{"id":219,"date":"2019-05-10T06:13:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T06:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engp05.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=219"},"modified":"2019-05-10T11:05:13","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:05:13","slug":"eugene-oneill-thirst","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/engp05\/chapter\/eugene-oneill-thirst\/","title":{"rendered":"Eugene O\u2019Neill: Thirst"},"content":{"raw":"
\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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\r\n\r\nAbout:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

This module introduces you to the renowned playwright Eugene O\u2019Neill and more specifically to his play Thirst<\/em>. First, in this section you will be introduced to the life, career and other writings of Eugene O\u2019Neill. Later on in this module you would learn about the play, its themes, critical analysis and other aspects.<\/p>\r\n

About the Playwright:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Eugene Gladstone O\u2019Neill (16th October 1888 - 27th November, 1953) is one of the foremost American playwrights who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1936. He was born to James O\u2019Neill and Ella. His father James O\u2019Neill was accomplished touring actor and Eugene O\u2019Neill grew up in this atmosphere. He spent his childhood touring around with his parents living in hotel rooms, trains and backstage which he disliked. Later, he was sent to boarding schools St. Vincent and Betts Academy in Stamford. He also went to the Princeton University but left it within a year. After this he started his real life education to which he\u00a0called \u201clife experience\u201d1. The next six years were difficult for him and once he even tried to commit suicide. During this time he suffered from tuberculosis and was confined into a sanatorium for six months. He recovered and decided to live his second life2 and he called it a rebirth. He began to write plays.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

O\u2019Neill\u2019s journey as a playwright began in 1916 in the village of Provincetown, Mass. Here a group of young writers and painters launched an experimental theatre called The Playwrights Theatre and they produced O\u2019Neill\u2019s first play Bound East for Cardiff<\/em>. Initially O\u2019Neill started with melodramatic plays that dealt with the issues like prostitution, loneliness of sailors, injustice etc. However, in American literary scenario till that time such subjects were considered to be fit for novels and not for the stage. But gradually audiences appreciated his plays and the Playwrights\u2019 Theatre began to attract more attention.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

His major play Beyond the Horizon <\/em>(1918) established him as a renowned playwright and brought him his first Pulitzer Prize. Later his other three works Anna Christie<\/em>, Strange Interlude <\/em>and Long Day's Journey into Night <\/em>also received Pulitzer Prizes. In the upcoming decades O\u2019Neill became one of the mostly translated playwrights after Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. Eugene died on 27th November, 1953 and his last words were \u201cI knew it. I knew it! Born in a goddam hotel room and dying in a hotel room!\u201d.<\/p>\r\n

Works of Eugene O\u2019Neill:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The following are the works of Eugene O\u2019Neill as per their year of publication.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Bound East for Cardiff <\/em>(1914), Before Breakfast <\/em>(1916), The Long Voyage Home <\/em>(1917), In the Zone <\/em>(1917), The Moon of the Carabbess <\/em>(1917), Ile <\/em>(1917), The Rope <\/em>(1918), Beyond the Horizon <\/strong><\/em>(1918), The Dreamy Kid <\/em>(1918), Where the Cross is Made <\/em>(1918), The Straw <\/em>(1919), Gold <\/em>(1920), Anna Christie <\/em>(1920), The Emperor Jones <\/strong><\/em>(1920), Different\u00a0<\/em>(1920)<\/span>, The First Man <\/em>(1921)<\/span>, The Fountain <\/em>(1921-22)<\/span>, The Hairy Ape <\/strong><\/em>(1921)<\/span>, Welded <\/em>(1922)<\/span>, All God\u2019s Chillun Got Wings <\/em>(1923)<\/span>, Desire Under the Elms <\/strong><\/em>(1924)<\/span>, Marco Millions <\/em>(1923-25)<\/span>, The Great God Brown <\/em>(1925)<\/span>, Lazarus Laughed <\/em>(1926)<\/span>, Strange Interlude <\/em>(1926-<\/span>27)<\/span>, Dynamo <\/strong><\/em>(1928)<\/span>, Mourning Becomes Electra <\/strong><\/em>(1929-31)<\/span>, Ah, Wilderness <\/em>(1932)<\/span>, Days\u00a0<\/em>Without End <\/em>(1932-33)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/em>Later from 1934 till his death that is up to 1953 Eugene produced two more works\u00a0<\/span>The Iceman Cometh <\/em><\/strong>(1946) and <\/span>A Moon for the Misbegotten <\/em>(1952).<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Literary Style of Eugene O\u2019Neill:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n

Eugene O\u2019Neill is known for his characters, their appearance, expressions and especially stage directions in detail. Before the play begins his stage directions highlights the nature of play which was not so common before him. For example he even names every book to be kept in on which book shelf, mentions time, day and describes different rooms. Eugene brought this newness in American theatre scenario. This precision and detailing of both characters and stage is marked as his style.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

However, it is difficult to define his style in an exact manner because \u201c\u2026At different times, and sometimes within the same framework, he is a naturalist, a romanticist, an impressionist, a symbolist and expressionist, often bordering on the surreal. He is an empiricist, a psychoanalyst, and a mystagogue.\u201d5 This makes difficult to categorise\u00a0 and define his style in simple terms as he gives different layers of meaning to his work by mixing distinct \u2018isms\u2019 into one frame. He also gives suggestive titles and use Greek styles structure.<\/p>\r\n

Background of the Play:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n

The play Thirst <\/em>was written in 1913 when Eugene O\u2019Neill was living in New London, CT. He was then recently released from sanatorium after his successful treatment of\u00a0tuberculosis. While writing Thirst <\/em>he wrote two other plays which are also based on shipwreck. These stories are partially influence d by the traumatic sinking incident of Titanic that took place in 1912 which has prompted him to write these plays based on shipwreck.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

\r\n\r\nSetting of the Play:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

O\u2019Neill\u2019s feeling of the presence of an ironic force against which man fights his self- destructive struggle is communicated to the audience through his meticulous and suggestive stage direction which is more effective than themes and dialogues in the play. Due to his relentless interventions as an author in the stage directions of Thirst <\/em>as well as in other plays; O\u2019Neill\u2019s plays are often called director proof and actor proof. He often incurred wraths from the directors by creating confusion among the actors who found it nearly difficult to act out what the dramatist wanted. The stage directions in Thirst <\/em>and in other plays succeeded in conveying the symbolic meaning and feeling of the dramatist himself behind every move of the play.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

As in his other plays, in Thirst<\/em>, O\u2019Neill has made an ample use of his sea-roving experiences throughout which has bought the atmospheric and structural symbolism into the work. The loneliness and triviality of man in the vast unsympathetic universe is suggested poignantly in the opening and also in the closing of the play which have an almost Existentialist bearing. The play opens with an image of stasis and frozen time. The sun burns motionlessly overhead; the surface of the glassy sea is still; the sharks encircle the undulating raft giving an impression of near-motionlessness of the eye. The stasis is concretized even more at the end when the sharks are no longer there; the sun continues blazing like a great angry eye of God and the eerie heat waves float upward in the still air. Thus, the opening and the closing of the play give the symbolic impression of the characters being succumbed to an implacable Fate where human beings are very much powerless.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\nPlot and Summary of the Play:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

The play opens to a scene where three survivors of a shipwreck, a Gentleman, a Dancer and a Sailor are in a raft. The Gentleman is in his formal evening dress that is now tattered due to the shipwreck. The Dancer is in a short-skirted costume of \u2018black velvet covered with spangles\u2019. The other character is a West Indian Mulatto Sailor who is one of the crew members of the ship. The Sailor opens the play with his monotonous song when his eyes constantly follow the shark fins that have circled the raft. The sharks continue to round and do not seem to be in a mood to cease their activity for a moment. The Dancer starts sobbing in the blistering heat without water and food, surrounded by sharks and possibly no one to rescue.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Then the play presents the conversation that takes place between these three characters. However, in most of the parts of the play one can see that the conversation happens only between the Gentleman and the Dancer and very occasionally with the Sailor. The few lines the Sailor speaks are like \u201cI have no water\u201d and \u201cI do not know\u201d. The conversation between the Gentleman and Dancer reveals how do they came on the raft. The Dancer describes \u201cI was coming home, home after years of struggling, home to success and fame and money.\u201d6 (26) The Gentleman reminds that it was his first cruise and vacation after twenty years of \u2018incessant grind\u2019.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Gentleman and the Dancer both believe that the Sailor has some water and is hiding it but the sailor continuously denies the fact. On the advice of the Gentleman and in desperation to get water the Dancer first offers her diamond necklace to the Sailor. However, when he rejects she then offers herself to him. In a fit of delusion she imagines herself performing on stage and dances uncontrollably and dies due to the heat and thirst. The Sailor\u00a0in a ray of hope brings out his knife and sings a happy Negro song - \u201cWe shall eat, We shall drink\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n \r\n

The Gentleman however, in disgust pushes the Dancer\u2019s body into water. The Sailor in anger stabs him and falls into water. As the Gentleman falls, he holds the Sailor\u2019s collar and pulls him along. Both fall into the water and die. The play ends and only silence remains- \u201cThe sun glares down like a great eye of God. The eerie heat waves float upward in the still air like the souls of the drowned. On the raft a diamond necklace lies glittering in the blazing sunshine\u201d (43).<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nCharacters:\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThere are three major characters in the play representing three different class and social status.\r\n\r\n \r\n

A Gentleman<\/strong>: He represents the white class and society which is supposedly polite.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A Dancer<\/strong>: She is a dancer by profession and represents love for beauty. She is more or less materialistic as she always thinks of her belongings.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A West Indian Mulatto Sailor<\/strong>: The Sailor represents the non-white world which is supposedly cruel and rude.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nMajor Themes and Other Releva nt Issues Discussed in the Play: O\u2019Neill\u2019s Concept of Tragedy:\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

O\u2019Neill projects a tragic vision especially in his earlier plays. Thirst <\/em>is one among them where one finds the tortured souls on the verge of a crisis. The three unnamed characters, the Gentleman, Dancer and Sailor, of the play are stranded in mid ocean. Through their agonies, problems and loss of their hopes, O\u2019Neill highlights the emptiness of human\u00a0beings in this enormous cruel world. Irony of life stands against human progress and the hidden wicked animal instincts of the civilized race. The loneliness is highlighted by the presence of the natural elements like glaring sun like \u2018a great angry eye of God\u2019, \u2018pitiless clear sky\u2019, \u2018the scorching heat waves\u2019 and the madness of silence of the hungry red ocean.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n \r\n

Thirst <\/em>is a melodramatic play that has a deep seated mental agony. At the surface level it just appears to be a very crude presentation of a reality. The play presents ironies of human life which consider themselves to be intelligent are actually vulnerable at the mercy of nature and fate. The Dancer after years of struggle was returning to her home with fame and money. The Gentleman was on his first vacation after years of hard work. However, fate decided to end them before they relish their accomplishments. Survival for them becomes a distant dream that also cannot be accomplished.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Their past lives haunt them especially the ironies of their lives. The Gentleman\u2019s menu card comes in contrast to their thirst. The Dancer\u2019s submission to the Negro stands in contrast to the Duke incident. More importantly the Sailor who was feeling elated at the site of the Dancer\u2019s dead body thinking to quench his thirst and hunger but it becomes the food of the sharks. The only remaining element on the raft, the glittering diamond necklace of the Dancer brings to fore the irony and materiality of human conditions.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The bestiality of human nature is always found in the predecessors\u2019 works but O\u2019Neill stands against it. He revolts against such traditional representation by showing the Sailor sharpening his knife to eat the Dancer\u2019s body is common in all tragedies but at the very next moment the Sailor\u2019s body also becomes the food item. Through this O\u2019Neill shakes his audiences and leaves them to realise the futility of existence.<\/p>\r\n

Role of the Sailor:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

O\u2019Neill\u2019s characters and even his abstract ideas are quite recognizable. In Thirst <\/em>he has experimented with the Expressionist way of characterization through the West Indian Mulatto Sailor. The Sailor is the most \u2018living\u2019 of all the three characters presented. He basically represents the characteristic feature of civilized human beings in contrast to \u2018savage\u2019. However, he is presented as the most practical and humane than the rest of the characters of the play. The Sailor is the one who for the first time reveals the urgent need of water. At the mention of water by the Gentleman he stops his song abruptly and turns quickly around. He asks \u201cWater? Who\u2019s got water\u201d\u2026(11).<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Whereas the other two characters complain of the maddening silence, pervading red colour like blood over the sky, their aching eyes and so on. When the Sailor stops singing the Dancer asks him why he has stopped singing the Sailor then replies \u201csticking out his swollen tongue and pointing to it\u2026Water! I want Water! Give me some water and I will sing\u201d (28). So, he seems to be more practical than the other two who are busy in lamenting their lost and unfulfilled achievements. But the Sailor on the other hand keeps singing a Negro song to charm the sharks. He says \u201cIt is a song of my people\u2026I am singing to them. It is a charm. I have been told it is very strong. If I sing long enough they will not eat us\u201d (12-13). He tries to adjust to the situation and wants to survive as long as possible. He also remains quite and thus saves energy. But his keeping quiet enhances the mysteriousness of his intentions. In contrast to the Sailor who is awaken to the reality the other two, the Gentleman and Dancer experience visual hallucination of an island and a tumbler full of water.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The play also reveals the helplessness of humans and the control of nature over destiny of humans. When the Dancer dies the Sailor does not take much time or hesitate for a moment. He begins to sharpen his knife. He also suddenly begins to sing a happy song and says parting his swollen lips...\u201cWe shall eat. We shall drink\u201d (42). However, he is punished\u00a0for his sin and dies in a scuffle with the Gentleman who could not imagine the idea of eating a fellow traveller in order to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n \r\n

However, O\u2019Neill does not want his audiences to have any negative feeling against the Sailor. The Sailor is just an idea like the Gentleman and Dancer. The Sailor shows his hidden bestiality as the two characters represents their racial bias within the civilized code. O\u2019Neill was not a racist, as his later plays indicate it. In Thirst <\/em>he uses the Sailor only as a myth, that of the black being primitive and savage. In fact, the play is not anti-black. The Sailor also does not show any racial reaction when the Gentleman calls him \u201cFuriously shaking his fist at the Negro\u2019s back. \u201cOh you pig! You rotten pig!\u201d The Negro does not seem to hear\u201d.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Sailor is presented as physically stronger than the other two characters but he does not try to kill nor take any advantage of them. He always tries to be calm even when the Dancer yielding herself for his pleasure where he shows extreme self-control. He thinks of eating the human flesh to survive but only when he is sure that the dancer is dead. In this too he is selfless as he suggests \u201cWe\u201d when he says \u201cWe shall eat\u201d, he meant both the Gentleman and himself. Thus, the Sailor only remains the practical.<\/p>\r\n

Summary :<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

So, in this module we have discussed about Eugene O\u2019Neill, the playwright. We came to know about his personal life. We also learnt about Neill\u2019s literary works and his style of writing. Further, we have discussed the play Thirst<\/em>. We came to know about the background and setting of the play. We have also discussed the plot and summary of the play. Then we have also discussed the characters in it. After then we have focused on various themes and other relevant issues discussed in the play. Hope these are useful to you. For more on this module, please find the other components of the module.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
you can view video on Eugene O\u2019Neill: Thirst<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>","rendered":"
\"epgp<\/a>
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About:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This module introduces you to the renowned playwright Eugene O\u2019Neill and more specifically to his play Thirst<\/em>. First, in this section you will be introduced to the life, career and other writings of Eugene O\u2019Neill. Later on in this module you would learn about the play, its themes, critical analysis and other aspects.<\/p>\n

About the Playwright:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eugene Gladstone O\u2019Neill (16th October 1888 – 27th November, 1953) is one of the foremost American playwrights who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1936. He was born to James O\u2019Neill and Ella. His father James O\u2019Neill was accomplished touring actor and Eugene O\u2019Neill grew up in this atmosphere. He spent his childhood touring around with his parents living in hotel rooms, trains and backstage which he disliked. Later, he was sent to boarding schools St. Vincent and Betts Academy in Stamford. He also went to the Princeton University but left it within a year. After this he started his real life education to which he\u00a0called \u201clife experience\u201d1. The next six years were difficult for him and once he even tried to commit suicide. During this time he suffered from tuberculosis and was confined into a sanatorium for six months. He recovered and decided to live his second life2 and he called it a rebirth. He began to write plays.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

O\u2019Neill\u2019s journey as a playwright began in 1916 in the village of Provincetown, Mass. Here a group of young writers and painters launched an experimental theatre called The Playwrights Theatre and they produced O\u2019Neill\u2019s first play Bound East for Cardiff<\/em>. Initially O\u2019Neill started with melodramatic plays that dealt with the issues like prostitution, loneliness of sailors, injustice etc. However, in American literary scenario till that time such subjects were considered to be fit for novels and not for the stage. But gradually audiences appreciated his plays and the Playwrights\u2019 Theatre began to attract more attention.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His major play Beyond the Horizon <\/em>(1918) established him as a renowned playwright and brought him his first Pulitzer Prize. Later his other three works Anna Christie<\/em>, Strange Interlude <\/em>and Long Day’s Journey into Night <\/em>also received Pulitzer Prizes. In the upcoming decades O\u2019Neill became one of the mostly translated playwrights after Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. Eugene died on 27th November, 1953 and his last words were \u201cI knew it. I knew it! Born in a goddam hotel room and dying in a hotel room!\u201d.<\/p>\n

Works of Eugene O\u2019Neill:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following are the works of Eugene O\u2019Neill as per their year of publication.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bound East for Cardiff <\/em>(1914), Before Breakfast <\/em>(1916), The Long Voyage Home <\/em>(1917), In the Zone <\/em>(1917), The Moon of the Carabbess <\/em>(1917), Ile <\/em>(1917), The Rope <\/em>(1918), Beyond the Horizon <\/strong><\/em>(1918), The Dreamy Kid <\/em>(1918), Where the Cross is Made <\/em>(1918), The Straw <\/em>(1919), Gold <\/em>(1920), Anna Christie <\/em>(1920), The Emperor Jones <\/strong><\/em>(1920), Different\u00a0<\/em>(1920)<\/span>, The First Man <\/em>(1921)<\/span>, The Fountain <\/em>(1921-22)<\/span>, The Hairy Ape <\/strong><\/em>(1921)<\/span>, Welded <\/em>(1922)<\/span>, All God\u2019s Chillun Got Wings <\/em>(1923)<\/span>, Desire Under the Elms <\/strong><\/em>(1924)<\/span>, Marco Millions <\/em>(1923-25)<\/span>, The Great God Brown <\/em>(1925)<\/span>, Lazarus Laughed <\/em>(1926)<\/span>, Strange Interlude <\/em>(1926-<\/span>27)<\/span>, Dynamo <\/strong><\/em>(1928)<\/span>, Mourning Becomes Electra <\/strong><\/em>(1929-31)<\/span>, Ah, Wilderness <\/em>(1932)<\/span>, Days\u00a0<\/em>Without End <\/em>(1932-33)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/em>Later from 1934 till his death that is up to 1953 Eugene produced two more works\u00a0<\/span>The Iceman Cometh <\/em><\/strong>(1946) and <\/span>A Moon for the Misbegotten <\/em>(1952).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Literary Style of Eugene O\u2019Neill:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eugene O\u2019Neill is known for his characters, their appearance, expressions and especially stage directions in detail. Before the play begins his stage directions highlights the nature of play which was not so common before him. For example he even names every book to be kept in on which book shelf, mentions time, day and describes different rooms. Eugene brought this newness in American theatre scenario. This precision and detailing of both characters and stage is marked as his style.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, it is difficult to define his style in an exact manner because \u201c\u2026At different times, and sometimes within the same framework, he is a naturalist, a romanticist, an impressionist, a symbolist and expressionist, often bordering on the surreal. He is an empiricist, a psychoanalyst, and a mystagogue.\u201d5 This makes difficult to categorise\u00a0 and define his style in simple terms as he gives different layers of meaning to his work by mixing distinct \u2018isms\u2019 into one frame. He also gives suggestive titles and use Greek styles structure.<\/p>\n

Background of the Play:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The play Thirst <\/em>was written in 1913 when Eugene O\u2019Neill was living in New London, CT. He was then recently released from sanatorium after his successful treatment of\u00a0tuberculosis. While writing Thirst <\/em>he wrote two other plays which are also based on shipwreck. These stories are partially influence d by the traumatic sinking incident of Titanic that took place in 1912 which has prompted him to write these plays based on shipwreck.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Setting of the Play:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill\u2019s feeling of the presence of an ironic force against which man fights his self- destructive struggle is communicated to the audience through his meticulous and suggestive stage direction which is more effective than themes and dialogues in the play. Due to his relentless interventions as an author in the stage directions of Thirst <\/em>as well as in other plays; O\u2019Neill\u2019s plays are often called director proof and actor proof. He often incurred wraths from the directors by creating confusion among the actors who found it nearly difficult to act out what the dramatist wanted. The stage directions in Thirst <\/em>and in other plays succeeded in conveying the symbolic meaning and feeling of the dramatist himself behind every move of the play.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As in his other plays, in Thirst<\/em>, O\u2019Neill has made an ample use of his sea-roving experiences throughout which has bought the atmospheric and structural symbolism into the work. The loneliness and triviality of man in the vast unsympathetic universe is suggested poignantly in the opening and also in the closing of the play which have an almost Existentialist bearing. The play opens with an image of stasis and frozen time. The sun burns motionlessly overhead; the surface of the glassy sea is still; the sharks encircle the undulating raft giving an impression of near-motionlessness of the eye. The stasis is concretized even more at the end when the sharks are no longer there; the sun continues blazing like a great angry eye of God and the eerie heat waves float upward in the still air. Thus, the opening and the closing of the play give the symbolic impression of the characters being succumbed to an implacable Fate where human beings are very much powerless.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Plot and Summary of the Play:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The play opens to a scene where three survivors of a shipwreck, a Gentleman, a Dancer and a Sailor are in a raft. The Gentleman is in his formal evening dress that is now tattered due to the shipwreck. The Dancer is in a short-skirted costume of \u2018black velvet covered with spangles\u2019. The other character is a West Indian Mulatto Sailor who is one of the crew members of the ship. The Sailor opens the play with his monotonous song when his eyes constantly follow the shark fins that have circled the raft. The sharks continue to round and do not seem to be in a mood to cease their activity for a moment. The Dancer starts sobbing in the blistering heat without water and food, surrounded by sharks and possibly no one to rescue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then the play presents the conversation that takes place between these three characters. However, in most of the parts of the play one can see that the conversation happens only between the Gentleman and the Dancer and very occasionally with the Sailor. The few lines the Sailor speaks are like \u201cI have no water\u201d and \u201cI do not know\u201d. The conversation between the Gentleman and Dancer reveals how do they came on the raft. The Dancer describes \u201cI was coming home, home after years of struggling, home to success and fame and money.\u201d6 (26) The Gentleman reminds that it was his first cruise and vacation after twenty years of \u2018incessant grind\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Gentleman and the Dancer both believe that the Sailor has some water and is hiding it but the sailor continuously denies the fact. On the advice of the Gentleman and in desperation to get water the Dancer first offers her diamond necklace to the Sailor. However, when he rejects she then offers herself to him. In a fit of delusion she imagines herself performing on stage and dances uncontrollably and dies due to the heat and thirst. The Sailor\u00a0in a ray of hope brings out his knife and sings a happy Negro song – \u201cWe shall eat, We shall drink\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

The Gentleman however, in disgust pushes the Dancer\u2019s body into water. The Sailor in anger stabs him and falls into water. As the Gentleman falls, he holds the Sailor\u2019s collar and pulls him along. Both fall into the water and die. The play ends and only silence remains- \u201cThe sun glares down like a great eye of God. The eerie heat waves float upward in the still air like the souls of the drowned. On the raft a diamond necklace lies glittering in the blazing sunshine\u201d (43).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Characters:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are three major characters in the play representing three different class and social status.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Gentleman<\/strong>: He represents the white class and society which is supposedly polite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Dancer<\/strong>: She is a dancer by profession and represents love for beauty. She is more or less materialistic as she always thinks of her belongings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A West Indian Mulatto Sailor<\/strong>: The Sailor represents the non-white world which is supposedly cruel and rude.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Major Themes and Other Releva nt Issues Discussed in the Play: O\u2019Neill\u2019s Concept of Tragedy:<\/p>\n

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O\u2019Neill projects a tragic vision especially in his earlier plays. Thirst <\/em>is one among them where one finds the tortured souls on the verge of a crisis. The three unnamed characters, the Gentleman, Dancer and Sailor, of the play are stranded in mid ocean. Through their agonies, problems and loss of their hopes, O\u2019Neill highlights the emptiness of human\u00a0beings in this enormous cruel world. Irony of life stands against human progress and the hidden wicked animal instincts of the civilized race. The loneliness is highlighted by the presence of the natural elements like glaring sun like \u2018a great angry eye of God\u2019, \u2018pitiless clear sky\u2019, \u2018the scorching heat waves\u2019 and the madness of silence of the hungry red ocean.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Thirst <\/em>is a melodramatic play that has a deep seated mental agony. At the surface level it just appears to be a very crude presentation of a reality. The play presents ironies of human life which consider themselves to be intelligent are actually vulnerable at the mercy of nature and fate. The Dancer after years of struggle was returning to her home with fame and money. The Gentleman was on his first vacation after years of hard work. However, fate decided to end them before they relish their accomplishments. Survival for them becomes a distant dream that also cannot be accomplished.<\/p>\n

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Their past lives haunt them especially the ironies of their lives. The Gentleman\u2019s menu card comes in contrast to their thirst. The Dancer\u2019s submission to the Negro stands in contrast to the Duke incident. More importantly the Sailor who was feeling elated at the site of the Dancer\u2019s dead body thinking to quench his thirst and hunger but it becomes the food of the sharks. The only remaining element on the raft, the glittering diamond necklace of the Dancer brings to fore the irony and materiality of human conditions.<\/p>\n

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The bestiality of human nature is always found in the predecessors\u2019 works but O\u2019Neill stands against it. He revolts against such traditional representation by showing the Sailor sharpening his knife to eat the Dancer\u2019s body is common in all tragedies but at the very next moment the Sailor\u2019s body also becomes the food item. Through this O\u2019Neill shakes his audiences and leaves them to realise the futility of existence.<\/p>\n

Role of the Sailor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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O\u2019Neill\u2019s characters and even his abstract ideas are quite recognizable. In Thirst <\/em>he has experimented with the Expressionist way of characterization through the West Indian Mulatto Sailor. The Sailor is the most \u2018living\u2019 of all the three characters presented. He basically represents the characteristic feature of civilized human beings in contrast to \u2018savage\u2019. However, he is presented as the most practical and humane than the rest of the characters of the play. The Sailor is the one who for the first time reveals the urgent need of water. At the mention of water by the Gentleman he stops his song abruptly and turns quickly around. He asks \u201cWater? Who\u2019s got water\u201d\u2026(11).<\/p>\n

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Whereas the other two characters complain of the maddening silence, pervading red colour like blood over the sky, their aching eyes and so on. When the Sailor stops singing the Dancer asks him why he has stopped singing the Sailor then replies \u201csticking out his swollen tongue and pointing to it\u2026Water! I want Water! Give me some water and I will sing\u201d (28). So, he seems to be more practical than the other two who are busy in lamenting their lost and unfulfilled achievements. But the Sailor on the other hand keeps singing a Negro song to charm the sharks. He says \u201cIt is a song of my people\u2026I am singing to them. It is a charm. I have been told it is very strong. If I sing long enough they will not eat us\u201d (12-13). He tries to adjust to the situation and wants to survive as long as possible. He also remains quite and thus saves energy. But his keeping quiet enhances the mysteriousness of his intentions. In contrast to the Sailor who is awaken to the reality the other two, the Gentleman and Dancer experience visual hallucination of an island and a tumbler full of water.<\/p>\n

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The play also reveals the helplessness of humans and the control of nature over destiny of humans. When the Dancer dies the Sailor does not take much time or hesitate for a moment. He begins to sharpen his knife. He also suddenly begins to sing a happy song and says parting his swollen lips…\u201cWe shall eat. We shall drink\u201d (42). However, he is punished\u00a0for his sin and dies in a scuffle with the Gentleman who could not imagine the idea of eating a fellow traveller in order to survive.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, O\u2019Neill does not want his audiences to have any negative feeling against the Sailor. The Sailor is just an idea like the Gentleman and Dancer. The Sailor shows his hidden bestiality as the two characters represents their racial bias within the civilized code. O\u2019Neill was not a racist, as his later plays indicate it. In Thirst <\/em>he uses the Sailor only as a myth, that of the black being primitive and savage. In fact, the play is not anti-black. The Sailor also does not show any racial reaction when the Gentleman calls him \u201cFuriously shaking his fist at the Negro\u2019s back. \u201cOh you pig! You rotten pig!\u201d The Negro does not seem to hear\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The Sailor is presented as physically stronger than the other two characters but he does not try to kill nor take any advantage of them. He always tries to be calm even when the Dancer yielding herself for his pleasure where he shows extreme self-control. He thinks of eating the human flesh to survive but only when he is sure that the dancer is dead. In this too he is selfless as he suggests \u201cWe\u201d when he says \u201cWe shall eat\u201d, he meant both the Gentleman and himself. Thus, the Sailor only remains the practical.<\/p>\n

Summary :<\/strong><\/p>\n

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So, in this module we have discussed about Eugene O\u2019Neill, the playwright. We came to know about his personal life. We also learnt about Neill\u2019s literary works and his style of writing. Further, we have discussed the play Thirst<\/em>. We came to know about the background and setting of the play. We have also discussed the plot and summary of the play. Then we have also discussed the characters in it. After then we have focused on various themes and other relevant issues discussed in the play. Hope these are useful to you. For more on this module, please find the other components of the module.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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