Endings

Abstract

Between 1916 (Bound East for Cardiff) and 1934 (Days Without End) O’Neill had a full and varied theatrical life. Within these years Broadway saw thirty-four of his plays; on thirty-three of these (Dynamo excepted) O’Neill worked closely until their production, attending rehearsals, making last-minute changes, talking with directors and actors. That is, he was actively involved not only in the writing but also in the production of his plays. Had he stopped writing in 1934, his reputation as America’s finest dramatist would have remained positive. Days Without End could have ended the career of a dramatist who had totally committed himself to his art, who was exhausted, physically and perhaps spiritually (despite the ‘positive’ ending of Days Without End), and who could have rested on the laurels of the past, justifiably proud of his considerable accomplishment. What is remarkable is that O’Neill — silent for twelve years, with no new O’Neill play to appear on Broadway until 1946 — is now ready to write the plays of his history cycle, a task left unfinished, and to write the four plays that are among his finest accomplishments — The Iceman Cometh, Hughie, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, A Moon for the Misbegotten.