Timing is everything almost: An analysis of Eugene O\u27Neill\u27s Desire Under the Elms in terms of its success

Eugene O\u27Neill\u27s Desire Under the Elms has proven itself a play worthy of praise. This thesis traces the specific elements which illustrate that this theatrical work, having gone beyond the audience for which it was written in 1924, continues to be rightfully considered a success seventy-five years after its creation. Unlike Robert Brustein in Theatre of Revolt and Eric Bentley in Thinking About The Playwright, who classify and compare all of O\u27Neill\u27s work in their role as professional critics, this thesis examines and reflects on this one work as an individual entity unto itself; This analysis surveys the prevailing literary, social and moral environment which contributed to Desire Under the Elm\u27s birthing and nurturing to maturity as an American classic. Included is an evaluation of the play in terms of its superstructure, structural characteristics, as a dramatic work and with an eye to the author\u27s success in approaching this creation via Aristotle\u27s definition of a tragedy (Ball viii). It concludes with an examination of Desire\u27s place in contemporary theater as the final element defining its success