Dec 31, 2009
The Emperor Jones | The Emperor Jones
At a glance:
- Author: Eugene O’Neill
- First Published: 1921
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Expressionism
- Time of Work: Early twentieth century
- Setting: An island in the West Indies
- Genres: Drama, Melodrama, Expressionist literature, Symbolist literature
- Subjects: 1960’s, Mothers, Parents and children, Caribbean, Magic or magicians, Blacks, Race, Twentieth century, Religion, Emotions, Fear, Islands, Death or dying, Jungles or rain forests, Adventure, Rites or ceremonies, Intellect, Cannibalism, Tyrants or tyranny
- Locales: West Indies, Islands
Characters Discussed
Brutus Jones, emperor of an unnamed island in the West Indies.
A large, powerful, and street-smart man, he was for ten years a Pullman porter in the United
States. He killed his friend Jeff in a fight over a game of dice and knocked out a guard to escape
from prison. He fled as a stowaway and went to the island, where he used his urban ways and
vague hints about his violent past to establish himself as emperor of the island. Luck also played
a part: When Lem hired a gunman to kill Jones early in his reign, the gun misfired. Jones has
convinced the natives...
[The entire page is 1102 words long]
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