Emperor Jones, Diff'rent, The Straw (Hardback) | Released: 01 Mar 2005

The Emperor Jones, Diff'rent, The Straw is a collection of three plays written by the renowned American playwright Eugene G. O'Neill. The first play, The Emperor Jones, tells the story of Brutus Jones, an African-American man who becomes a dictator on a Caribbean island. The play explores themes of power, race, and identity as Jones grapples with his own demons and the consequences of his actions.The second play, Diff'rent, is a one-act play that explores the relationship between two half-brothers, one of whom is black and the other white. The play deals with issues of race and identity as the brothers struggle to come to terms with their differences and their shared history.The third play, The Straw, is a one-act play that tells the story of two men who are stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. As they struggle to survive, they confront their own mortality and the choices they have made in their lives.Overall, The Emperor Jones, Diff'rent, The Straw is a powerful collection of plays that explore complex themes of race, identity, power, and mortality. O'Neill's masterful writing and keen insight into the human condition make this collection a must-read for anyone interested in American literature and drama.1921. O'Neill won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936, and Pulitzer Prizes for four of his plays. O'Neill is credited with raising American dramatic theater from its narrow origins to an art form respected around the world. He is regarded as America's premier playwright. O'Neill's career as a playwright consisted of three periods. His early realist plays utilize his own experiences, especially as a seaman. In the 1920s he rejected realism in an effort to capture on the stage the forces behind human life. His expressionistic plays during this period were influenced by the ideas of philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche, psychologists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, and Swedish playwright August Strindberg. During his final period O'Neill returned to realism. These later works, which most critics consider his best, depend on his life experiences for their story lines and themes. This volume contains three of his plays.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.