The Emperor Jones
| The Emperor Jones | |
|---|---|
 Poster for a 1937 Federal Theater Project production | |
| Written by | Eugene O'Neill |
| Date premiered | 1 November 1920 |
| Place premiered | Neighborhood Playhouse New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | A Black porter attains power in the West Indies by exploiting the superstitions and ignorance of an island's residents. |
| Genre | Tragedy |
| Setting | A West Indian island not yet self-determined, but for the moment, an empire. |
The Emperor Jones is a 1920 play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill which tells the tale of Brutus Jones, an African-American man who kills a man, goes to prison, escapes to a Caribbean island, and sets himself up as emperor. The play recounts his story in flashbacks as Brutus makes his way through the forest in an attempt to escape former subjects who have rebelled against him.
The play displays an uneasy mix of expressionism and realism, which is also characteristic of several other O'Neill plays, including The Hairy Ape. It was O'Neill's first play to receive great critical acclaim and box-office success, and the one that launched his career. It was included in Burns Mantle's The Best Plays of 1920-1921.
Characters
- Brutus Jones
- Smithers
- Jeff
- Undine
- Dolly
- Lem
Summary
The play is divided into eight scenes. Scenes 2 to 7 are from the point of view of Jones, and no other character speaks. The first and last scenes feature a character named Smithers, a white trader who appears to be part of illegal activities. In the first scene, Smithers is told about the rebellion by an old woman, and then has a lengthy conversation with Jones. In the last scene, Smithers converses with Lem, the leader of the rebellion. Smithers has mixed feelings about Jones, though he generally has more respect for Jones than for the rebels. During this scene, Jones is killed by a silver bullet, which was the only way that the rebels believed Jones could be killed, and the way in which Jones planned to kill himself if he was captured.
References
Further reading
- O'Neill, Eugene (1920). The Emperor Jones (First ed.). New York: Random House. OCLC 29238831.
