Desire Under The Elms By Eugene O Neill - 3084 Words

Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill is a modern twist on the mythological tale of Phaedra and Hippolytus. In writing this piece, in 1924, O’Neill delivers a captivating and somewhat comical version of the classic myth. Stuck in the transition from the Modernism to Postmodernism movements, O’Neill struggled to define himself as either a modernist or postmodernist. The Modernism movement is made up of a variety of different movements: philosophical, artistic, and literary. The artistic and literary Modernism movement, which occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century, is marked by the concepts of experimentation and individualism, signifying sudden breaks with traditional values of literature, philosophy, and culture. In comparison, postmodernism, which developed in the mid to late 20th century held the idea that reality is not based on societal understanding of it, but, on individual perception and interpretation. While both have similarities, the perce ptions of individuality in these movements differ on a relatively large scale. In the Modernist movement, it was socially correct to adhere to what was specifically deemed acceptable. In contrast, in the postmodernist movement, one style of living was not any less acceptable than another because each person determined what is considered valuable to them individually. Though modernism and postmodernism are marked by distinctive ways of thinking and social norms, these periods actually faced quite an overlap. WhileShow MoreRelatedBiography Of Eugene ONeill Essay example1514 Words   |  7 PagesBIOGRAPHY OF EUGENE O’ NEILL Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born in a New York City hotel room on 16th October, 1888,he son of famous actor James O’Neill and Ella O’Neill, spent the first seven years of his life touring with his father’s theater company. These years introduced O’Neill to the world of theater and the difficulties of maintaining artistic integrity. His father, once a well-known Shakespearean, had taken a role in a lesser play for its sizable salary. Family life was unstable. ONeills