2.1 The Development of SymbolismSymbolism is one of the unique writing techniques. The aim ofsymbolism is to deliver intricate expression and the content of it ismysticism.The original word which has same meaning with symbolism is theGreek word symbolon. Symbolism in Greek firstly means “broke oneboard into two parts and take one part of each other” (Saulius, 2014).Actually, symbolism develops in 1880s at the very beginning in French.Stephane Mallarme (1842-1898), Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), and ArthurRimbaud (1854-1891) are the main representative personages of thesymbolism in French. From 1890s, this kind of writing skill spreads tomany countries, such as England, Italy, Russian, Spanish, Germany etc.Then to the 1920s, symbolism is regarded as the most influential schoolsof literary and the most popular artistic trend around the world.In content, generalized symbolism and narrow symbolism are twobranches of symbolism. And it also contains early symbolism and latesymbolism. The early symbolism means the thought after the failure ofthe Paris Commune and the thought that is popular accepted byEuropeans in 1880s and 1890s. The late symbolism is the thought of1920s. The symbolism becomes popular again and it overwhelmsthrough Europe and American. It goes to its top at that time. In 1886,French poet Jules Moorea (1856-1910) publishes the declaration ofsymbolism in Paris. At the same time, Mallarme writes the foreword.Rene Jill publishes the Study on Language and Tone. These great peopleestablish the theoretical principle of the symbolic poetry and also theimportant bibliography for the later generations to study symbolism.
2.2 The Importance of SymbolismSymbolism is regarded as the special artistic technique, with theaim of expressing hidden meaning under phenomena. So symbolismplays an important role in literature and the importance of symbolism isthe connection of concrete and abstract. Between the two kinds ofmatters, there is a contraction. However, it is the symbolism that canmake success in harmonizing the former with later. Readers can explorethe characters’ inner world and can share the same feeling with thecharacters in plays by analyzing plays from the perspective ofsymbolism.It is a fact that Eugene O’Neill is very good at applying the theoryof symbolism into his language in Beyond the Horizon and symbolismcan be analyzed in many places of the play, ranging from colors whichare related to the personalities and destinations of characters to naturalenvironment which can reflect the family’s up and down and thecharacters’ inner feeling. The usage of symbolism not only makes theplay be more meaningful and impressive and but also helps the readersunderstand the soul of the play well.

尤金·奥尼尔《天边外》中的象征主义(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_63187.html