在我国对20世纪美国悲剧家尤金·奥尼尔的研究有一点被忽略了,即是几乎无人论及奥尼尔作品中所流露出的一种特殊心态——“忏悔情绪”。在他中后期创作的悲剧中,相当一部分无不蕴涵着浓郁的忏悔意识,而在《长日入夜行》(以下简称《长》)中可以说是表现得淋漓尽致。研究者对此点的忽略或许是因为奥尼尔不是真正的教徒。其实,奥尼尔出生于虔诚的天主教家庭,曾接受家庭的熏陶,特别是教会学校7年的教育。对上帝的否定和反叛是在他知道母亲吸毒,而他正是这个悲剧性现实的致因之后。他虔诚地向上帝祈祷,恳求天主赐予母亲力量,但均 In our country, the study of the 20th century American tragedy Eugene O’Neill has been neglected to a point that almost no one has ever discussed the special mentality “confession emotion” revealed in O’Neill’s work. Among the tragedies he created in the later period, a considerable part of them contained the rich consciousness of repentance, which can be said to be most vividly expressed in the “Long Day Night” (hereinafter referred to as “long”). Researchers ignore this point perhaps because O’Neal is not a true believer. In fact, O’Neill was born in a devout Catholic family, has received the influence of family, especially the church school for seven years of education. Negation and rebellion against God came after he knew his mother was drug-taking, and he was precisely the cause of this tragic reality. He piously prayed to God, begging God to give mothers the power, but both