Contour in Time: The Plays of Eugene O’Neill by Travis Bogard

Contour in Time: The Plays of Eugene O'Neill

“…Certainly the complexity of O'Neill's obsessions and their relationship to his wellknown psychological difficulties are the sources of his unique virtues and defects as an artist; the author's psychological state is the catalyst bringing together artistry and idea, linking each play to his own core concerns. 7 What Stroupe found most disappointing about a book that contained many "telling critical insight[s]" was that Bogard chooses as his central thesis to argue the point once again: "O'Neill used the stage as his mirror, and the sum of his work comprises an autobiography. In many of his plays, with a bold directness of approach he drew a figure whose face resembled his own, and whose exterior life barely concealed a passionate, questing inner existence. "…”