Language and the Fragmented Self: A Reading of Eugene O'Neill's Plays

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Features: Among all research on the self, the theories of Charles Taylor and Jacques Lacan have inspired our understanding of this topic from ethical and psychoanalytic perspectives. Taylor's theory emphasizes that the drive for goodness is an ontological attribute of the self. He argues that modern Western moral identity is composed of three moral sources, and the identity issues faced by modern people stem from the collapse of the dominant religious perspective among these three sources. Lacan's elaboration on the structure of the self, such as the mirror stage and the formation of the unconscious, reveals that the self is inherently alienated: on one hand, it must rely on the other to obtain its mirror image; on the other hand, it submits to the influence of the other. This book aims to interpret the self-image shaped by Eugene O'Neill using Taylor's and Lacan's ethical and psychoanalytic theories. My research shows that O'Neill's focus on the self encompasses both ethical and psychological dimensions, with varying emphases in different creative periods. His early works depict the uncertainty and fluidity of the self. These characteristics arise from the diversity and irreconcilability of the goodness inherited by the self. In the middle period of his career, O'Neill continued to address moral issues in American culture, but his dramatic focus shifted to exploring the psychological experiences of the self, revealing the connection between the fragmentation of the self and the sociocultural context. In his later works, O'Neill emphasizes the migrating self—the self that has lost social roles and resides in an imagined space. O'Neill interprets this migration as a strategy modern people use to cope with spiritual loss. By depicting their aimless and meaningless existence, O'Neill reveals the connection between the modern identity crisis and the chronic diseases of Western culture, which is the collapse of the entire Western moral order brought about by the death of God. In his works, O'Neill unconsciously expresses views similar to Taylor's and Lacan's on certain ethical and psychological phenomena of the self. However, O'Neill's understanding of the self is so complex that it cannot be explained by a single theory. Therefore, this book also includes an exploration of O'Neill's view of the self and his contributions to modern drama in terms of the theme of searching for the self.