Overview

The Hairy Ape is a play by American playwright Eugene O’Neill that was first performed in 1922. The play is a scathing critique of the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and capitalism. It tells the story of Yank, a brutish stoker on a transatlantic ocean liner, who feels alienated from both the upper-class passengers and the laborers in the ship’s engine room. After a chance encounter with Mildred, the daughter of a steel magnate, Yank becomes obsessed with the idea that he is not truly human and embarks on a quest to find his place in the world.

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