Eugene O'Neill

Eugene Gladstone ONeill October 16 1888 November 27 1953 was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into US drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and Swedish playwright August Strindberg The tragedy Long Days Journey into Night is often numbered on the short list of the finest US plays in the 20th century alongside Tennessee Williamss A Streetcar Named Desire and Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman ONeills plays were among the first to include speeches in American English vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society They struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair Of his very few comedies only one is wellknown Ah Wilderness Nearly all of his other plays involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism Description above from the Wikipedia article Eugene ONeill licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia