Where does expressionism appear in The Emperor Jones?
Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones is an expressionistic play. Although the first and last scene of the play seem conventionally realistic, the other six scenes are wholly expressionistic in character, attitude, and in style.
Expressionistic plays make use of soliloquies and "inner monologues"—both of which O'Neill employs in The Emperor Jones to reveal the mind of Brutus Jones, the Emperor Jones of the title—which give outward expression to innermost thoughts and emotions that are normally unexpressed in a realistic play.
In this sense, Shakespeare's plays can be said to be expressionistic, since he uses soliloquies to express a character's thoughts, feelings, and motivations, but these expressionistic elements occur within an otherwise realistic context, even in plays like The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth, for example, in which the world of the play is magical, fantastical, or supernatural.
Scenes two through seven of The Emperor Jones consist entirely of monologues by Brutus Jones. Other characters and entities—like the Little Formless Fears (scene 2), the Guard (scene 4), the Auctioneer and Planters (scene 5), and the Witch-Doctor (scene 7)—appear in these scenes, but these are simply symbolic manifestations of Jones's troubled mind.
In an expressionistic play like The Emperor Jones, the events of the plot move forward and backward in time and space, following the mind of Brutus Jones, not in a linear, chronological, cause-and-effect relationship. The conflicts of the play are not a result or consequence of events in the play or the environment in which these events occur, but occur entirely within Jones's mind
A defining element of expressionistic plays is that the characters are stereotypes, devoid of individuality. They objectively represent rather than subjectively embody certain stereotypical characteristics.
Brutus Jones is a stereotype. This is subtly conveyed in the title of the play, The Emperor Jones, rather than simply Emperor Jones. "The" denotes a certain distancing from the character that objectifies Brutus Jones and defines him as representative, as a symbol, or as an abstraction of the category or species of Emperor Jones, not as an individual named Brutus Jones.
Brutus Jones is also an "everyman" on a quest for self-knowledge, self-understanding, and self-realization. His journey through the Great Forest is symbolic of this quest, which is not unlike the quest undertaken by many other people in their lives. Brutus Jones's quest is archetypal, and therefore stereotypical and expressionistic of all such quests.
Is The Emperor Jones an Expressionist play? Comment.
In the structure and the staging, and to some extent in the subject matter, The Emperor Jones can be seen as Expressionist theatrical work. The play retains a semblance of conventional plotting, and it seems that Eugene O’Neill initially presents Brutus Jones’ rule over the island as a realistic topic. But once Jones abdicates and flees into the jungle it becomes clear that the whole play is a departure from naturalism. Even the notion of his being an emperor is shown to be a sham, as from the outset he and Smithers had been deceiving the people.
In many respects it is a psychological drama, and the staging devices are intrinsically connected with the thematic development. Jones is shown to have a slender grasp on reality, and he quickly spirals out of control as his practical situation grows worse. In the dark, forbidding jungle, he sees one vision after another and imagines himself participating in each one.
In subject matter and in time, each incident takes Jones and the audience further from the present and from reality. Especially significant are the drums, tom-toms that O’Neill’s stage directions indicate should begin beating at the human heart rate, and accelerate and grow louder to approximate his panic. The passage of time through the night, and the association of the increasing darkness with Jones’ mental deterioration, is also precisely scripted.
Even the rebels and their approach to capturing and killing the former leader are steeped in unreality: Lem, their leader, has apparently delayed in pursuing him because of his ostensible magic powers, which require killing him with a silver bullet. Lem’s shooting is an anti-climax; by the time they find Jones, his fears had already caused his demise.
Is The Emperor Jones an Expressionist play? Comment.
Expressionism is a literary and artistic movement that resisted the principles of Impressionism and Realism by rejecting representations of an external reality and focusing instead on the inner emotional experience of humanity. Drawing on the work of Sigmund Freud, Expressionism explored the intensity and complexity of the human subconscious.
In The Emperor Jones, the protagonist experiences intense feelings of fear and guilt combined with vivid hallucinations. He hears the beating drums of the natives he has oppressed, and the tempo of the drums increases in time with his accelerating heartbeat as he fears for his life. He also encounters visions of people he has swindled and killed. However, his inner emotional turmoil is also an expression of his racial inheritance. As an African-American who has declared himself emperor of a West Indian island, he is a member of an oppressed class who has, in turn, reenacted that oppression on others. He imagines being held aboard a slave ship and auctioned off as his ancestors once were.
Eugene O'Neil's Expressionistic technique allows for a multilayered, more nuanced approach to issues of race.
How does expressionism appear in The Emperor Jones?
Expressionism was an artistic movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It began as a reaction against realism, which had dominated mid-nineteenth century modes of representation. Dismissing the notion that a work of art should try to convey a faithful approximation of reality, expressionists maintained that creative artists should look below the surface and expose the important workings of the human mind and soul. Many were influenced by the new science of psychiatry.
Eugene O’Neill’s play does have a plot that follows Jones from his decision to leave the island through his death. As Jones thrashes through the forest, the main focus is on his mental state, which is quickly deteriorating. From a small amount of apprehension, or “little formless fears,” Jones progresses into a state of terror.
The visions he has during the night correspond to his feelings, including guilt and shame over his prior behavior. People and things that are symbolic of his concerns are projected from among the trees, such as the chain gang and the slave ship.
Expressionism also appears in the sound score. The tom-tom drum that is prominently featured grows louder and faster as the play progresses. Its beats correspond to Jones’s heart beats as his panic mounts, and the drums are silent at his death.
What elements of expressionism are present in The Emperor Jones?
In its dramatic manifestation, expressionism involves a number of factors relevant to O'Neill's The Emperor Jones. First of all, we have the theme of the individual against society. Brutus Jones is an outcast from American society on account of his race and criminality.
After escaping from prison, he winds up on a remote Caribbean island, where he establishes himself as a tyrant. Over time, Jones becomes the individual against society once more as his subjects rebel against his tyrannical rule.
Another expressionistic technique used by O'Neill is symbolism. Symbols are often used in expressionist drama to add depth to what's happening on stage. In particular, it can lend psychological depth to the characters.
In The Emperor Jones, we have the symbol of the forest, which symbolizes the confusion and darkness that lurks deep within Jones's soul. To some extent, it also represents the violent criminal past from which Jones cannot escape. There is also the silver bullet with which Jones is shot and killed, which symbolizes the greed for wealth and power that is ultimately his undoing.
As for Brutus Jones himself, he could be said to symbolize the dark, irrational impulses that lurk deep in the human subconscious but which are suppressed by most.
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