O'Neill's shadow : the influence of Jungian thought on America's greatest dramatist

Perhaps the most rewarding inquiry into O???Neill???s intellectual outlook would necessitate locating the achievement of O???Neill, at the height of his career, during the influential times when modem neurology and psychoanalysis made their decisive appearances. O'Neill acknowledged that he was highly impressed by the works of the psychologist, Carl G. Jung, in particular the text entitled Psychology o f the Unconscious. Although there has been brief mention of Jungian influence throughout O???Neill's cannon of work, the evidence of influence has largely been passed over in favor of other twentieth century theoreticians, Sigmund Freud in particular. In fact, Joseph Campbell???s theory of the ???hero myth??? fits perfectly with the Jungian interpretation of O???Neill???s plays, and more to the point, the trajectory of much of O???Neill???s work parallels the journey toward ???psychic equilibrium??? as outlined by Jung himself. Eugene O???Neill???s personal quest for self-realization can be traced in Jungian terms as it appears in The Emperor Jones an early play, followed by Mourning Becomes Electra, appearing at the height of the author???s popularity, and finally in The Iceman Cometh, composed toward the end of his career. Although the playwright may not have consciously embarked upon the creation of myths, these works give full evidence of an imagination fully immersed in the process of modem myth making