Forging a Language: A Study of the Plays of Eugene 'Neill

What must dramatic language do? Jean Chothia suggests it must shape our apprehension of individual character, at the same time conveying more to the audience than to the other characters; it must present us with a continually developing action as each speech emphasises or modifies our perception of what has gone before; and the action and staging must be so related to the dramatic language that they become its necessary complement in our experience of the play. In this lucid and perceptive ...