October 17, 2011: “Exorcism” by Eugene O’Neill
Eugene O’Neill is spinning in his grave, although it’s fun
for us to have this “new” O’Neill play to study. “Exorcism” is a one-act play
that was performed in a short run in 1920, after which O’Neill had all the
copies destroyed. Except they weren’t, of course, and one recently turned up.
It’s being published later this year and you can read it now in The New Yorker
(if you have a subscription). (And if you don’t have a subscription, you can
still go to the website and check out the video of an actor reading part of the
play.)
To the extent there is suspense here, it’s mostly lost when
the introduction tells us that the play is autobiographical and deals with O’Neill’s
early suicide attempt. So when Ned Malloy drops broad hints (“Later? Supposing
there wasn’t any—”), there’s not much doubt about what he means, although his
pal Jimmy doesn’t seem to get it. Except he does, apparently, as he reveals
later: “You’d been dropping hints—dark, dark hints—you weren’t yourself, you
know—and I had my suspicions…”
The play isn’t about an exorcism so much as it is about
resurrection. Ned attempts suicide, his friends save him, and now his eyes are
open to the possibilities of spring, both literal and metaphorical. There’s
been a reconciliation of sorts with his father, cessation of hostilities with
his estranged wife, and the doom and gloom (again, both literal and
metaphorical) have lifted.
It’s a quick read and I recommend it if you have access to
it. But it’s not exactly O’Neill’s greatest work, and I don’t think I can blame
him for wanting all traces of it destroyed.
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