Symbolism in Eugene O’Neill’s Beyond the HorizonAbstractBeyond the Horizon is one of the most successful works inO’Neill’s career. It helps him win the Pulitzer Prize and solidifies hisliterary reputation as the top dramatist at that time. Many critics havetried to study Beyond the Horizon from the perspectives of dramaticschools like romanticism, ecologism, feminism or expressionism.However, the thesis intends to explore the deep meaning in the playfrom the perspective of symbolism.The paper first introduces O’Neill and the content of Beyond theHorizon. Next, it focuses on the main ideas and development ofsymbolism. Then it attempts to explore the symbolic meaning ofdifferent colors and nature images from the perspective of symbolism.Through the analysis of the symbolism in Beyond the Horizon, thepaper aims to explain that each color and each image in this play has itsown symbolic meaning. The application of symbolism can reflect theauthor’s excellent writing skills and his rich life experience.58197
Keywords: Beyond the Horizon; symbolism; color; nature images尤金•奥尼尔《天边外》中的象征主义摘要《天边外》是奥尼尔所创作品中的最成功的作品之一，为奥尼尔赢得了普利策奖, 并奠定了奥尼尔在美国剧坛首屈一指的地位。曾有很多戏剧评论家从浪漫主义、生态主义、女性主义或表现主义等角度对该戏剧进行分析和论述，而本文则是从象征主义角度来分析这部戏剧中的描述的丰富意象，并探索其蕴含的深层意义。本文首先介绍了《天边外》这部戏剧的作者奥尼尔以及这部戏剧的主要故事情节。其次介绍了象征主义的主要观点及其发展历程。接着从象征主义的角度出发，探究了这部戏剧中颜色和自然意象所暗涵的深刻意义。通过本文的分析，作者意在证明:奥尼尔《天边外》中不同的颜色，不同的意象都蕴含着深刻的象征意义，很好地映衬了这部戏剧的悲剧色彩，反映了剧作家精湛的艺术手法和丰富的人生经验。
毕业论文关键词： 《天边外》 ；象征主义；颜色；自然意象

Contents

Abstract in English I

Abstract in ChineseII

Ⅰ. Introduction 1

Ⅱ. A Brief Introduction to Symbolism. 3

2.1 The Development of Symbolism. 3

2.2 The Importance of Symbolism. 4

Ⅲ . Symbolic Meaning of Different Colors in Beyond the Horizon5

3.1 The Symbolic Meaning of Black. 5

3.2 The Symbolic Meaning of White.6

3.3 The Symbolic Meaning of Red.8

Ⅳ. Symbolic Meaning of Nature Images in Beyond the Horizon.10

4.1 The Symbolic Meaning of Sea. 10

4.2 The Symbolic Meaning of Sunset11

4.3 The Symbolic Meaning of Sunrise. 13

Ⅴ. Conclusion 16

Bibliography18
Symbolism in Eugene O’Neill’s Beyond the HorizonⅠ. IntroductionEugene O’Neill (1888-1952), who was born in New York, wasregarded as one of the most famous American playwrights. O’Neillcreated 45 dramas of different styles and extensive subjects during hiscreative life. It was his endeavor that made the take-off of the grandundertaking of American drama in the 1920s possible. What’s more, itwas his effort that made American drama the paralleled form of artcompared with novel, painting and musical works. Therefore, He waswidely rewarded that he has played a important role in history ofAmerica. In 1936, he won Nobel Prize for the first time, and his play,Beyond the Horizon won the Pulitzer Prize four times.Beyond the Horizon is O’Neill’s most wonderfully crafted andskillfully written play which is first published in 1920. It is the first timethat O’Neill wins magnificent achievement. It is also a steppingstone topromote his creation to the prime period of his literary career. It tells thestory of the unfortunate life of a peasant family in the United States.Robert Mayo and Andrew Mayo are brothers of this family but theyhave different dreams and different imagination of future life. Andrewwants to run his farm well and live in peace and security, contrasting tohis brother, only going out and taking adventure can realize the value ofhis life. However, both the brothers fall in love with the same womanRuth, a girl next door. But Ruth decides to marry Robert, because of themarriage, Robert has to give up his wonderful dream and stay at home tofarm and Andrew who desires to calm and stable life has to go out andlive beyond the horizon, they change dreams. However, Robert’sinability in farm management leads the family to poverty and the wife’sdissatisfaction with marriage. He dies of tuberculosis finally. Andrew gives up the business and is addicted to gambling and finally he loseseverything.About this famous play Beyond the Horizon, many critics have triedto study it from different perspectives, such as romanticism, ecologism,feminism or expressionism (Li, 2013). However, few scholars have usedthe theory of symbolism to analyze the scenes and the text of the play.To do more study about the play, this paper intends to explore the deepmeaning of different colors and nature images in the play from theperspective of symbolism.Based on the famous play, this paper aims to analyze the deepmeaning of the colors and images in the play. This paper consists of fiveparts. First part introduces the great playwright O’Neill and his playBeyond the Horizon. Second part is the introduction to symbolism.Based on the main idea of symbolism, this part deeply introduces thedevelopment of symbolism and the importance of symbolism inliterature. Then, third part emphasizes the symbolic meaning of differentcolors in Beyond the Horizon. Based on the introduction of differentcolors, the part explores their symbolic importance respectively andstudies the effects on people’s vision and psychology. The following partis about the symbolic meaning of nature images. Based on the natureimages described in Beyond the Horizon, such as sea, earth, farm and soon, this part analyzes the deep meaning of these images. Finally, the lastpart is the conclusion of the whole paper. II. A Brief Introduction to Symbolism 源`自'优尔|.论"文-网[www.youerw.com  尤金·奥尼尔《天边外》中的象征主义:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_63187.html