The Theme of Spiritual Chaos in Lazarus Laughed
Keywords:
Spiritual Chaos, Lazarus Laughed, Eugene O’NeillAbstract
O’Neill has depicted that contemporary Americans lack a formal theology resulting in spiritual chaos in them in almost all his plays. In Lazarus Laughed, he shows this by placing the action of this play in history. He preaches his gospel that spiritual peace would come to contemporary man only when he starts believing in God or life force or love. Lazarus laughed showing how faith in something is essential to counter the effects of fear, loneliness, and death as these are all products of false illusions.
References
Barrett H. Clark. Eugene O’Neill: The Man and His Plays. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1967. Cited in Arthur and Barbara Gelb. O’Neill. NY: Harper and Row, 1987.
Eugene O’Neill. “Lazarus Laughed.” The Plays of Eugene O’Neill Volume III. New York: The Modern Library, 1982.
Frederic I. Carpenter. Eugene O’Neill. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979.
John Henry Raleigh. The Plays of Eugene O’Neill. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1965.
Richard Dana Skinner. Eugene O’Neill: A Poet’s Quest. New York: Longmans Green, 1935, revised ed. NY: Russell & Russell, 1964.
