Anna Christie, who is coming to visit him. Chris hasn't seen his daughter since she was two years old, which was 15 years ago. Chris' ex-wife was driven mad by her husband's occupation as a sailor, and came to hate the sea and any men having anything to do with it. And so, long ago, she took their child and moved to a safely landlocked state. Now, Anna is coming to visit her father for the first time, and he isn't at all sure what to expect or how to act.
Anna arrives in town just a few pages later, strolling into the same local pub that her father has just exited. Her father, knowing that Anna's mother will have brought her up to loathe the sea, has lied to her and told her that he is a janitor, but it doesn't take very long for Anna to discover that in reality, her father is captain of a coal barge. The scene ends with her being horrified, and vowing that she will never stay with her father if it means living on the water.
When the next scene opens, apparently some time has passed, and Anna seems to be taking to sea life very well. She is enamored by the sea, and loves to simply stand on the deck for hours taking in the water, the fog, and the salty air. Chris, rather than being pleased, does all he can to rid his daughter of this enchantment, doing his best to portray the ocean and sailors in the worst light possible.
Shortly after, a marooned sailor is rescued from the water and brought aboard the ship. The man, whose name is Burke, takes an immediate fancy to Anna, but it isn't until she sends him sprawling over the deck with a good punch (for flirting) that he falls in love.
Anna, though she has similar feelings, is plagued by her knowledge that nothing can ever work out between she and Burke, due to her past as a prostitute.
This play had an interesting enough storyline to keep me reading, and I finished it quickly in one sitting. The characters are all simple, realistic people that you can easily imagine as people - whether on a stage or in real life. And because the play is relatively short, O'Neill doesn't waste any time moving from one scene to another.
I found the underlying character of the sea interesting: Chris, a man of the sea himself, apparently agrees with his ex-wife's sentiments about its evil. Though he has held some respectable ranks as captain and bosun on other vessels before, he is ashamed rather than proud of these accomplishments, and is agonized when he hears his daughter boasting about them. Rather than be happy that Anna discovers a love for the sea, he is horrified. He tells her dark tales of people being drowned, terrible storms, and portrays all sailors as duplicitous, unscrupulous scoundrels. Most of all, he warns her against marrying a sailor, who he says will only leave her for his first love - the sea.
The sea is portrayed as an addictive mistress that is both loved and hated.
Of course, in the end, Anna does end up with a sailor. He promises that he will never leave her for very long, that he will take her with him on voyages when he can, and that he will never even look at any of the other women in seaside ports. But we have to wonder if this is true, or if Chris is right.
Of the two plays by O'Neill that I read (the other being "The Emperor Jones") I liked this one best.
November 21, 2010
Just another one of O'Neil's mediocre early works. The story is pretty good, although I could have done without the over-the-top happy ending. It gets bogged down by the same problem that haunts much of O'Neill's work. His insistence on forcing the accents on the page. Yes, I understand he is writing a script, not so much something to be read. His insistence on writing the accents in so forcibly makes the works almost impossible to read and shows that he lacks confidence in his actors. One could simply say in the stage directions that Chris speaks with a Swedish accent and Mat with an Irish one and let the actors do their work. Instead, he insists on creating illegible pages.
January 2, 2010
Another mediocre play which follows the theme of society and 'fallen women'. Anna Christie moves in with her father on a coal barge and falls in love with a sailor, Matt, who unfortunately doesn't get along with her father. The two men struggle for who has control over Anna until she is disgusted with the whole buisness and reveals she was a prostitute before living with her father. The revalation has a shocking effect on the two men in her life, but the ending is happy. But frankly it would have been more entertaining if the three main characters drowned.
September 11, 2016
3.5 stars
This ended very abruptly for me. The Project Gutenberg copy I was reading said there were 69 pages to go, but the next page was the end of the play!
I found the phonetic spelling of the Swedish and Irish accents difficult to follow in this play, probably 4 stars without that,
This ended very abruptly for me. The Project Gutenberg copy I was reading said there were 69 pages to go, but the next page was the end of the play!
I found the phonetic spelling of the Swedish and Irish accents difficult to follow in this play, probably 4 stars without that,
July 24, 2016
I absolutely love O'Neill's work, and was prepared to give this play 5 stars right up until the end, which fell a bit flat for me. The audiobook was really well done.
August 9, 2016
I listened to this as an audio-book while following along in my paperback copy [that had the TINIEST print - WOW]. I felt this was very well done, but it was a very sad play. Very sad indeed.
May 25, 2017
This may possibly be my favorite O'Neill play, although I'd need to reread it before I stated that for certain.
July 11, 2023
Naturalist topics (prostitution, dysfunctional family, alcohol) but with a happy ending. The use of the sea is very good.
November 3, 2024
Pjäs i 4 akter, den andra O'Neill pjäs jag läst denna vecka. Den tillhör de tidiga Pulitzerprisvinnarna, 1921. Och blev nästan genast stumfilm (finns på Youtube). Så snart ljudfilmstekniken kom beslöt man sig för en remake av O'Neills prisvinnande pjäsen, vilken också blev Greta Garbos första talfilm. Jag måste ha sett den för länge sedan, när svartvita filmer visades på TV, men minns inte så mycket mer än att hennes röst i ett slag blev lika berömd som hennes fotogeniska ansikte. Det lustiga är att hon även fick göra en tysk version, i samma veva, men med tyska skådespelare och annan regissör än i den amerikanska versionen. Den tyska finns faktiskt på Youtube, så den beslöt jag se efter att ha läst pjäsen. Den tyska är inte helt trogen pjästexten, det finns smärre ändringar, vilket jag utgår ifrån att den amerikanska inte har (?). Men det mesta är identiskt, och i synnerhet Greta Garbo gör sin roll lika lysande på tyska.
Pjäsen handlar om Anna och hennes svenska far, sjömannen Old Chris. Medan han har hållit sig på havet hela livet, har han dotter, tidigt moderslös, fått växa upp hos släktingar i Minnesota, under hårda förhållanden, utnyttjad på mer än ett sätt. Båda befinner sig på en lastpråm när de räddar en irländsk sjöman, Mat Burke. Först av allt inser jag att precis som i 'Emperor Jones', som jag läste för ett par dagar sedan, där de svartas repliker skrevs som ett sorts afro-amerikanskt idiom, sker här samma sak. Alla repliker avspeglar svenskt resp irländskt uttal av engelska. Uttalsvarianter tycks vara viktigt för O'Neill, och mig - som svensk - roar det, även om vissa stavningar blir svårgissade för mig. Lilla Anna, säger den olyckliga fadern ibland, men Anna förstår inte längre svenska.
Det andra jag tänker på är att O'Neill i båda pjäserna vill skildra de enklaste människors själsliv, rädslor och förhållanden. Gräsrötter intresserar mer än den medel- och överklass som tidigare vanligtvis skildrats på teater. Och här i 'Anna Christie' är det i första hand mannens bild av kvinnan som är frågeställningen. Varför döma en kvinna som tvingas leva på sin kropp för att överleva? Varför är det mer förkastligt än att sjömännen besöka horhus i varje hamn världen runt?
Anna Christie stönar, hon hatar män för att de är likadana överallt. Alltså ett tidigt försök att väcka debatt. Socialpsykologiskt kring könsroller. Old Chris har 'havet', the she-devil, som Syndabock. Havet som lockar alla män ut, bort från sina hustrur och barn, och slutligen dränker dem. Han kan tyckas rädd för dess makt, men det är också ett sätt att fly undan ansvar. Mat Burke känner sig stark och oövervinnerlig i förhållande till Havet, andra män och även kvinnor, men Anna förälskar han sig i. Fadern Chris och sjömannen Mat, blir rivaler. Chris vill behålla dottern för sig själv, när hon nu äntligen sökt opp honom (för att undkomma horhuslivet). Själv vill han att hon skulle besparas 'havets' dåliga inflytande, så dottern inte ska behöva få lika svårt liv som hennes mor. Ett evigt väntande på den frånvarande maken. Men Livet på Minnesotas åkrar var alls inte bättre.
Psykologisk sensmoralen - skylla ifrån sig hjälper inte.
Pjäsen handlar om Anna och hennes svenska far, sjömannen Old Chris. Medan han har hållit sig på havet hela livet, har han dotter, tidigt moderslös, fått växa upp hos släktingar i Minnesota, under hårda förhållanden, utnyttjad på mer än ett sätt. Båda befinner sig på en lastpråm när de räddar en irländsk sjöman, Mat Burke. Först av allt inser jag att precis som i 'Emperor Jones', som jag läste för ett par dagar sedan, där de svartas repliker skrevs som ett sorts afro-amerikanskt idiom, sker här samma sak. Alla repliker avspeglar svenskt resp irländskt uttal av engelska. Uttalsvarianter tycks vara viktigt för O'Neill, och mig - som svensk - roar det, även om vissa stavningar blir svårgissade för mig. Lilla Anna, säger den olyckliga fadern ibland, men Anna förstår inte längre svenska.
Det andra jag tänker på är att O'Neill i båda pjäserna vill skildra de enklaste människors själsliv, rädslor och förhållanden. Gräsrötter intresserar mer än den medel- och överklass som tidigare vanligtvis skildrats på teater. Och här i 'Anna Christie' är det i första hand mannens bild av kvinnan som är frågeställningen. Varför döma en kvinna som tvingas leva på sin kropp för att överleva? Varför är det mer förkastligt än att sjömännen besöka horhus i varje hamn världen runt?
Anna Christie stönar, hon hatar män för att de är likadana överallt. Alltså ett tidigt försök att väcka debatt. Socialpsykologiskt kring könsroller. Old Chris har 'havet', the she-devil, som Syndabock. Havet som lockar alla män ut, bort från sina hustrur och barn, och slutligen dränker dem. Han kan tyckas rädd för dess makt, men det är också ett sätt att fly undan ansvar. Mat Burke känner sig stark och oövervinnerlig i förhållande till Havet, andra män och även kvinnor, men Anna förälskar han sig i. Fadern Chris och sjömannen Mat, blir rivaler. Chris vill behålla dottern för sig själv, när hon nu äntligen sökt opp honom (för att undkomma horhuslivet). Själv vill han att hon skulle besparas 'havets' dåliga inflytande, så dottern inte ska behöva få lika svårt liv som hennes mor. Ett evigt väntande på den frånvarande maken. Men Livet på Minnesotas åkrar var alls inte bättre.
Psykologisk sensmoralen - skylla ifrån sig hjälper inte.
February 4, 2024
The iconic “Give me a whiskey, ginger ale on the side and don’t be stingy, baby.” It beats me why Hollywood has popularised a White Russian over this drink, served in a pale and garnished with female rage. Unfortunately, there’s just the one cocktail recipe and it’s downhill from there. If ‘that old devil sea’ can be blamed for anything it isn’t Anna’s rape but that entirely male crews rarely challenge internal misogyny.
July 6, 2024
What a feminist icon Eugene.
Meh it isn't bad.... But pfff compared to the other...
Meh it isn't bad.... But pfff compared to the other...
January 2, 2025
Fabulous play by the great Eugene O’Neal. As I was reading this I could see my niece playing Anna. Strong/loving women are hard to write dialogue for with any sort of truthfulness. But Mr O’Neal does exactly that.
April 18, 2024
ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
January 18, 2024
Eugene O'Neill's Play in Four Acts
O'Neill worked for a period in merchant ships, and this experience at sea had the most important influence on his plays. He got to know sailors closely and understand their problems, ambitions and way of life. He portrayed all of this in many of his plays. He depicted the harshness of life at sea in the play Moby Dick and the play The Hairy Ape. He portrayed the sea as a tyrant that ensnares everyone who works in it, imprisoning them and not allowing them to leave, in the play The Long Voyage Home. It has many victims among those who work in it, sometimes driving some of them mad, as we see in the play The Treasure. At the same time, he portrayed the sea as a world of fantasy and magic in the play Beyond the Horizon through the romantic vision of Ruth, the poet. But this fanciful, enchanted vision of the sea that some imagine through reading adventure stories set in it is revealed as false to those who sail it and live in it, as O'Neill portrayed in the plays Moby Dick and The Treasure.
In the play I Am Christi, O'Neill presents the world of the sea with all its harsh life and tragedies it causes. He also depicts the heroism undertaken by some sailors, which authors note and use to compose their stories. In this play, O'Neill also portrays the sea as a place where sinners are purified.
In this play, we see three main characters with different views of the sea. The first is Chris, the old sea captain who has spent his whole life at sea. He depicts the sea as the devil, separating him from his wife and daughter Anna, and being the cause of his father and sons drowning. He sees that throughout his life he was a prisoner of the sea, trying to free himself from it but unable to, as it always pulled him back in.
When his daughter Anna comes to him after fifteen years of not seeing her, he welcomes her and she lives with him on his ship moored on the coast. When he realizes how, through his separation from her and her solitude, she suffered many misfortunes, he blames the sea, as it was the cause of his separation from his wife and daughter, forcing him to work continuously so he could leave her with her uncle on his farm after her mother and brothers died when she was five.
Chris remains resentful of the sea throughout the play, even after returning as captain of a big ship heading to South Africa. When he accepts Mat, who fell in love with Anna after learning her past, and they agree to marry with his permission.
Mat in this play is a strong young man with a different view of the sea than Chris. For him, the sea is the domain of heroic men, and he scoffs at men who live on land working in farming or other professions.
For Anna Christi, the sea represents a place of purification from her defilement. She had lived a harsh life before coming to her father. One of her uncle's sons had raped her on her uncle's farm where she was living. She felt like a lowly servant there. In her early youth she ran away from the farm and worked for two years as a children's nanny and supervisor, then for two more years in a brothel. When living with her father on the sea near him, she fell in love with him and realized the sea waves had purified her of her defilement, making her a new woman. This is why when Mat saw her, he fell in love believing her respectable unlike the women sailors know from the brothel girls in port towns they stop in during voyages.
Her father Chris and her lover Mat are shocked when she confesses to them the life she lived before arriving there, especially mentioning that she worked in a brothel for a time, was arrested along with others, and spent a month in prison, becoming ill and needing to come to her father to recuperate, then forgetting her past troubles by the sea.
Mat leaves her, the ideal image he held of her shattered. Her father blames the sea, saying it was the cause of all his daughter went through and his own suffering due to its enslavement of him.
Chris is unable to stay away from Anna and returns to her. After she assures him she loved no other man, he accepts her again with his permission for her to marry Mat after previously refusing due to not wanting his daughter to marry someone who works at sea, fearing a repeat of his and his late wife's misfortunes and those of his sons. But he finally believes this is the fate of him and his family whose men have all worked at sea.
أنا كريستي
مسرحية من أربعة فصول ليوجين أونيل
عمل أونيل فترة من حياته في سفن الشحن، وكان لتجربته هذه مع البحر الأثر الأهم في مسرحه، فقد تعرف على البحَّارة عن قرب، وعرف مشاكلهم ومطامحهم وأسلوب عيشهم، وصور لنا كل هذا في مسرحيات عديدة له، فقد صور لنا قسوة الحياة في البحر في مسرحية زيت الحيتان، ومسرحية القرد الكثيف الشعر، وصور البحر كأنه طاغ يأسر كل من يعمل فيه ويقيده ولا يسمح له بمغادرته في مسرحية رحلة العودة الطويلة، وهو له ضحايا كثيرون ممن يعملون فيه، وقد يؤدي بالجنون ببعضهم، كما نرى في مسرحية الكنز، وفي الوقت نفسه صور لنا البحر على أنه عالم الخيال والسحر في مسرحية ما وراء الأفق من خلال نظرة روث الشاعر الرومانسي له، ولكن هذه النظرة الخيالية الساحرة للبحر التي يتصورها البعض من خلال قراءة قصص المغامرات التي تتم فيه يتضح زيفها لمن يركبه ويعيش فيه، كما صور لنا هذا أونيل في مسرحية زيت الحيتان، ومسرحية الكنز.
ويقدم لنا أونيل في مسرحية أنا كريستي عالم البحر بكل ما فيه من حياة قاسية، ومآس يتسبب فيها، وأيضا صور لنا فيه البطولات التي يقوم بها بعض البحَّارة فيه، ويلتقطها المؤلفون ويؤلفون منها قصصهم، وكذلك صور أونيل البحر في هذه المسرحية على أنه مكان يتطهر فيه من تدنسوا بالخطايا.
وفي هذه المسرحية نرى ثلاثة أشخاص رئيسة فيها تختلف نظرة كل واحد منها للبحر، وأولهم كريس الربان العجوز الذي عاش حياته كلها في البحر، ويصوره على أنه شيطان، أبعده عن زوجته وابنته أنا، وكان سببا في غرق والده وابنيه، ويرى أنه كان طوال حياته أسيرا له، وحاول أن يتخلص منه، ولكنه لم يستطع، فقد كان دائما يشده إليه.
وعندما تأتيه ابنته أنا بعد خمس عشرة سنة لم يرها فيها يرحب بها، وتعيش معه على سفينة راسية على الساحل حينا، وحين يعرف أنه ببعده عنها، وخلال وحدتها قد تعرضت لمصائب عديدة، يوجه التهمة للبحر فهو المتسبب في بعده عن زوجته وابنته، وأنه اضطر لعمل المتواصل فيه لتركها عند خالها في مزرعة بعد موت والدتها وأخويها وسنها خمس سنوات.
ويظل كريس ناقما على البحر طوال المسرحية حتى بعد أن يعود ربانا على سفينة كبيرة متجهة لجنوب إفريقيا، وعندما يرضى مات عن أنا بعد معرفته حقيقة ماضيها ويتتفقان بموافقته على الزواج.
ومات في هذه المسرحية شاب قوي البنية ينظر للبحر نظرة مختلفة عن كريس، فالبحر عنده معقل الرجال الأبطال، وهو يسخر من الرجال الذين يعيشون على البر ويعملون بالزراعة أو بأعمال أخرى.
أما أنا كريستي فالبحر يمثل لها المطهر من دنسها، فقد عاشت حياة قاسية قبل أن تأتي لأبيها، واغتصبها أحد أبناء خالها في مزرعة خالها التي كانت تعيش فيها آنذاك، وكانت تشعر أنها خادمة ذليلة في تلك المزرعة، وفرت منها في شبابها المبكر، وعملت عامين مربية أطفال ومشرفة عليهم، ثم عملت عامين آخرين في بيت للبغاء، وحين عاشت مع أبيها في البحر وبقربه أحبته، وأدركت أنها تطهرت بأمواجه من دنسها، وصارت فتاة جديدة، ولهذا حين رآها مات أحبها، وكان يظنها محترمة بخلاف الفتيات اللائي يعرفهن البحَّارة من بنات الهوى في حانات الموانئ التي يتوقفون فيها خلال إبحارهم في البحر.
ويصدم والدها كريس وحبيبها مات حين تصارحهما بالحياة التي عاشتها قبل أن تصل لهذا المكان، لا سيما ما ذكرته لهما من أنها عملت فترة في بيت من بيوت البغاء، وقبض عليها مع غيرها، ووضعت شهرا في السجن، ولم تتحمل العيش فيه فمرضت، ولهذا اضطرت أن تأتي لأبيها ليرعاها خلال فترة نقاهتها، ثم أنست العيش بقرب البحر.
ويتركها مات وقد انهارت صورتها المثالية التي كانت في خياله عنها، ويؤنب والدها البحر لأنه السبب في كل ما وصلت إليه ابنته وهو من شقاء باستعباده له
ولا يستطيع كريس البعد عن أنا فيعود إليها، ويرضى عنها بعد أن تؤكد له أنها لم تحب غيره من الرجال، ويتفق معها على الزواج بمباركة والدها بعد رفضه لمات من قبل، لأنه كان لا يرغب في أن تتزوج ابنته شخصا يعمل في البحر حتى لا تتكرر مأساته ومأساة زوجته وأبنائه من جديد، ولكنه آمن أخيرا أن هذا قدره وقدر أسرته التي عمل رجالها كلهم في البحر.
علي خليفة
O'Neill worked for a period in merchant ships, and this experience at sea had the most important influence on his plays. He got to know sailors closely and understand their problems, ambitions and way of life. He portrayed all of this in many of his plays. He depicted the harshness of life at sea in the play Moby Dick and the play The Hairy Ape. He portrayed the sea as a tyrant that ensnares everyone who works in it, imprisoning them and not allowing them to leave, in the play The Long Voyage Home. It has many victims among those who work in it, sometimes driving some of them mad, as we see in the play The Treasure. At the same time, he portrayed the sea as a world of fantasy and magic in the play Beyond the Horizon through the romantic vision of Ruth, the poet. But this fanciful, enchanted vision of the sea that some imagine through reading adventure stories set in it is revealed as false to those who sail it and live in it, as O'Neill portrayed in the plays Moby Dick and The Treasure.
In the play I Am Christi, O'Neill presents the world of the sea with all its harsh life and tragedies it causes. He also depicts the heroism undertaken by some sailors, which authors note and use to compose their stories. In this play, O'Neill also portrays the sea as a place where sinners are purified.
In this play, we see three main characters with different views of the sea. The first is Chris, the old sea captain who has spent his whole life at sea. He depicts the sea as the devil, separating him from his wife and daughter Anna, and being the cause of his father and sons drowning. He sees that throughout his life he was a prisoner of the sea, trying to free himself from it but unable to, as it always pulled him back in.
When his daughter Anna comes to him after fifteen years of not seeing her, he welcomes her and she lives with him on his ship moored on the coast. When he realizes how, through his separation from her and her solitude, she suffered many misfortunes, he blames the sea, as it was the cause of his separation from his wife and daughter, forcing him to work continuously so he could leave her with her uncle on his farm after her mother and brothers died when she was five.
Chris remains resentful of the sea throughout the play, even after returning as captain of a big ship heading to South Africa. When he accepts Mat, who fell in love with Anna after learning her past, and they agree to marry with his permission.
Mat in this play is a strong young man with a different view of the sea than Chris. For him, the sea is the domain of heroic men, and he scoffs at men who live on land working in farming or other professions.
For Anna Christi, the sea represents a place of purification from her defilement. She had lived a harsh life before coming to her father. One of her uncle's sons had raped her on her uncle's farm where she was living. She felt like a lowly servant there. In her early youth she ran away from the farm and worked for two years as a children's nanny and supervisor, then for two more years in a brothel. When living with her father on the sea near him, she fell in love with him and realized the sea waves had purified her of her defilement, making her a new woman. This is why when Mat saw her, he fell in love believing her respectable unlike the women sailors know from the brothel girls in port towns they stop in during voyages.
Her father Chris and her lover Mat are shocked when she confesses to them the life she lived before arriving there, especially mentioning that she worked in a brothel for a time, was arrested along with others, and spent a month in prison, becoming ill and needing to come to her father to recuperate, then forgetting her past troubles by the sea.
Mat leaves her, the ideal image he held of her shattered. Her father blames the sea, saying it was the cause of all his daughter went through and his own suffering due to its enslavement of him.
Chris is unable to stay away from Anna and returns to her. After she assures him she loved no other man, he accepts her again with his permission for her to marry Mat after previously refusing due to not wanting his daughter to marry someone who works at sea, fearing a repeat of his and his late wife's misfortunes and those of his sons. But he finally believes this is the fate of him and his family whose men have all worked at sea.
أنا كريستي
مسرحية من أربعة فصول ليوجين أونيل
عمل أونيل فترة من حياته في سفن الشحن، وكان لتجربته هذه مع البحر الأثر الأهم في مسرحه، فقد تعرف على البحَّارة عن قرب، وعرف مشاكلهم ومطامحهم وأسلوب عيشهم، وصور لنا كل هذا في مسرحيات عديدة له، فقد صور لنا قسوة الحياة في البحر في مسرحية زيت الحيتان، ومسرحية القرد الكثيف الشعر، وصور البحر كأنه طاغ يأسر كل من يعمل فيه ويقيده ولا يسمح له بمغادرته في مسرحية رحلة العودة الطويلة، وهو له ضحايا كثيرون ممن يعملون فيه، وقد يؤدي بالجنون ببعضهم، كما نرى في مسرحية الكنز، وفي الوقت نفسه صور لنا البحر على أنه عالم الخيال والسحر في مسرحية ما وراء الأفق من خلال نظرة روث الشاعر الرومانسي له، ولكن هذه النظرة الخيالية الساحرة للبحر التي يتصورها البعض من خلال قراءة قصص المغامرات التي تتم فيه يتضح زيفها لمن يركبه ويعيش فيه، كما صور لنا هذا أونيل في مسرحية زيت الحيتان، ومسرحية الكنز.
ويقدم لنا أونيل في مسرحية أنا كريستي عالم البحر بكل ما فيه من حياة قاسية، ومآس يتسبب فيها، وأيضا صور لنا فيه البطولات التي يقوم بها بعض البحَّارة فيه، ويلتقطها المؤلفون ويؤلفون منها قصصهم، وكذلك صور أونيل البحر في هذه المسرحية على أنه مكان يتطهر فيه من تدنسوا بالخطايا.
وفي هذه المسرحية نرى ثلاثة أشخاص رئيسة فيها تختلف نظرة كل واحد منها للبحر، وأولهم كريس الربان العجوز الذي عاش حياته كلها في البحر، ويصوره على أنه شيطان، أبعده عن زوجته وابنته أنا، وكان سببا في غرق والده وابنيه، ويرى أنه كان طوال حياته أسيرا له، وحاول أن يتخلص منه، ولكنه لم يستطع، فقد كان دائما يشده إليه.
وعندما تأتيه ابنته أنا بعد خمس عشرة سنة لم يرها فيها يرحب بها، وتعيش معه على سفينة راسية على الساحل حينا، وحين يعرف أنه ببعده عنها، وخلال وحدتها قد تعرضت لمصائب عديدة، يوجه التهمة للبحر فهو المتسبب في بعده عن زوجته وابنته، وأنه اضطر لعمل المتواصل فيه لتركها عند خالها في مزرعة بعد موت والدتها وأخويها وسنها خمس سنوات.
ويظل كريس ناقما على البحر طوال المسرحية حتى بعد أن يعود ربانا على سفينة كبيرة متجهة لجنوب إفريقيا، وعندما يرضى مات عن أنا بعد معرفته حقيقة ماضيها ويتتفقان بموافقته على الزواج.
ومات في هذه المسرحية شاب قوي البنية ينظر للبحر نظرة مختلفة عن كريس، فالبحر عنده معقل الرجال الأبطال، وهو يسخر من الرجال الذين يعيشون على البر ويعملون بالزراعة أو بأعمال أخرى.
أما أنا كريستي فالبحر يمثل لها المطهر من دنسها، فقد عاشت حياة قاسية قبل أن تأتي لأبيها، واغتصبها أحد أبناء خالها في مزرعة خالها التي كانت تعيش فيها آنذاك، وكانت تشعر أنها خادمة ذليلة في تلك المزرعة، وفرت منها في شبابها المبكر، وعملت عامين مربية أطفال ومشرفة عليهم، ثم عملت عامين آخرين في بيت للبغاء، وحين عاشت مع أبيها في البحر وبقربه أحبته، وأدركت أنها تطهرت بأمواجه من دنسها، وصارت فتاة جديدة، ولهذا حين رآها مات أحبها، وكان يظنها محترمة بخلاف الفتيات اللائي يعرفهن البحَّارة من بنات الهوى في حانات الموانئ التي يتوقفون فيها خلال إبحارهم في البحر.
ويصدم والدها كريس وحبيبها مات حين تصارحهما بالحياة التي عاشتها قبل أن تصل لهذا المكان، لا سيما ما ذكرته لهما من أنها عملت فترة في بيت من بيوت البغاء، وقبض عليها مع غيرها، ووضعت شهرا في السجن، ولم تتحمل العيش فيه فمرضت، ولهذا اضطرت أن تأتي لأبيها ليرعاها خلال فترة نقاهتها، ثم أنست العيش بقرب البحر.
ويتركها مات وقد انهارت صورتها المثالية التي كانت في خياله عنها، ويؤنب والدها البحر لأنه السبب في كل ما وصلت إليه ابنته وهو من شقاء باستعباده له
ولا يستطيع كريس البعد عن أنا فيعود إليها، ويرضى عنها بعد أن تؤكد له أنها لم تحب غيره من الرجال، ويتفق معها على الزواج بمباركة والدها بعد رفضه لمات من قبل، لأنه كان لا يرغب في أن تتزوج ابنته شخصا يعمل في البحر حتى لا تتكرر مأساته ومأساة زوجته وأبنائه من جديد، ولكنه آمن أخيرا أن هذا قدره وقدر أسرته التي عمل رجالها كلهم في البحر.
علي خليفة
February 23, 2017
It was not my intention to read two plays from different authors at a go. My decision was affected by my experience with Thornton Wilder's play 'Our Town' which I really enjoyed. In order to deal with the 'hangover' I decided to take the medicine of 'AnnaChristie' which was equally as great.
Anna Christie is the main character. She is the daughter of Chris Chistopherson, a Swedish captain of his crew. He spends most of his time at sea. The lifestyle has greatly affected his family. He looses his wife and gets estranged with his daughter. But when the daughter writes to him informing him that she will be coming home for the first time since her departure since childhood, he can't contain his joy.
Chris ends up becoming so overprotective of his daughter. In fact, he considers her his ticket out of his loneliness. Consequently, when Burke falls in love with Anna and expresses his intentions to marry her, Chris is overcome with anger. He fears losing his only daughter to a fellow seaman. Looking back at his life and the way it negatively affected his family, he is determined not to let his only daughter have a taste of it. That decision causes a rift between him and her daughter who is also determined to fall in love.
Burke and Anna end up becoming murderous towards each other after the former finds out that she has not been honest abot her sexual contacts. He discovers that Anna has been a prostitute. It breaks him emotionally to the point of self-destruction.
This is a story of redemption, hatred, and reconciiation. The human herat is prone to a lot of feelings. It is capable of love, forgiveness, and chastity but also of murder, and damnation.
Anna Christie is the main character. She is the daughter of Chris Chistopherson, a Swedish captain of his crew. He spends most of his time at sea. The lifestyle has greatly affected his family. He looses his wife and gets estranged with his daughter. But when the daughter writes to him informing him that she will be coming home for the first time since her departure since childhood, he can't contain his joy.
Chris ends up becoming so overprotective of his daughter. In fact, he considers her his ticket out of his loneliness. Consequently, when Burke falls in love with Anna and expresses his intentions to marry her, Chris is overcome with anger. He fears losing his only daughter to a fellow seaman. Looking back at his life and the way it negatively affected his family, he is determined not to let his only daughter have a taste of it. That decision causes a rift between him and her daughter who is also determined to fall in love.
Burke and Anna end up becoming murderous towards each other after the former finds out that she has not been honest abot her sexual contacts. He discovers that Anna has been a prostitute. It breaks him emotionally to the point of self-destruction.
This is a story of redemption, hatred, and reconciiation. The human herat is prone to a lot of feelings. It is capable of love, forgiveness, and chastity but also of murder, and damnation.
March 17, 2014
This is a play without a real ending or resolution, and in that way is incredibly realistic. O’Neill highlights the ironies of behavior and judgment in this play, and delivers them quite intelligently from the mouth of his heroine, an uneducated and streetwise but slangy protagonist with a past. The action centers between Anna, who has come to live with her father the Swedish immigrant Chris, who abandoned her long ago. She has worked as a prostitute, and Chris has rationalized his behavior but clearly spends his time in bars. The barge crew rescues a man named Burke, who falls for Anna and she for him. Chris attempts to prohibit the marriage of Burke (based on reasons that he knows the type of Burke by his own experience), and Anna searches desperately for her own independence. Ultimately we learn that, in her abandonment, Anna was raped by the relatives that Chris left her with, and that started her journey into the world of prostitution. The play resolves in one of simple forgiveness and love, but also abandonment again, as Chris and Burke have both chosen a life together sailing for South America, but vowing to return. Anna is left again, alone and independent.
This dramatic work is actually very straightforward and simple. While there is symbolism, it is play fundamentally based in reality. It is powerful and emotional, a fantastic read, and a classic of American drama by one of its masters.
This dramatic work is actually very straightforward and simple. While there is symbolism, it is play fundamentally based in reality. It is powerful and emotional, a fantastic read, and a classic of American drama by one of its masters.
July 10, 2015
This play is about the men in Anna Christie's life: mainly her long-lost father and her new-found lover, but also about all males. From scene one, Anna is annoyed at the men she's had to deal with and tar them all with the same brush: they're odious and the bane of her very existence. She does, however, fall in love with Matt, an Irish sailor, which causes a conflict to erupt with her father, also a sailor. He doesn't want the life of a sailor's wife for his daughter. As Anna learns to forgive her father for being absent and to admit to herself she's in love for the first time, we come to understand her nature and the secret she's been harboring. [spoiler alert ahoy!] She was raped by one of the cousins she was raised with and had to subsequently resort to prostitution to make a living. I'm sure this was scandalous in 1922, (and is not uncontroversial today) mainly because it now meant she was 'damaged goods' and who would want to marry a whore? I like that this had a happy ending, but the drama would have been more potent if it started earlier and if maybe we'd had some clues as to her nefarious past along the way. Overall, absorbing.
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