Olfa Gandouz
University of
Sousse, Tunisia
Abstract
The present paper
is an attempt to investigate the notion of excess in Eugene O’Neill’s A
Touch of the poet by analyzing Con Melody’s ethnic experience and his movement
between two contradictory spheres of self-hatred and self- endearment. Excess has negative effects as it removes the
protagonist from reality by making him stuck in the illusion of being an
aristocratic New Englander. The inability of cleansing the Irish ethnic roots
fosters a sense of self-glorification which is the positive outcome of excess.
Some gothic elements highlight the protagonist’s desire of cutting off any
links associating him with the Yankees. In this respect, he changes his
political orientations and relapses into using his native dialect (the brogue),
after considering it as the epitome of backwardness and ignorance. The return
of the previously repressed Irish self helps Melody conceive of a new vision
about identity by defining it as something to be accepted and not reformulated.
This article is divided into three parts. Before focusing on Melody’s journey
of excess, a historical contextualization is needed. The first part deals with
a historical study by locating the notion of excess within the dire experience
of some Irish-American immigrants who escaped the traumatic Irish famine of
1845 and were lured by the rosy American dream of acquiring wealth. The second
part highlights the negative outcome of excess in A Touch of the Poet by
focusing on the myth of ethnic integration which has made Melody resurrect the ghosts
of the past, weave outer and inner masks and drop his native tongue in order to
be recognized as a New Englander.
Finally, the analysis sheds light on the role of excess in creating a
compromise between Melody and his Irish peasant roots. Stylistic, dramatic,
theatrical and thematic elements are used to map out O’Neill’s reliance on
excess to dramatize Melody’s experience of ethnic ambivalence.
Keywords: Excess,
Ireland, Identity Crisis, Irish-American dream of Ethnic Integration, Self-Denigration,
Self Glorification.
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