The portrayal of the ideal male in selected works of Eugene O'Neill

Abstract

A woman’s choice between a starry-eyed dreamer and a pragmatic businessman ends in disaster. This situation is a motif in the works of Eugene O’Neill, and examining its occurrences in Beyond the Horizon, The Great God Brown, Strange Interlude and Long Day’s Journey into Night sheds light on the “seeker”(the starry-eyed dreamer)and “provider” (pragmatic businessman) characters in O’Neill’s work as well as his understanding of what women believe is the “Ideal Male.” Through his work, O’Neill questions whether women really want a seeker or a provider and, perhaps, would prefer a father instead. Nietzsche, Laing, Lao Tzu, and Frazer are all used to help ground this study of why exactly O’Neill’s women and men seem to get caught up in this cycle that often leaves both sexes dead or insane.