FANTASY AND ILLUSION VERSUS REALITY IN THE PLAYS OF EUGENE O’NEILL

The theme of reality versus illusion, however, has been recognized by playwrights since the classical Greek drama, but the discovery of its relevance to the modern industrial society has been, in my view, a significant contribution to the drama. The Greek theatre, that believed that the knowledge of illusion and the consequent self-discovery of reality by the hero led him to suffering and sense of redemption, visualized illusion as a constituent part of the tragic spirit. Illusion in Shakespearean theatre had the same function as in Greek drama, but true to the man-centric vision of the Renaissance, its focus on the immediate human world had been sharpened.