As one of the world-famous playwrights,Eugene O'Neill is no doubt the father of modern American drama.He is regarded as "American Shakespeare" and becomes the winners of Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize totally for four times.One of his classic drama desire under the elms denotes his attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy within the conflicts among a Puritan family members.In the general plot,there is one special character that does not appear in the stage while leading the whole tragedy of the family.She is the ghost in the play.Actually,this ghost is nobody but human's desire,that is,desire of lust,desire of money and desire of monopolization are the real murders of killing those happiness.However,from O'Neill's whole personal life,it is not difficult to find the reason why this play filled with ghost shadow.Consequently,this paper will analyze the ghost shadow step by step,first in the play itself,second in the theme,and finally the author himself to reveal that desire under the elms has been the reflection of O' Neill's own family life.
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