!["The three plays in this volume all deal with the misery of man, but we note at once that the misery is not immediate and physical, not social, but ultimate and, as it were, metaphysical. In each play the central character is one of the insulted and injured: one an [African American], another a stoker, the third a postitute. But whereas for most of us the plight of such people immediately evokes the social forces that have insulted and injured them, for O'Neill the social insult and injury are not so much facts in themselves as symbols of man's cosmic situation. Thus the "emperor," Brutus Jones, does not typify the [African American]. He typfies all men with their raw ignorance and hysterial fear under the layers of intellect. The Hairy Ape is not a play about the proletariat. Yank Smith is the embodiment of our modern pride of power. Anna Christie is no less symbolic of the darkness of man's ultimate fate." --Lionel Trilling](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-ezptpblrxu/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/1368/2139/EugeneOneil__62991.1666558303.jpg?c=2 "\"The three plays in this volume all deal with the misery of man, but we note at once that the misery is not immediate and physical, not social, but ultimate and, as it were, metaphysical. In each play the central character is one of the insulted and injured: one an [African American], another a stoker, the third a postitute. But whereas for most of us the plight of such people immediately evokes the social forces that have insulted and injured them, for O'Neill the social insult and injury are not so much facts in themselves as symbols of man's cosmic situation. Thus the \"emperor,\" Brutus Jones, does not typify the [African American]. He typfies all men with their raw ignorance and hysterial fear under the layers of intellect. The Hairy Ape is not a play about the proletariat. Yank Smith is the embodiment of our modern pride of power. Anna Christie is no less symbolic of the darkness of man's ultimate fate.\" --Lionel Trilling")
"The three plays in this volume all deal with the misery of man, but we note at once that the misery is not immediate and physical, not social, but ultimate and, as it were, metaphysical. In each play the central character is one of the insulted and injured: one an [African American], another a stoker, the third a postitute. But whereas for most of us the plight of such people immediately evokes the social forces that have insulted and injured them, for O'Neill the social insult and injury are not so much facts in themselves as symbols of man's cosmic situation. Thus the "emperor," Brutus Jones, does not typify the [African American]. He typfies all men with their raw ignorance and hysterial fear under the layers of intellect. The Hairy Ape is not a play about the proletariat. Yank Smith is the embodiment of our modern pride of power. Anna Christie is no less symbolic of the darkness of man's ultimate fate." --Lionel Trilling
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