Elements of narrative tone come through often in O'Neill's stage directions. The language he uses to set a scene will often feature character descriptions with political dimensions to them, like this excerpt from the beginning of Scene 1:
The treatment of this scene, or of any other scene in the play, should by no means be naturalistic. The effect sought after is a cramped space in the bowels of a ship, imprisoned by white steel. The lines of bunks, the uprights supporting them, cross each other like the steel framework of a cage. The ceiling crushes down upon the men’s heads. They cannot stand upright.
O'Neill describes these workers as "imprisoned" within the "steel framework of a cage" while the ceiling crushes them from above. This description is tonally quite grim and critical, observing and characterizing the workers as oppressed individuals in need of freeing from their oppressive workplace.
O'Neill's critical tone further unfurls as the play progresses. In Scene 4, for instance, O'Neill infuses tone more subtly into the text through short stage directions given in the midst of one of Yank's angry rants:
YANK: [Enraged] Yuh tink I made her sick, too, do yuh? Just lookin’ at me, huh? Hairy ape, huh? [In a frenzy of rage] I’ll fix her! I’ll tell her where to git off! She’ll git down on her knees and take it back or I’ll bust de face offen her! [Shaking one fist upward and beating on his chest with the other]
In this excerpt, the phrase "frenzy of rage" and the image of Yank "beating on his chest" with his fist make him appear more animalistic in nature, a characterization that rests on O'Neill's stage directions and that ultimately helps solidify the play's tone.
Elements of narrative tone come through often in O'Neill's stage directions. The language he uses to set a scene will often feature character descriptions with political dimensions to them, like this excerpt from the beginning of Scene 1:
The treatment of this scene, or of any other scene in the play, should by no means be naturalistic. The effect sought after is a cramped space in the bowels of a ship, imprisoned by white steel. The lines of bunks, the uprights supporting them, cross each other like the steel framework of a cage. The ceiling crushes down upon the men’s heads. They cannot stand upright.
O'Neill describes these workers as "imprisoned" within the "steel framework of a cage" while the ceiling crushes them from above. This description is tonally quite grim and critical, observing and characterizing the workers as oppressed individuals in need of freeing from their oppressive workplace.
O'Neill's critical tone further unfurls as the play progresses. In Scene 4, for instance, O'Neill infuses tone more subtly into the text through short stage directions given in the midst of one of Yank's angry rants:
YANK: [Enraged] Yuh tink I made her sick, too, do yuh? Just lookin’ at me, huh? Hairy ape, huh? [In a frenzy of rage] I’ll fix her! I’ll tell her where to git off! She’ll git down on her knees and take it back or I’ll bust de face offen her! [Shaking one fist upward and beating on his chest with the other]
In this excerpt, the phrase "frenzy of rage" and the image of Yank "beating on his chest" with his fist make him appear more animalistic in nature, a characterization that rests on O'Neill's stage directions and that ultimately helps solidify the play's tone.
