尤金·奥尼尔的戏剧创作生涯,横跨从本世纪初到40年代约30年的时间。这30年,是动荡不安、战火纷飞的30年。两次世界大战的炮火粉碎了西欧资产阶级自文艺复兴运动以来所一直标榜和信奉的自由、平等、博爱等思想观念,导致人们对传统文化中的价值观念的怀疑和否定。新的正确的道德观、价值观、社会观等一时又难以建构、于是西方文人便陷入一种前所未有的孤独与迷惘状态中。文艺创作也无法再在传统的艺术形式中恰当而充分地表现自己了,正如恩格斯曾经说过的那样:“古代作家的性格描绘,在我们的 Eugene O’Neal’s dramatic career spans about 30 years from the early part of the century to the 1940s. These 30 years are tumultuous and swift and violent 30 years. The artillery of the two world wars smashed the notions of liberty, equality and fraternity that the bourgeoisie in Western Europe have always advertised and admired since the Renaissance Movement, leading to doubts and denials of values ​​in traditional culture. The new correct moral values, values ​​and social outlooks are so temporary that they are hard to construct. As a result, Western literati have plunged into an unprecedented state of loneliness and perplexity. Literary and artistic creation can no longer properly and fully represent itself in the traditional art forms. As Engels once said: "The portrayal of the ancient writers in our