Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Hairy Ape was a play by Eugene O’Neill that was first performed in 1922. It is an expressionist play telling the existentialist story of Yank, a ship worker, who suffers an existential crisis as he fails to attain the worth that he believes he deserves. The story depicts the negative effects of industrialization and capitalism. However, the play also suggests that the socialist setup can also not be the answer to the problems as it cannot fulfill individual needs. O’Neill depicts the world of upper-class capitalists as superficial and manipulative.
Characters: Bob Smith, known as Yank is the protagonist. He is a strong ship worker who is proud of his masculinity. He is a stoker. In his small world within the ship, he believes he is important because of his masculinity as it makes him strong, brutish, and hardworking. Paddy is an aged Irish ship worker working with Yank. He has seen the changes brought through industrialization and remains nostalgic about the good old days. However, he realizes his position in the capitalist world and tries to avoid any senseless struggles. He vanishes from the scene as soon as he realizes that Yank is being driven by his vengeance against the rich. Long is another stoker working with yank who tries to keep Yank’s temper down. He suggests that brute force cannot be the solution, rather Yank should join the labor union to bring a positive and peaceful change to the situation. Mildred Douglas is the rich daughter of the president of the Steel Trust. She is a superficial hypocrite who although enjoys the comforts and benefits of her father’s fortune, pretends to be aware of the struggles of poor folks and intends to get involved in social welfare programs only to boost her own social credibility. Mildred’s aunt is an experienced lady who accepts things as they are. She was reluctant in joining Mildred on the trip but now she is stuck with her. She points out her hypocrisy in social welfare and claims to her face that it has nothing altruistic, rather Mildred is just trying to justify herself. The Secretary of the I.W.W. is the primary representative of International Workers of the World, a fictional socialist group raising the cause of laborers around the world. When he listens to the violent desires of Yank, he rejects Yank’s application to join the organization.
Summary of The Hairy Ape
The whole play is divided into eight scenes. The play begins as a crew of stokers are enjoying their free time on the forecastle of their ship. A stoker is a ship worker who shovels coal into the engine of a ship. The crew members appear happy, though there is a hidden tension between them. All of them have been away from the shore and their family for a long. The toughness of their work is quite visible on their faces. The men are singing about their wives and homes. Yank is not too happy about their songs as he verbally attacks the idea of home, marriage, and emotional attachments. Another crew member, Long says that while they are working hard, the benefits of their labor are enjoyed by the passengers of first class, the capitalist upper class. Yank exclaims that the workers are better than them.
Another ship worker Paddy talks about the good old days when people used to go on sea journeys for their fun. He remembers the days before industrialization when the engines weren’t the driving force of ships. Yank believes that Paddy is a relic of a past gone by. He calls him crazy, and dead.
The rich, beautiful Mildred Douglas is sitting on the luxurious promenade deck of the first class. Her aunt is also sitting beside her. Her aunt isn’t too happy about traveling with Mildred who appears to be insisting on some of her personal whims. Her aunt chides her about her posing attempts to help the poor through her social activities. She claims that there is nothing altruistic about it. Her aunt claims that though she enjoys all the benefits and comforts of her father’s fortune, she fails to find her own worth in that and hence, tries to justify her being and boost her own social credibility by indulging in such acts. Mildred is determined to meet the working crew of the ship to understand their hardship. She decides to visit the stokehole to see the laborers and their condition. As she approaches the captain with her request, he denies her permission. Thus, she makes a false claim that her father, who is the chairman of the shipping line, has asked her to inspect the ship. The captain then asks a second engineer to accompany Mildred to the stokehole. The second engineer notices her white dress and warns her that the stokehole isn’t a clean place and there is the dust of coal on the walls everywhere in the stokehole that will ruin her dress. Mildred says that she has many clothes and if her dress gets dirty, she will just throw it away.
Meanwhile, the workers have returned from the forecastle to the stokehole. Paddy and the other workers are still tired and unenthusiastic about their work. However, Yank is all interested in his job. He ridicules others and boasts of his ability to withstand the heat of a furnace without suffering exhaustion. No doubt, he is the most strong and most devoted worker in the stokehole. As he chides others, they also start working harder. Mildred enters the stokehole with the second engineer. The stokehole is full of smells of burning coal and the sweat of workers. Mildred isn’t too comfortable with the environment but she decides to go forward. All the crew workers are astonished at seeing this beautiful young lady among them except Yank, who pays no attention to her while continuing to work on the furnace. As she reaches him, he feels a bit disturbed and sees her with anger. Mildred gets frightened and uncontrollably says ‘oh filthy beast’ as she faints. She is taken away by the second engineer. Yank feels insulted by her remark and throws his shovel at the door as it closes back at her.
After some hours, the shift at stokehole changes. All the workers take a bath and clean themselves except Yank. He is disturbed, and angry. He still cannot forget how that girl insulted her. They tease him that he has fallen in love with the beautiful girl. However, he convinces them he is feeling a strong hatred for her for insulting him. The other men chastise the second engineer and blame him that he showed them off to Mildred as if they are not workers but animals of a zoo and they name Yank The Hairy Ape. Yank likes the idea because it allows him to think of getting violent against that girl like an Ape if given a chance. He decides to visit the promenade deck to punish her but his colleagues somehow hold him down and stop him from creating any crazy act.
The ship makes a halt in New York and Yank and Long decide to visit the market. Long talks about the ill effects of capitalism and how socialism can be a better alternative. Yank is still disturbed by Mildred's comment. He asks for the price of some fur which he finds too exorbitant. He sees some wealthy churchgoers and starts an argument with them and saying that rich people like them are worthless while people like him with physical power make the world move. Seeing the altercation, the police arrive and before Yank could get violent, they arrest him.
In Jail, other inmates make fun of Yank as he tells what he went through. One of them asks the name of the girl and he informs. When they hear the last name of Mildred (Douglas), they claim that she is the daughter of the chairman of the Steel Trust. They try to reason with Yank and suggest that his struggle against Midred is futile because her father is too rich and too strong. Yank’s anger continues to boil. One of the jail inmates then suggests Yank visit the office of the International Workers of the World Union and ask for their help.
As soon as Yank is released, he visits the office of the labor union. He is determined to take their help in exacting his revenge. The secretary of I.W.W. greets him and listens to his ordeal. He asks him how he wishes their organization to help him? Yank shows his desire for violent revenge against Mildred Douglas. Yank's attitude makes the secretary believe that he didn’t visit their office on his own but that some competitive organization has sent him to spy on them and ruin their name. Yet, he tries to test him further and asks him to fill out the form of membership. In that form, one question asks how he wants to exact his revenge, through dynamite or through legitimate direct action. Yank answers Dynamite. After observing his form, the secretary rejects his membership application. Yank goes outside and chides that he belongs nowhere. Two policemen watch him and think as if he is drunk. They reprimand him and tell him to go to his home in silence.
As Yank goes a little further, he sees a zoo and decides to visit it. He sees a monkey house where some monkeys and a gorilla are sitting near the gate. He starts telling his experience of New York to these animals. The gorilla, being curious, pounds his chest. Yank gets attracted to the ape as he sees the same masculinity in the ape. He remembers how he was called a ‘filthy beast’ and how his colleagues named him the Hairy Ape. He opens the gate and goes to the gorilla who captures him and hugs him strongly in his arms, killing him. Just before he dies, Yank realizes that he doesn’t belong with the hairy apes too.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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