The Hairy Ape Body Politics

1433 Words6 Pages
Anna Meehan 3/2/13 Modern American Drama The Politics of the Body in “The Hairy Ape” In Eugene O’Neill’s “The Hairy Ape,” the politics of the body play a very large role in the development and eventual downfall of the character Yank. As a man who treats his body as part of a machine and takes great pride in its ability to produce the results demanded of it, Yank is very devoted to his power as an individual. Though he lives in a paradox of wanting to be both a respected individual and a working piece in the machine, it is not until his body, the object of his strength, is looked upon with disdain that the results of these conflicting wants begin to impact him. With the new found understanding of how little the people of the upper class value him, Yank goes through a crisis of identity as he desperately tries to prove his worth and sense of belonging both to himself and the world around him. As the play opens in the stokehole of a ship, the reader is presented with a vision that is almost anachronistic, containing images of Neanderthal-like men surrounded in a world of steel. It is both a reflection of the primitive nature of man and a nod to the industrial machine that operates on brute strength and enough alcohol to keep one from questioning their place in the world. Throughout the play, the men on the ship often speak in unison, their voices having an almost mechanical quality that takes away from their humanity and shows the brutal conformity that exists in the stokehole and allows the ship to function efficiently. To emphasize the repetitive nature of their speech, O’Neill repeats stage directions again and again, having the crew mimic Yank with “a brazen metallic quality as if their throats were phonograph horns. It is followed by a chorus of hard, barking laughter.” (O’Neill) By repeating the image of these men, all similar in their primitive looks and
Open Document