A self psychological study of dehumanization in Eugene O'Neill'sThe Hairy Ape

Abstract

Experiences of isolation, alienation, and self-fragmentation have been expressed by literary artists throughout this century. Many of the plays of Eugene O'Neill depict human suffering in these terms. Applying the constructs of self psychology, particularly those relating to selfobjects and the selfobject milieu, these experiences in O'Neill's plays can be described as shifts in self-cohesiveness. O'Neill'sThe Hairy Ape depicts a man with a fragile sense of self who suffers a disruption of the selfobject milieu which had sustained him. As a consequence of this change in his social embeddedness, the character “Yank” experiences a sense of fragmentation and ultimately feels that he does not belong to the human race. The play depicts in a powerful way the necessity of a selfobject milieu in sustaining one's sense of self.