Abstract：There are always some playwrights, believe in the power of tragedy, they seem to be the beginning for the hair of a tragedy drew up a channel, such as Eugene O 'neill. He was awarded the Pulitzer prize four times, and the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936 he was a great American playwright, the fate of the tragic characters in his works always lead us to the soul and essence of life, profound thinking of social problems. This article mainly by Eugene O 'neill and studied as an example of the three famous plays, respectively is very impressive "the emperor Jones", "the hairy ape" "desire under the elms" three films, expressed in the three people's miserable and find yourself at the bottom of the process. “Desire under the elms" is such a person in the pursuit of self-value of a tragedy. Similarly, the Hairy Ape is one of the expressionist representative works of O 'neill, theme and spirit pursuit and disillusionment. The whole play hero Yang of the tanker is to fire workers, who are more like people than "first class pig" good man, is confident the tanker "twenty-five miles an hour," part of the required driving force! Even claimed "right! Without me, all have to stop! “This part of the hero Yang grams of the working class and other represent the working environment and living condition of the detailed description, some people think that, under the background of that time with a strong tendency of realism and to "sharp and profound critique of capitalist system! “This description is not so much the author unjust indictment of capitalist system, than to the person --, accurately, in the face of modern people to re-examine the survival status of industrial civilization. “The emperor Jones" also belongs to this type of play. The hero Brewster Jones is an African American. After the killing, he escaped from prison to an island in the west Indies. In a gene called Henry smithers cunning humiliated white, with the help of Jones successfully using the local black islanders superstitious ignorance, when on the island of the emperor, and announced that only silver bullet can hurt him. Islanders so Jones of tyranny and exploiting, eventually start to rebel. Under the black islanders' chase, the emperor Jones fled the palace, into the forest. Where fear made him hallucinate, schizophrenia, exhausted, and finally killed by pursuers silver bullets. Last night, the emperor Jones appeared six illusion, every illusion is the representation of their past SINS and bitter experience. The emperor Jones in this search for identity in illusion. Night is the night of the death of the emperor Jones, forest and its inner struggle, looking for night myself.

Since the birth of the industrial revolution is showing its great vitality and broad impact on the world. This historic event is like a double-edged sword, brings the Gospel to people, but also brought disaster. The United States is a multi-ethnic immigration country, the integration of large between many people from all over the world prosperity and alterations of the natural environment factors such as O 'neill has formed actively explore, the pursuit of freedom spirit of tragedy. The social history of the United States is short, but it is made up of a series of wars. As the main body of the tragic survival rights, independence requirements of various kinds of tragedy character make public, thirst for love, family love, friendship, for the maintenance of human dignity, beyond the self-realization, and have reached a certain level. This article through to the Eugene O 'neill's three films of meticulous analysis, show the different characters of different living conditions, to be more specific, a more profound understanding of the tragic characters in different state of survival.

Key Words: Eugene O’ Neill，The emperor Jones, The hairy Ape, Desire under the Elms, tragedy, living condition

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

Introduction

1.1 Male-dominated society and peoples desires- 1 -

1.2 The social conditions during the industrial revolution- 1 - 

1.3Racial discrimination and searching for identity.- 2 -  

2. The three works features of the protagonist living condition- 2 -

2.1 Desire under the Elms- 3 -

2.2The Hairy Ape - 7 - 

2.3 The Emperor Jones- 10 -

3. The contrast among their lving conditons and social ideologies- 12 -

3.1The social situation influence characters living condition- 13 -

4.My Summarize and personal thoughts of these conditions.- 14 -

Conclusion- 15 -

References- 15 -

Acknowledgment..- 16 -