The Study of two Modern Tragedy Dramas by Eugenie O'Neil Based on Raymond Williams' View

Tragedy has gone through alteration in approach and development throughout ages, but its nature has never been modified. Despite 'the uniqueness found' in tragedies, all of them enjoy a basic resemblance and express the tragic nature of man's existence and spirit, yet each tragedy translates them into the language of its own age. Tragedy transcends time and place: in spite of the seeming differences, classical, Elizabethan, and modern tragedies share a common theme. Man has always been conscious of the limitations he faces in life. The restricting forces, imposed on man, take various shapes and forms: sometimes they appear as providence, or as natural disasters, as fate or they may appear as the stoical world. O'Neill uses modern tragedy, as an important modern dramatist in the twentieth century, in his two plays; The Iceman Cometh and Mourning Becomes Electra. By studying and analyzing them based on Raymond William's view, the researcher pictures them as modern works and the nature of modern tragedy in modern work illustrate the same nature of classic tragedies. A close study of tragedy in different periods gives a deep insight into man's nature and destiny. He can never escape life has always been a tragedy of those could not accept limitations, and those desire to employ their pantonality to achieve real or imaginary majesty .

Keywords:

Classic tragedy , Modern tragedy , Modern Drama