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Abstract：Both of the Oedipus the King and The Hairy Ape reflect the human beings’ opposition against the fate. They have some similarity in the plan on the plot and the end of on the story although these two works are remote in the time and space. This paper tries to make a compare between the two characters， Yank and Oedipus on some details.
Key Words：Yank；Oedipus；similarity
Introduction
The Hairy Ape is a tragedy of Eugene O’Neil which presents Yank’s hard journey to lift out of his destiny after he was viewed as a “filthy beast” by the daughter of an industrialist in the steel business.
Oedipus the King of the ancient Greek writer Sophocles （B.C.496- B.C.406） is a classical tragic drama in the western literature. It has so great influence on the later writers’ thought and works that many writers follow his plot consciously or unconsciously.
Eugene O’Neil had an indissoluble bound to Greek tragedy and he claimed by himself the influence by Greece tragedy. O’Neil accepts the belief that man is dominated by his fate which is unavoidable and protagonists in his play are teased by their fate and have no way out ...He inherited and developed Greek tragedy and to some extent transcended it and therefore made an incomparable contribution to the revival of American drama. （Liu Dingyuan， 2007） This idea is showed both in the story of Oedipus and in the story of Yank. There is some similarity between The Hairy Ape and Oedipus the King. The character Yank resembles Oedipus.
1. Birth of the tragedy
Oedipus’s life was predetermined by the oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother before his birth. It was the God’s strength that led him step to the tragic ending. In order to avoid the tragedy， his parents pierced and pinned the infant’s feet together and asked a servant to put him to the mountain to die. But he survived and brought up by his adoptive parents. One day， he heard others talking about his parentage. Deeply trouble， he asked Delphi to tell his birth. He was told by Apollo that he could not return to his native country. Then he began his travel. Although he had exerted himself to escape， he still cannot evenly match with the holy foretell. In that time， people were relatively ignorant and weak. God was the steadfast belief among them so that they had no ability to violate the prediction. Then he set foot on the path of toil.
Similarly， Yank is more or less copies Oedipus’s experience. Before， he worked as a stoker tiredly but relatively comfortable. In his mind， he was the most “belong”（顶用） and the large ship was promoted by him. He considered the richer as nobody but only him， Yank， was the most helpful. So when the rich daughter of an industrialist viewed him as a “filthy beast”， his anger was like blazing fire in his mind. Unfortunately， he never realized that his fate had been doomed by these two words. Yank in the play is called an ape； he never accepts it and he tried to find his identity till he gets killed in a zoo by a real ape. Yank and the ape hold a deep relation from the beginning of the play till its end. （Zhou Wenhan，2011） His “pursuit” to the tragedy began from them. In the beginning， he just wanted to revenge to the girl， “Sure ting I do！ Didn’t I try to git even wit her in Southampton？ Didn’t I sneak on de dock and wait for her byde gangplank？” （O’Neil， 1921： 35） Generally， he found that he was regarded as a hairy ape by everyone； maybe he was actually a hairy ape. Eventually， he came to his “friend”—the real hairy ape but he was refused and killed by it. Differently， his fate was not foreshowed by God—the holy foretell. But， on some level， the “filthy beast” was just like an oracle that led him to step to his miserable ending. Maybe we can say that he attempted to maintain his dignity even to find out his ego. Still， he was guided by a kind of supernatural strength which cannot be breached. 2. Progress of the tragedy
Referring the progress， Yank’s story is more or less the simplified version of Oedipus’s. Yank avoided being a hairy ape and Oedipus tried not to be the killer. The protagonist became a folk from a king and the experience became more usual from grandness. They both fought against the destiny hardly.
In Oedipus’s travel， he found his way blocked by a chariot at a crossroads； he killed all the people except a slave including his birth-father angrily. In Thebes， Oedipus successfully answered the riddle of Sphinx， with the reward of the crown and the widow queen. It seemed that his journey proceeded very smooth， however， the journey proceeded as God’s plan； but little did the character know. Human beings’ efforts were vain compared with to powerful will of God. Then the tragedy threw its disguise. A plague raged throughout the land. Creon said the plague was the result of religious pollution， caused because the murderer of their former King， Laius， had never been caught. Oedipus vowed to find the murderer and cursed him for the plague that he had caused. Here comes the key point. In the process of finding out the murderer， Oedipus was avoided by his mother and the shepherd. But he even begged to be allowed to leave without answering further. He could not stop his painful journey only to find that he himself was the killer. Everything was at last revealed. Oedipus plunged the gold pins into his own eyes in despair. He could stop himself many times， but he still chose to be close to his tragedy drived by the justice， responsibility or the holy strength. This is the loftiness should be eulogized and carried on.
As for Yank， he also could save himself on the halfway. When he failed to find and revenge to the rich girl， he could have accepted Paddy’s advice and came back to the ship. Then he could work and keep his life at least. Nevertheless， he indulged his own willingness—the prison， the organization and the death. Paddy was a key person. He tried to persuade Yank to keep clear-minded and go back to their original life. However， Paddy was the ridiculous “comic antique” in Yank’s eyes. Finally， the ending proved that Paddy was right. Yank was defeated many times. He was ignored by the Fifth Avenue and abandoned by the prison and refused by the labor organizers on the waterfront. Again and again， he grew stronger with each failure and never thought about retreating. Actually， in the play， Yank didn’t realize that he was just the slave of the machine， the iron ship. And he has no belonging to anyone， to the human being ， to the animal world. （Zhou Hanwen， 2011） But he pursued the “hairy ape” and followed the supernatural strength until he reached to the zoo and witnessed the “real self”. He should stop. Then， he should be content， but he even asked the real ape to be friendly with him while the ape rejected him and killed him. How sad！ He arrived to his tragedy through a twist way. 3. The ending of the tragedy
Oedipus had been pursuing the fate which was not his own fate all the way. His mother Jocasta ran to the palace bedroom and hanged herself there. Oedipus planned to call on his servants to bring him a sword so that he might kill himself. He raged through the house， just found Jocasta's body. Giving a cry， Oedipus took her down and removed the long gold pins that held her dress together， and plunged them into his own eyes in despair. In the end he roved in the distant land. He had crusaged for his country all his life and save the people from untold miseries. Superficially， Oedipus was blind for his people and his country or for his guilty. There is no doubt that he was a great hero. Essentially， even such a great hero can not control his fate.
Yank found himself was a real ape. Seeing the gorilla， Yank feels he finally find himself. He communicated with it though it didn’t answer a word and then Yank called it “brother” since they both belong to the same club， Hairy Apes. He opened the cage of the gorilla and he held out his hands to shake hands with the animal， the gorilla suddenly got enraged and wrapped its huge arms around Yank which made him collapse on the floor. Unfortunately， he died. He failed all the way but his willingness was so powerful to be defeated. He refused to be the “hairy ape” and he was crazy to prove he was “belong”. Contrarily， he could not work himself to the bone for him. He rushed to the “filthy beast” or “the hairy ape” stage by stage under the direction of the supernatural power. Woefully， he had no idea about that totally. He was another Oedipus. On the surface， Yank’s experience was personal behavior and not everyone had the same story. In the deep， no matter a hero or a common people， no one may shake off their misery. They may have different experience on the surface， but they both come to a sad ending. It did not relate to whether Yank or Oedipus.
They experienced different pain in the same model and led to the similar ending. Both of them could not get rid of the bondage of the fate. Oedipus refused to be the one who would kill his father and marry his mother. Yank refused to be a hairy ape. They took great effort to save but failed. But they just could not fight against God or the supernatural strength. They wanted to find out their identity. They were so deeply involved in the identity crisis that found it hard to pull out. In their own mind， they did all the things under own willingness. However， they just couldn’t cease themselves and pull themselves from the tragedy. 4. Conclusion
In conclusion， these two characters are similar if we make a comprehensive survey of their lives. Although they end up with tragedies， both of these two dramas reflect the eternal pursuit for destiny of human being. Oedipus pierced his eyes and lived isolately in the end， but he became a king admired by the people of the nation. Yank was killed by the ape， “he slips in a heap on the floor and dies. The monkeys set up a chattering， whimpering wail. And， perhaps， the Hairy Ape at last belongs” （O’Neil， 1921： 55）， but he shows the desire for freedom and expectation for true human nature. The author praises the brave and great power people display when they are in deep desperate. （Sun Yixue， 2001） Eugene O’Neill showed his tragic thoughts - never avoiding from failure， suffering and death by the thoughts - spirit， dream and destiny. He explores and reveals mankind’s spiritual dilemma between death and struggle， promise and its breaking. He highly praises human beings’ constant pursuing spirit and struggling spirit which is the eternity for human being.
[Bibliography]
[1]O’Neil， Eugene， 1921. The Hairy Ape， New York， Doctor Publications， 2005[M].
[2]冯国军，2007，尤金_奥尼尔对古希腊悲剧的继承与发展[D].
[3]刘定远，2007，论尤金_奥尼尔对古希腊悲剧的继承与超越[D].
[4]孙宜学，2001，论尤金_奥尼尔剧作的悲剧主题[M].
[5]周文汉，2002，_猪人_和_毛猿_归属主题的对比研究[D].
（作者单位：天津工业大学外国语学院，天津 300191）
Key Words：Yank；Oedipus；similarity
Introduction
The Hairy Ape is a tragedy of Eugene O’Neil which presents Yank’s hard journey to lift out of his destiny after he was viewed as a “filthy beast” by the daughter of an industrialist in the steel business.
Oedipus the King of the ancient Greek writer Sophocles （B.C.496- B.C.406） is a classical tragic drama in the western literature. It has so great influence on the later writers’ thought and works that many writers follow his plot consciously or unconsciously.
Eugene O’Neil had an indissoluble bound to Greek tragedy and he claimed by himself the influence by Greece tragedy. O’Neil accepts the belief that man is dominated by his fate which is unavoidable and protagonists in his play are teased by their fate and have no way out ...He inherited and developed Greek tragedy and to some extent transcended it and therefore made an incomparable contribution to the revival of American drama. （Liu Dingyuan， 2007） This idea is showed both in the story of Oedipus and in the story of Yank. There is some similarity between The Hairy Ape and Oedipus the King. The character Yank resembles Oedipus.
1. Birth of the tragedy
Oedipus’s life was predetermined by the oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother before his birth. It was the God’s strength that led him step to the tragic ending. In order to avoid the tragedy， his parents pierced and pinned the infant’s feet together and asked a servant to put him to the mountain to die. But he survived and brought up by his adoptive parents. One day， he heard others talking about his parentage. Deeply trouble， he asked Delphi to tell his birth. He was told by Apollo that he could not return to his native country. Then he began his travel. Although he had exerted himself to escape， he still cannot evenly match with the holy foretell. In that time， people were relatively ignorant and weak. God was the steadfast belief among them so that they had no ability to violate the prediction. Then he set foot on the path of toil.
Similarly， Yank is more or less copies Oedipus’s experience. Before， he worked as a stoker tiredly but relatively comfortable. In his mind， he was the most “belong”（顶用） and the large ship was promoted by him. He considered the richer as nobody but only him， Yank， was the most helpful. So when the rich daughter of an industrialist viewed him as a “filthy beast”， his anger was like blazing fire in his mind. Unfortunately， he never realized that his fate had been doomed by these two words. Yank in the play is called an ape； he never accepts it and he tried to find his identity till he gets killed in a zoo by a real ape. Yank and the ape hold a deep relation from the beginning of the play till its end. （Zhou Wenhan，2011） His “pursuit” to the tragedy began from them. In the beginning， he just wanted to revenge to the girl， “Sure ting I do！ Didn’t I try to git even wit her in Southampton？ Didn’t I sneak on de dock and wait for her byde gangplank？” （O’Neil， 1921： 35） Generally， he found that he was regarded as a hairy ape by everyone； maybe he was actually a hairy ape. Eventually， he came to his “friend”—the real hairy ape but he was refused and killed by it. Differently， his fate was not foreshowed by God—the holy foretell. But， on some level， the “filthy beast” was just like an oracle that led him to step to his miserable ending. Maybe we can say that he attempted to maintain his dignity even to find out his ego. Still， he was guided by a kind of supernatural strength which cannot be breached. 2. Progress of the tragedy
Referring the progress， Yank’s story is more or less the simplified version of Oedipus’s. Yank avoided being a hairy ape and Oedipus tried not to be the killer. The protagonist became a folk from a king and the experience became more usual from grandness. They both fought against the destiny hardly.
In Oedipus’s travel， he found his way blocked by a chariot at a crossroads； he killed all the people except a slave including his birth-father angrily. In Thebes， Oedipus successfully answered the riddle of Sphinx， with the reward of the crown and the widow queen. It seemed that his journey proceeded very smooth， however， the journey proceeded as God’s plan； but little did the character know. Human beings’ efforts were vain compared with to powerful will of God. Then the tragedy threw its disguise. A plague raged throughout the land. Creon said the plague was the result of religious pollution， caused because the murderer of their former King， Laius， had never been caught. Oedipus vowed to find the murderer and cursed him for the plague that he had caused. Here comes the key point. In the process of finding out the murderer， Oedipus was avoided by his mother and the shepherd. But he even begged to be allowed to leave without answering further. He could not stop his painful journey only to find that he himself was the killer. Everything was at last revealed. Oedipus plunged the gold pins into his own eyes in despair. He could stop himself many times， but he still chose to be close to his tragedy drived by the justice， responsibility or the holy strength. This is the loftiness should be eulogized and carried on.
As for Yank， he also could save himself on the halfway. When he failed to find and revenge to the rich girl， he could have accepted Paddy’s advice and came back to the ship. Then he could work and keep his life at least. Nevertheless， he indulged his own willingness—the prison， the organization and the death. Paddy was a key person. He tried to persuade Yank to keep clear-minded and go back to their original life. However， Paddy was the ridiculous “comic antique” in Yank’s eyes. Finally， the ending proved that Paddy was right. Yank was defeated many times. He was ignored by the Fifth Avenue and abandoned by the prison and refused by the labor organizers on the waterfront. Again and again， he grew stronger with each failure and never thought about retreating. Actually， in the play， Yank didn’t realize that he was just the slave of the machine， the iron ship. And he has no belonging to anyone， to the human being ， to the animal world. （Zhou Hanwen， 2011） But he pursued the “hairy ape” and followed the supernatural strength until he reached to the zoo and witnessed the “real self”. He should stop. Then， he should be content， but he even asked the real ape to be friendly with him while the ape rejected him and killed him. How sad！ He arrived to his tragedy through a twist way. 3. The ending of the tragedy
Oedipus had been pursuing the fate which was not his own fate all the way. His mother Jocasta ran to the palace bedroom and hanged herself there. Oedipus planned to call on his servants to bring him a sword so that he might kill himself. He raged through the house， just found Jocasta's body. Giving a cry， Oedipus took her down and removed the long gold pins that held her dress together， and plunged them into his own eyes in despair. In the end he roved in the distant land. He had crusaged for his country all his life and save the people from untold miseries. Superficially， Oedipus was blind for his people and his country or for his guilty. There is no doubt that he was a great hero. Essentially， even such a great hero can not control his fate.
Yank found himself was a real ape. Seeing the gorilla， Yank feels he finally find himself. He communicated with it though it didn’t answer a word and then Yank called it “brother” since they both belong to the same club， Hairy Apes. He opened the cage of the gorilla and he held out his hands to shake hands with the animal， the gorilla suddenly got enraged and wrapped its huge arms around Yank which made him collapse on the floor. Unfortunately， he died. He failed all the way but his willingness was so powerful to be defeated. He refused to be the “hairy ape” and he was crazy to prove he was “belong”. Contrarily， he could not work himself to the bone for him. He rushed to the “filthy beast” or “the hairy ape” stage by stage under the direction of the supernatural power. Woefully， he had no idea about that totally. He was another Oedipus. On the surface， Yank’s experience was personal behavior and not everyone had the same story. In the deep， no matter a hero or a common people， no one may shake off their misery. They may have different experience on the surface， but they both come to a sad ending. It did not relate to whether Yank or Oedipus.
They experienced different pain in the same model and led to the similar ending. Both of them could not get rid of the bondage of the fate. Oedipus refused to be the one who would kill his father and marry his mother. Yank refused to be a hairy ape. They took great effort to save but failed. But they just could not fight against God or the supernatural strength. They wanted to find out their identity. They were so deeply involved in the identity crisis that found it hard to pull out. In their own mind， they did all the things under own willingness. However， they just couldn’t cease themselves and pull themselves from the tragedy. 4. Conclusion
In conclusion， these two characters are similar if we make a comprehensive survey of their lives. Although they end up with tragedies， both of these two dramas reflect the eternal pursuit for destiny of human being. Oedipus pierced his eyes and lived isolately in the end， but he became a king admired by the people of the nation. Yank was killed by the ape， “he slips in a heap on the floor and dies. The monkeys set up a chattering， whimpering wail. And， perhaps， the Hairy Ape at last belongs” （O’Neil， 1921： 55）， but he shows the desire for freedom and expectation for true human nature. The author praises the brave and great power people display when they are in deep desperate. （Sun Yixue， 2001） Eugene O’Neill showed his tragic thoughts - never avoiding from failure， suffering and death by the thoughts - spirit， dream and destiny. He explores and reveals mankind’s spiritual dilemma between death and struggle， promise and its breaking. He highly praises human beings’ constant pursuing spirit and struggling spirit which is the eternity for human being.
[Bibliography]
[1]O’Neil， Eugene， 1921. The Hairy Ape， New York， Doctor Publications， 2005[M].
[2]冯国军，2007，尤金_奥尼尔对古希腊悲剧的继承与发展[D].
[3]刘定远，2007，论尤金_奥尼尔对古希腊悲剧的继承与超越[D].
[4]孙宜学，2001，论尤金_奥尼尔剧作的悲剧主题[M].
[5]周文汉，2002，_猪人_和_毛猿_归属主题的对比研究[D].
（作者单位：天津工业大学外国语学院，天津 300191）