Abstract: Stage directions as an important component of a play have been neglected in drama study. Until the appearance of modern drama in which stage directions are playing a significant role, with the typical example of The Theater of Absurd represented by Samuel Beckett’s Act without Words, stage directions began to be attached with great importance. Eugene O’Neil as one of the greatest dramatist have used a considerable amount of stage directions in his plays, including Long Day’s Journey Into Night which won him the Pulitzer Prize for the third time. In this play, stage directions have been used either to describe the characters, to direct the actor’ s action, or to depict the stage settings. This paper is aimed to analyze the contributions of the stage directions to some aesthetic values, such as characterization and plot development. Through drawing inferences from the stage directions describing the main characters, it may become more clear in what way they help to portray the characters.

Keywords：Eugene O’Neil Stage directions Characterization

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction1 

1.The history of studies on stage directions4

1.1 A diachronic review of studies on drama texts.4

1.2 Why do stage directions matter.5

2.Stage directions as an important component of drama..6

2.1 Some theoretical preliminaries..7

2.2 Two ways to elicit the importance of stage directions: deletion and substitution 9

3. The role of stage directions in the play..15

3.1 Characterization revealed by stage directions in the play.. .15

3.1.1 Characteristics of Mary revealed in stage directions..15

3.1.2 Characteristics of Tyrone revealed in stage directions17

3.2 Plot development contributed by stage directions in the play.19

3.2.1 The building of the mystery: what’s wrong with Mary..19

3.2.2 The revealing of the mystery: has Mary reverted to her drug-addiction?.21

Conclusion.24

References.25