Shakespeare, Eugene O’Neill, T.S. Eliot and The Greek Tragedy

This book is a comprehensive inquiry into the nature of tragedy vis-o-vis george Steiner’s idea of Greek Tragedy. That idea is refuted and with an examination of the tragedies of Aeschylus, sophocles and Euripides, it is established that tragedy as an art form is as much modern as Greek and that the Twentieth Century dramatists like O’Neill and Eliot were not “pouring new sauces over old meats”, but presented “ an authentic treatment of the predicament of the modern man in the medium of tragedy comparable with that of the Greek dramatists”. The book thus seeks to remove many false concepts and unfair evaluations. At the same time. It presents a play-by-play comparison of Shakespeare with the three Greek tragic dramatists. A similar comparison of six plays of O’Neill and the five plays of Eliot is also included. A particularly illuminating study of the imagery of all these dramatists is intended to emphasize their identity as regards themes and their treatment. This study of nearly fifty-five Greek, Shakespearean and modern plays is a pioneering work and should bean asset to all lovers of literature all over the world.