- Unknown Binding
- Publisher: Cape (1925)
- Language English
- ASIN: B001AFXQX2
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6 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Emperor Jones--One of O'Neill's Best
28 Jan 2002
Format:Paperback
While psychological drama does not often achieve its goal, O'Neill gets it right with "The Emperor Jones." Even when reading the play, one develops a sense of inexorable dread as the native drum speeds up and the Emperor runs into one hallucination after another. All in all, a decent play, though I cannot give it five stars, since I really do not buy into the whole "Emperor" idea. It is the one thing O'Neill does not pull off.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Welcome to the Emperor's nightmare
8 April 2003
Format:Paperback
"The Emperor Jones," by Eugene O'Neill, is a striking work by one of America's most significant dramatists. A bibliographic note in the Dover edition states that the play was first performed in 1920 and published in 1921. It's a one-act play in 8 scenes.
The play tells the story of Rufus Jones, a former Pullman porter who has become the monarch of a West Indian island. But as the play opens there is trouble in his empire.
This is a surreal, nightmarish character study, full of violent and disturbing images. There is some biting dialogue, as well as an intriguing exploration of tension between Black Christianity and Black "heathen" religion.
Jones is a memorable figure, powerful and tragic. O'Neill's stage directions are full of fascinating visual and audio touches--his mastery of the genre is quite evident. Ultimately, "Jones" is a haunting meditation on power, belief in the supernatural, and the seemingly inescapable pull of history.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Beyond the stereotypes, a still-powerful play
2 Oct 2004
Format:Paperback
"Emperor Jones" is a significant entry in American theater history for a number of reasons. With its dreamlike sequences featuring scenes built entirely around monologues, the play is O'Neill's first foray into experimental theater, it was the first Broadway play featuring an African-American in the lead role, and it became a 1933 film featuring Paul Robeson. And when the New York Drama League initially refused to invite Gilpin to its annual awards dinner, O'Neill led a successful protest.
The story is simple: a Pullman porter, after a conviction for murder, escapes to a Caribbean island and becomes the ruler of the natives. Once the natives grow restless, the Emperor Jones takes flight through a haunted forest, only to be confronted by the ghosts of his own past (his murder victim, prison guard) and of African American history (slavery). Through each of the six middle scenes, which would be a challenge for any actor, we see Jones deteriorating mentally and physically. It all seems entirely implausible, but this short drama is not an exercise in naturalism; instead it is a dark fable prefiguring a later tradition of magic realism.
In spite of its place in African American cultural history, however, both the stage directions and the dialogue (as A. R. Gurney points out in another edition of this book) "seems nowadays to be badly stereotyped." This is somewhat of an understatement. In addition to the "Heart of Darkness"-inspired drumming of the natives and the monologues of the fleeing, scared-witless "emperor," O'Neill includes stage directions that make the reader wince, as when he describes the chief of the native soldiers is "a heavy-set, ape-faced old savage of the extreme African type, dressed only in a loin cloth."
These uncomfortable representations are set off only slightly by the play's only white character, who is a two-faced and greedy manipulator of the situation. Once you get past these considerable faults, typical of the societal attitudes of yesteryear, the play's power and originality are impressive.
The story is simple: a Pullman porter, after a conviction for murder, escapes to a Caribbean island and becomes the ruler of the natives. Once the natives grow restless, the Emperor Jones takes flight through a haunted forest, only to be confronted by the ghosts of his own past (his murder victim, prison guard) and of African American history (slavery). Through each of the six middle scenes, which would be a challenge for any actor, we see Jones deteriorating mentally and physically. It all seems entirely implausible, but this short drama is not an exercise in naturalism; instead it is a dark fable prefiguring a later tradition of magic realism.
In spite of its place in African American cultural history, however, both the stage directions and the dialogue (as A. R. Gurney points out in another edition of this book) "seems nowadays to be badly stereotyped." This is somewhat of an understatement. In addition to the "Heart of Darkness"-inspired drumming of the natives and the monologues of the fleeing, scared-witless "emperor," O'Neill includes stage directions that make the reader wince, as when he describes the chief of the native soldiers is "a heavy-set, ape-faced old savage of the extreme African type, dressed only in a loin cloth."
These uncomfortable representations are set off only slightly by the play's only white character, who is a two-faced and greedy manipulator of the situation. Once you get past these considerable faults, typical of the societal attitudes of yesteryear, the play's power and originality are impressive.
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