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Motif
Explanation and Analysis—Eugenics:
O'Neill's writing often plays with the motif of eugenic science and the related concept of "breeding" people for their desirable social or physical traits. This outdated and problematic scientific idea makes its way into both the dialogue and scene direction in The Hairy Ape, as in the following excerpt from the beginning of Scene 1:
All the civilized white races are represented, but except for the slight differentiation in color of hair, skin, eyes, all these men are alike.
In this set of stage directions, O'Neill explores the idea that one could, in the future, achieve a racially homogenized populace through eugenics and breeding. This was a commonly held belief both in the scientific community and within the general populace by the 1920s, setting the stage for Hitler's rise to power in Germany as well as mass sterilization programs in the United States and Canada.
Such eugenic language is common throughout The Hairy Ape, appearing again in a comment made by Mildred about her "breeding stock" in Scene 2:
[With weary bitterness] But I’m afraid I have neither the vitality nor integrity. All that was burnt out in our stock before I was born.
Neither "vitality" nor "integrity" are characteristics that can be passed as a complete package from parent to child. This is a concept that is understood in modern genetic science; at the time, however, O'Neill and many of his contemporaries would genuinely have believed in the accuracy of eugenic concepts.
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