Abstract：In Eugene O’Neill’s late years, he was attracted by oriental thoughts especially by Taoism. The Taoist explanation of Tao, the origin of the world, and the theory of yin and yang, “returning to the root” and the “non-action” it upholds are revealed in O’Neill’s later works such as Macro Million and Iceman Cometh. In recent years, the influence of Taoism on Eugene O’Neill and his works has been the focus of O’Neill’s studies. This paper introduces the principle of Taoism, and discusses the influence of Taoism in Long Day’s Journey into Night by analyzing the interpenetration and alteration of the present and the past, life and death, and being and nonbeing in the personality of the main characters, and by analyzing the rhythm of their emotional conflict. Through this discussion, this paper tries to draw a conclusion that Taoism serves ultimately to highlight the prevailing sense of despair in this play.
Keywords: Long Day’s Journey into Night; Taoism; Eugene O’Neill
中文摘要:美国伟大的剧作家尤金·奥尼尔在其后期创作生涯中对东方思想尤其是道教思想产生了浓厚的兴趣。道教对世界本源“道”的解释以及万事万物相生相克、循环往复、回归复命的学说和道教倡导的“无为”的思想在奥尼尔的后期作品中都有所体现。近十几年来道教思想对奥尼尔的人生观、世界观的影响及其在作品中的体现成为文学评论界研究奥尼尔时探讨的焦点之一。本文首先介绍了道教思想的主旨，阐述了道教思想与奥尼尔思想的结合，然后通过分析《通往黑夜的漫漫长路》中人物性格中过去与现在、生与死、存在与虚幻的交织与转化以及人物情感的律动，探讨道教思想在这部作品中的体现,和道教思想与奥尼尔悲剧思想在这部作品中的碰撞与融合。
关键词：道教思想； 《通往黑夜的漫漫长路》；尤金·奥尼尔
