Desire Under the Elms
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781025747590
Publisher: Tradd Street Press
Published: Feb 14 2026
Pages: 92
Weight: 0.31
Height: 0.19 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
Desire Under the Elms is a cornerstone of American dramatic literature, delivering a visceral exploration of obsession, land ownership, and forbidden passion. Set in the rugged landscape of mid-19th century New England, this intense tragedy unfolds on a remote farmstead where the soil is as hard as the hearts of its inhabitants. The story centers on the Cabot family, particularly the bitter rivalry between the stern patriarch Ephraim and his youngest son, Eben, who believes the farm is his rightful inheritance.
The arrival of Ephraim's new, young bride, Abbie, creates a volatile dynamic that shifts from mutual animosity to a desperate, destructive love. Eugene O'Neill masterfully adapts elements of Greek tragedy-drawing parallels to the myths of Medea and Hippolytus-to a starkly American setting. Through gritty realism and psychological complexity, the work examines the primal forces of greed and desire that lead the characters toward an inevitable and devastating conclusion.
As one of O'Neill's most significant achievements, Desire Under the Elms remains a powerful study of the human condition and the dark side of the American dream. Its enduring legacy lies in its poetic dialogue and its unflinching look at the consequences of human frailty and the weight of the past.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Also from
O'Neill, Eugene
Short Plays Of Eugene O'Neill: The Dreamy Kid; Before Breakfast; Gold; Diff'rent; And The Straw
O'Neill, Eugene
Paperback
Short Plays Of Eugene O'Neill: The Dreamy Kid; Before Breakfast; Gold; Diff'rent; And The Straw
O'Neill, Eugene
Paperback
Short Plays Of Eugene O'Neill: The Dreamy Kid; Before Breakfast; Gold; Diff'rent; And The Straw
O'Neill, Eugene
Hardcover
Mourning Becomes Electra: A Trilogy: Homecoming, the Hunted and the Haunted
O'Neill, Eugene
Paperback
Short Plays Of Eugene O'Neill: The Dreamy Kid; Before Breakfast; Gold; Diff'rent; And The Straw
O'Neill, Eugene
Hardcover
The Provincetown Plays, Third Series: The Two Sons, Lima Beans, Before Breakfast (1916)
Kreymborg, Alfred
O'Neill, Eugene
Boyce, Neith
Paperback
The Provincetown Plays, Third Series: The Two Sons, Lima Beans, Before Breakfast (1916)
O'Neill, Eugene
Boyce, Neith
Kreymborg, Alfred
Paperback
The Plays of Eugene O'Neill Including Anna Christie, Beyond the Horizon, Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape and Days Without End
O'Neill, Eugene
Hardcover
The Plays of Eugene O'Neill Including Anna Christie, Beyond the Horizon, Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape and Days Without End
O'Neill, Eugene
Paperback
The Provincetown Plays, Third Series: The Two Sons, Lima Beans, Before Breakfast (1916)
O'Neill, Eugene
Kreymborg, Alfred
Boyce, Neith
Hardcover
Also in
Plays
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem
Miller, Arthur
Paperback
The Laramie Project and the Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
Pierotti, Greg
Kaufman, Moises
Fondakowski, Leigh
Paperback
The Greek Tragedies: Seventeen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides
Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripides
Paperback
FRANKENSTEIN or The Modern Prometheus (The Revised 1831 Edition - Wisehouse Classics)
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Paperback
Four Major Plays: A Doll's House/Ghosts/Hedda Gabler/The Master Builder
Arup, Jens
Ibsen, Henrik
McFarlane, James
Paperback
A Doll's House and Other Plays: With Pillars of the Community, Ghosts and an Enemy of the People
Ibsen, Henrik
Paperback
KJV, Pew Bible, Large Print, Hardcover, Burgundy, Red Letter Edition (Large Print Edition)
Thomas Nelson
Hardcover
Bacchae and Other Plays: Iphigenia Among the Taurians; Bacchae; Iphigenia at Aulis; Rhesus
Euripides
Paperback
