话剧《天边外》是美国剧作家尤金·奥尼尔前期最重要的著作之一,此剧于1920年在百老汇演出之后,立即轰动了美国剧坛,并获得了该年度的普利策奖,从此奠定了奥尼尔在美国剧坛的领袖地位。在美国的文学艺术中,戏剧的历史最短,力量也最弱,直到二十世纪初期才出现了具有独特性的美国戏剧。奥尼尔就是现代美国戏剧的奠基人之一。在奥尼尔以前,美国观众只能看到从欧洲输入的歌剧、喜剧、滑稽剧。那时侯,人们认为:“剧院首先不是一个严肃的地方,而是一个让人高兴的地方。”奥尼尔是美 One of the most important books by American playwright Eugene O’Neill in the previous period was drama Beyond the World, which immediately hit the American theater after being shown on Broadway in 1920 and won the Pulitzer Prize of the year. O’Neal laid the leading position in the United States theater. In American literature and art, drama has the shortest history and the weakest power. It was not until the early twentieth century that a unique American drama emerged. O’Neal is one of the founders of modern American drama. Before O’Neill, the American audience could only see opera, comedy, and comedy imported from Europe. At that time, people thought: “The theater is not a serious place at first, but a happy place.” O’Neill is the United States