On Eugene O’Neill Inheritance to Greek Tragedy in Desire Under the Elms

In Desire Under the Elms, Eugene O'Neill not only adopts some elements from Greek tragedies, but brings more different ideas for readers, such as supernaturalism, and the degeneration of the tragic heroes or the peasant like language and sets more comic elements.Under his powerful pen, a marvelous drama is displayed before the audience, which combines the traditional elements and modern creations perfectly.This paper aims to explore the important elements in the play and compare those with what are used in Desire Under the Elms so as to draw the conclusion that Eugene O'Neill not only uses the traditional written skills but also improves the development and inheritance of Greek tragedies.